What are /r/spaceflight's favorite Products & Services?

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I'm looking into it, but my first guess is that they dropped mass in order to keep the same burn time. More mass means a longer burn with lower acceleration. Shuttle's low, preliminary orbit is a few hundred feet per second slower than it's lowest "safe" altitude, allowing a controlled re-entry of the ET. Getting into that kind of orbit is a LOT touchier than most ascent profiles. Because OMS has so little delta V, you have to release the ET while you've still got some upwards momentum. If you take longer to place into that prelim orbit, you can easily pass apogee and not have enough energy to enter a stable orbit. Keeping extra fuel around isn't going to help, because you'll have to drop the tank before you can utilize it.

EDIT: I believe I'm correct on the mechanics explained above. Here's a fantastic narrative explaining why the center engine failure was not the most important part of this ascent.

Not a real resource but I've been playing around with Orbiter, it's a sim for anything space related. I'm not a huge math geek but watching the you tube instructions and playing along on my other monitor learned me all I know about orbital mechanics.

http://orbit.medphys.ucl.ac.uk/

Perhaps a way to apply what you learn.

> Anything that could be used to make weapons that isn't already widely known.

It's far far more broad than that. For instance, pictures of the Saturn V are illegal to display in public:

> We kept telling him some were purchased at the Visitor Center Gift Shop, but he did not care. He ended up coming around with an armed security cop until we took them down and shredded them. Source

And then there's the steel plate from Russia that magically became ITAR-controlled. Once an object touches an ITAR-controlled object, it too becomes ITAR-controlled. ITAR spreads like a disease from one part to another.

One problem is that because the law is so broad, companies will interpret it even more strictly than it is likely to be enforced, to avoid the crippling fines and jail time that accompany a violation.

> Modern cars don't have sparkplug wires

Unless its a diesel, yes, they do. They may have coil on sparkplug, but there is still wiring.

>And a TPS sensor? How many does your car have?

4, like all cars.

Current AR Apps about Space are very minimalistic and don’t make learning fun and intuitive. Using animations and scalable 3d graphics I was able to achieve a result, I think, is better than what you get with NASA JPL Spacecraft AR, HoppAR, and other similar apps.

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Why did I develop it?

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In order to experience most modern rockets, rovers and space telescopes, you need multiple apps, and even then, the result is an unintuitive and clunky feeling experience. Well, that’s what I wanted to solve with RocketXR - make simple, intuitive and mind blowing experiences possible with ease. Go see for yourself, I hope you’ll enjoy it!

What early aerospace pioneers achieved is breathtaking and I wanted to bring the impressive technology of the past and the present to wherever you are, in front of your camera.

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Thank you for reading the intro, now it’s time to try it out for free.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tjosoft.rocketxr

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Thank you &

Best Regards

BTW, I read your blog post, linked from Metafilter. Good stuff.

In the early 90's I bought Man In Space - An Illustrated History of Space Flight (978-0831744915). It might be a little dated now with a publishing date of 1993, but what I really enjoyed was the beautiful photos. Inside the front and back covers were a timeline of space flight from the first test launches, and a set of diagrams comparing rocket sizes and launch capabilities over the years. Unfortunately I donated mine to the local library about 10 years back when it got just too old and I could find the same or newer info on the internet. It looks like you could pick up a used one from Amazon for less than $5

Not sure on availability in Germany, but there's a decent 6 part series called "Moon Machines" - aired originally on the Discovery Channel. It covers the major components of Apollo and Saturn V. It's filled with interviews of the engineers, discusses major problems, and the solutions thereto.

ETA: I think this is it on Amazon.

ETA2: The six parts are:

• Saturn V Rocket

• Command Module

• Navigation Computer

• Lunar Module

• Space Suit

• Lunar Rover

My guess is Mechanics & Thermodynamics of Propulsion 2e, by Hill & Peterson. This textbook was used to teach my undergrad Jet & Rocket Prop course.

Amazon Link

More information on this mission patch and others can be found here.

You'll need to come up with a symbol for Starliner next year. And the year after you'll also need to add either Orion or Artemis. And Starship should come online within that timeframe too.

It's getting crowded. I like it!

If you are looking for some reading material on past SpaceX missions, look no further. My guide is available at the Space Store and Amazon. Enjoy and godspeed.

> those kinds of projects will require us to have mastered our solar system, completely -- So I agree when Musk states that you need to focus on the neighboring planets first

Yes; granted, and I would go further than Musk to say that establishing an independent cycler colony should occur before colonization of Mars.

> Computers and Silicon Valley created products for the masses.

Nope. Silicon Valley today exists largely due to Stanford’s huge concentration of Cold War military R&D funding. The original tech clusters in Silicon Valley and along Rt 128 were nearly entirely military-industrial creations. The eventual commercialization of the personal computer and the lack of non-compete enforcement did save Silicon Valley from the same fate as the Rt 128 tech cluster (which went all-in on the enterprise/government minicomputer instead of the PC) following the end of the Cold War, but most of that innovation was made on a foundation built from a half-century concentration of high-tech military investment.

Yes i totally agree. I hadn't seen the game before now, but i've looked it up.

But i think that it is possible to get that sense of awe, but in another way.

In fact for that i look to a little game which isn't too related except that you travel around. It's a little flash game called Aether, which was made by edmund mcmillen. That game makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. http://armorgames.com/play/2153/aether

I think a lot of the problem with simple rockets is that the graphics are so barebones, planets are solid colours, and the map is a separate screen from the play view. All problems that are easily solvable.

Also the focus far more on making a fun economy will change the focus of the game somewhat.

I'll see your plug and raise you a wordpress. I created a wordpress site to tinker with. I named it "Space race - the golden age of spaceflight in Orbiter". Orbiter is a free spaceflight simulator Here

Currently Im focusing on early Soyuz missions. Ive been talking about my first successful rendezvous with Salyut stations and other Soyuz craft Here

Youtube Center is available for pretty much every big browser.

https://github.com/YePpHa/YouTubeCenter/wiki

I'm using the Opera version in Chrome and while it has a few hiccups, it works well enough.

Available at the Space Store and Amazon. What a great community - thanks all for the support on this pet project so far!

This is out now at the link below and soon on the Space Store. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08SH41X22/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

One of the best technical reference books that I have come across on the subject is: https://www.amazon.com/Propulsion-Analysis-Design-Ronald-Humble/dp/0070313202

Might require a bit of prerequisite knowledge on heat transfer, orbital mechanics, etc. but it's a really good resource

A good piece of reading would be the Challenger Launch Decision by Vaughan. She paints a really good picture that all other O-ring faults were attributed to improperly installed O-rings, like there was debris, hair, etc. so the correlation was made incorrectly with regards to temperature. The mechanism for safety reporting and analysis was right, just got the wrong answer.

Another good reading that talks about it is Risk and Culture by Douglas. http://www.amazon.com/Risk-Culture-Selection-Technological-Environmental/dp/0520050630

Extremely fictionalized

To each his own. Did not work for me.

However, this book: http://www.amazon.com/Korolev-Masterminded-Soviet-Drive-America/dp/0471327212/

is not fictionalized and it is excellent.