The Next Space Age

2008 ed. Christopher Mari BVT 629.4011 NEX

Reprinted magazine and newspaper articles, 2003 to 2008

Dated, many of the programs described delayed or cancelled.

Orion

• p10 Orion heat shield is PICA, phenolic impregnated carbon ablator, a matrix of carbon fibers embedded in a phenolic resin. Outer surface burns off and carries off heat, charred remainder is heat resistant. Used for 13km/s re-entry of Stardust spacecraft in 2006. Segmented.

• not true, will use Textron Avcoat like Apollo

• p11 Orion uses parachutes, jettisons heat shield, may land with airbags after 8m/s descent.
  • hmm - a = v²/2d, wag d=1 meter, a = 32 m/s² or 2 gees.
  • Not true anymore. Wikipedia sez 2023 crew launch, maybe. Water landings only.
• p14 Orion: small team at Lockheed Martin (1600), NASA (600) , what did Apollo (400,000) do?

• p15 CM+SM+Escape < 50,250 pounds approx 23 tonnes (now 25,848 kg, 56,985 lb)

• p21 Shackleton Crater south pole, 80% sunlight over year
• p22 regolith compacted digging difficult, abrades bearings
• p23 Heat surface with microwaves, glass and metallic iron, 50W/cm³ to 1700C in 10 seconds
  • 1990s, Lawrence Taylor U. Tenn., 1 centimeter deep (thermal conductivity?) 5 MJ/m²
• p24 Larry Clark Lockheed Martin - oxygen from regolith iron oxides, 1300 to 1500℉
• p104 Phoenix lander, Mars north pole finds ice June 2008
• p119 Deep Space Network, 5e-5 m/s velocity and 3 m range
• p119 Cassini camera three microradians
• p122 RTG Pu238 halflife 88y, April 2001 Pioneer 10 1e-21 watt (per what?)
• p126 acceleration anomaly (since solved, heat reflections off antenna)
• p135 exoplanets ... really old stuff, pre-Kepler