Blue Origin and New SHEPARD RLV

Blue Origin's new landing barge has been delivered, from the Space Bucket:


As we get closer to the first launch of New Glenn, and with it, the first booster landing attempt, Blue Origin is continuing to prepare. Earlier this morning the company’s new landing barge arrived in Florida for the first time, docking not far from New Glenn’s launch site.
Click to expand...
Originally, the plan was to use an actual ship with a massive landing platform in the center, that idea however was scrapped, along with the actual ship and they started working on a barge instead. By now it’s complete and just about ready for a massive booster to try and land on it. Here I will go more in-depth into its arrival, size, mission plan, and more.
Click to expand...
Full article here - https://thespacebucket.com/blue-origi...
Click to expand...
Credit:
SpaceX - / spacex https://www.youtube.com/c/SpaceX
NASA - / @nasa https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLA_DiR1FfKNvjuUpBHmylQ
Blue Origin - / blueoriginchannel https://www.youtube.com/c/blueoriginchannel
Click to expand...
Chapters:
0:00 - Intro
0:30 - Jacklyn Arrives
4:09 - Upcoming Static Fire
Click to expand...
 
Well so much for that for this year, and in other words NG wouldn’t be ready before the launch window closes. Even though a spring launch is far from favourable consider the power of NG in combination with the relatively small mass of its payloads.

NASA Stands Down from October Launch for ESCAPADE to Mars

NASA announced Friday it will not fuel the two ESCAPADE (Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers) spacecraft at this time, foregoing the mission’s upcoming October launch window. While future launch opportunities are under review, the next possible earliest launch date is spring 2025.

The agency’s decision to stand down was based on a review of launch preparations and discussions with Blue Origin, the Federal Aviation Administration, and Space Launch Delta 45 Range Safety Organization, as well as NASA’s Launch Services Program and Science Mission Directorate. The decision was made to avoid significant cost, schedule, and technical challenges associated with potentially removing fuel from the spacecraft in the event of a launch delay, which could be caused by a number of factors.

“This mission can help us study the atmosphere at Mars — key information as we explore farther and farther into our solar system and need to protect astronauts and spacecraft from space weather,” said Nicky Fox, associate administrator for science at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “We’re committed to seeing ESCAPADE safely into space, and I look forward to seeing it off the ground and on its trip to Mars.”

The alignment of Earth and Mars constrains ESCAPADE’s windows of launch opportunities to the Red Planet. This means that small schedule changes can result in months-long delays in launch. The mission team is analyzing larger planetary window opportunities. NASA and Blue Origin are discussing an additional opportunity to launch the spacecraft to Mars no earlier than spring 2025.
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
https://twitter.com/x/status/1832128490625180038
View: https://twitter.com/blueorigin/status/1832128490625180038


We’re supportive of NASA’s decision to target the ESCAPADE mission for no earlier than spring 2025 and look forward to the flight. We plan to move up New Glenn’s second flight, originally scheduled for December, into November. New Glenn will carry Blue Ring technology and mark our first National Security Space Launch certification flight. We’ll provide more details on these launch plans in the coming weeks. To learn more about Blue Ring, please visit: blueorigin.com/blue-ring.
Click to expand...
 
I've actually heard from someone I know at NASA that ESCAPADE had a critical flaw with their propulsion system so they can't launch even if the launch vehicle was ready. And I've also heard from a friend at the FAA that Blue isn't even in application review for a launch license so they weren't ready anyway. Basically they both shit the bed in this case. Lets hope this at least allows Blue to be more thorough in preparing for their first launch so it's successful. Would not be surprised to see more delays for New Glenn in any case.
 
What I'm hearing is that there was an ATP meeting at NASA HQ yesterday for go/no-go fueling the spacecraft. (NASA would not comment but the press release below basically confirms this.)

ESCAPADE uses hypergolic propellants MMH and NTO - which are aggressive and unsafe.
Click to expand...

As Christophe Mandy, Rocket Lab's lead systems engineer for ESCAPADE, put it: "If we are fueled, and then we have to de-fuel, getting the spacecraft cleaned increases various forms of risk in the spacecraft, which need to be handled. So if they've been fueled, it opens up a certain amount of work in order to make the spacecraft back ready to launch."
Click to expand...

https://twitter.com/x/status/1832132920552611867
View: https://twitter.com/breadfrom/status/1832132920552611867
 
https://twitter.com/x/status/1832163172687749344
View: https://twitter.com/djsnm/status/1832163172687749344


Delaying Escapade to next spring means it misses the launch window, so I took a look at JPL's trajectory browser and this is what I came up with:
I'm presuming the main constraint is ensuring enough dV on the spacecraft for Mars capture, but it looks like there's a Venus flyby option:
Click to expand...

According to a paper on Escapade it should have 2.5km/s of dV so this is doable, if thermal environment is acceptable.
Click to expand...

There’s likely other routes, that don’t go as close, but I can’t use this tool to find them.
Click to expand...

https://twitter.com/x/status/1832178101037768967
View: https://twitter.com/sciguyspace/status/1832178101037768967


That fits with what I heard about such a trajectory being "complicated"
Click to expand...
 
Dave Limp
Some of you recently asked additional questions about Comet, the thermal protection system we created for #NewGlenn,
and whether we’ll paint it on our vehicle. We could—but have chosen not to for a variety of reasons, including adding unnecessary weight.
It has been applied on our fins, forward module, strakes, tank tunnel, and the aft section, including the legs.
As for the color, you tell me: Copper? Gold? Brown?
Given the the thermal environment, we expect the material will change colors on our booster as we fly multiple missions.
re: the strake you see at the top of the image, there are two of them, and each is about the size of an F-16 wing and carries 175,000 lbs of lift when our stage re-enters for landing on Jacklyn.
The strake is designed to accommodate two inches of thermal “growth” during the different phases of flight. In other words,
there are temperature differences during the mission of up to several hundred degrees Fahrenheit that cause the tank to shrink and the strakes to grow.
Click to expand...

GXNlarbXkAAQL8y


source X
 
Blue Origin is rather ambitious with the goals of its' first New Glenn flight, from the Space Bucket:


If everything stays on schedule, Blue Origin believes they can launch New Glenn in about two months this November. While the original date and payload have changed, the goal of landing and reusing the first booster is still a major priority for the company.
Click to expand...
So much so that they even named the booster in relation to the first landing attempt. They also shared more images highlighting the installation of strakes, New Glenn heat shielding, and upcoming steps.
Click to expand...
Full article here - https://thespacebucket.com/blue-origi...
Click to expand...
Credit:
SpaceX - / spacex https://www.youtube.com/c/SpaceX
NASA - / @nasa https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLA_DiR1FfKNvjuUpBHmylQ
Blue Origin - / blueoriginchannel https://www.youtube.com/c/blueoriginchannel
Click to expand...
Chapters:
0:00 - Intro
0:28 - Landing The Booster
3:48 - Launch Date Change
Click to expand...
 

Similar threads

Please donate to support the forum.

Back
Top Bottom