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First Private Moon Landing Gears Up for Launch by Year's End

30 points by CarolineW 9y ago

paulsutter 9y ago
Didn't realize the Rocket Labs Electron had its first launch about a week ago: https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2017/05/rocket-labs-electron-inaugural-flight-new-zealand/ https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2017/05/rocket-labs-electron... "It was a great flight. We had a great first stage burn, stage separation, second stage ignition and fairing separation. We didn’t quite reach orbit and we’ll be investigating why..” said CEO Peter Beck.
- zaroth 9y ago
  It's apparently a fully 3D printed engine with an electric turbopump; "Use of this kind of electric motor system produces a 95% efficiency as compared to the 50% efficiency achieved through standard gas-generator cycle engines." I can't imagine that statement means what I think it means...?
  - bluehawk 9y ago
    My understanding is that it's just talking about the pumps. 95% of the energy from the battery is turned into rotational energy by a motor in the pumps. This pushes the fuel into the reaction chamber of the rocket engine. Contrast this to a gas-generator cycle that uses some of the fuel/oxidizer to run the pumps. It's not perfect combustion (you don't want it to get too hot) turbines aren't perfectly efficient, etc. so you only get 50% of the energy out of the fuel that you use in the turbo pumps. However, batteries are heavy. I'm hesitant to believe that electric pumps will scale well to larger rockets, but I would love to be proven wrong.
- drzaiusapelord 9y ago
  >Electron, a two-stage, carbon-composite rocket designed to deliver payloads weighing up to about 330 lbs into orbits some 310 miles above Earth. For reference, the moon is 238,900 miles away. I guess they want the MX-1E lander to fly itself from LEO to the moon. Interesting concept, hope it works out for them.
  - euyyn 9y ago
    I doesn't really work in distances, rather in delta-v. Getting to LEO takes ~9.5 km/s, and getting in a lunar trajectory from there, about 3 km/s more.
adventured 9y ago
Gee, this guy is slightly over-selling: > "It will be the space equivalent of the four-minute mile. I think we're going to redefine the possible," MoonEx co-founder and CEO Bob Richards tells Popular Mechanics. "We've seen this throughout history—everybody thinks something is impossible until they see it done." I'm skeptical there are many people left in the space industry that think a private moon landing is impossible. It's expensive and difficult. It's also a question of time at this point; as whether it's a company like SpaceX or Blue Origin that does it, it's going to happen relatively soon.
- wccrawford 9y ago
  I read it as him saying that it's considered too expensive and difficult for a private company at this point. In other words, "impossible". Likewise, people thought the 4-minute mile was impossible until it was done, even though there were probably some people who knew it would eventually be possible as our diets change and people grow up stronger and healthier.
csours 9y ago
One of my bucket list items is to watch a space launch. Is there a calendar of space launches somewhere that I could plan to go see? Or would I have to research individual launches?
- jcwayne 9y ago
  This is generally the most detailed and reliable: https://spaceflightnow.com/launch-schedule/ https://spaceflightnow.com/launch-schedule/

30 points by CarolineW 9y ago

Didn't realize the Rocket Labs Electron had its first launch about a week ago: https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2017/05/rocket-labs-electron-inaugural-flight-new-zealand/ https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2017/05/rocket-labs-electron... "It was a great flight. We had a great first stage burn, stage separation, second stage ignition and fairing separation. We didn’t quite reach orbit and we’ll be investigating why..” said CEO Peter Beck.

zaroth 9y ago
It's apparently a fully 3D printed engine with an electric turbopump; "Use of this kind of electric motor system produces a 95% efficiency as compared to the 50% efficiency achieved through standard gas-generator cycle engines." I can't imagine that statement means what I think it means...?
- bluehawk 9y ago
  My understanding is that it's just talking about the pumps. 95% of the energy from the battery is turned into rotational energy by a motor in the pumps. This pushes the fuel into the reaction chamber of the rocket engine. Contrast this to a gas-generator cycle that uses some of the fuel/oxidizer to run the pumps. It's not perfect combustion (you don't want it to get too hot) turbines aren't perfectly efficient, etc. so you only get 50% of the energy out of the fuel that you use in the turbo pumps. However, batteries are heavy. I'm hesitant to believe that electric pumps will scale well to larger rockets, but I would love to be proven wrong.
drzaiusapelord 9y ago
>Electron, a two-stage, carbon-composite rocket designed to deliver payloads weighing up to about 330 lbs into orbits some 310 miles above Earth. For reference, the moon is 238,900 miles away. I guess they want the MX-1E lander to fly itself from LEO to the moon. Interesting concept, hope it works out for them.
- euyyn 9y ago
  I doesn't really work in distances, rather in delta-v. Getting to LEO takes ~9.5 km/s, and getting in a lunar trajectory from there, about 3 km/s more.

adventured 9y ago

Gee, this guy is slightly over-selling: > "It will be the space equivalent of the four-minute mile. I think we're going to redefine the possible," MoonEx co-founder and CEO Bob Richards tells Popular Mechanics. "We've seen this throughout history—everybody thinks something is impossible until they see it done." I'm skeptical there are many people left in the space industry that think a private moon landing is impossible. It's expensive and difficult. It's also a question of time at this point; as whether it's a company like SpaceX or Blue Origin that does it, it's going to happen relatively soon.

wccrawford 9y ago
I read it as him saying that it's considered too expensive and difficult for a private company at this point. In other words, "impossible". Likewise, people thought the 4-minute mile was impossible until it was done, even though there were probably some people who knew it would eventually be possible as our diets change and people grow up stronger and healthier.

csours 9y ago

One of my bucket list items is to watch a space launch. Is there a calendar of space launches somewhere that I could plan to go see? Or would I have to research individual launches?

jcwayne 9y ago
This is generally the most detailed and reliable: https://spaceflightnow.com/launch-schedule/ https://spaceflightnow.com/launch-schedule/