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What would have happened if Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Boosters didn't separate?
We all know that the Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Boosters (SRB) were the pair of large solid rockets used by the United States' NASA Space Shuttle during the first two minutes of its powered flight. Together, they provided about 83% of liftoff thrust…
Killer
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Can "engine" and "motor" be used interchangeably in spaceflight? Are there any cases where they can't be?
Typing "rocket motor" into google returns a page full of links mostly about rocket engines. It seems that The Google has AI-synonymized them.
Question: Can "engine" and "motor" be used interchangeably in spaceflight? Are there any cases where they…
uhoh
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How well would Max Faget's April 1, 1969 design for the Space Shuttle have actually worked? What would have been the major problems?
This answer to Who are the actual lead designers of manned spacecraft? says (in its entirety):
Max Faget was involved in the design of every US manned spacecraft flown to date. Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, and Shuttle. It looks like Elon Musk will end…
uhoh
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Lunar Terrain Model in Apollo Guidance Computer
In the book Apollo Guidance Computer by Frank O’ Brian, on page 279, he talks about the lunar terrain model in the Apollo Guidance Computer, which has the several segments of the surface with slope.
This terrain model was used to correct for the…
zephyr0110
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Was emergency burial of the Lunar Receiving Laboratory planned?
Regarding the Lunar Receiving Laboratory, in Sunburst and Luminary Don Eyles wrote in Debriefing (p.162 of 2019 edition):
...all this in case they had, against expectation, brought home some
otherworldly microbe or other lunacy. For the doomsday…
Tom Goodfellow
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What can the ISS do that a SpaceX Starship could not?
The SpaceX Starship (lunar and/or crew-rated version, upper stage only) is expected to have more habitable volume than the International Space Station. On the other hand, the ISS is around 400 tons, while the dry mass of the Starship is more like…
Charles Staats
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Why don't we send a rover to a pole of Mercury?
Mercury is among the least explored planets, despite its vicinity to Earth. Just two probes have been sent to Mercury, a third one is underway and no probe landed softly on Mercury so far, Messenger just crashed onto the planet. The poles of Mercury…
Giovanni
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Why is unappetizing food brought along to space?
I read at some point about a Shuttle mission that ended up lasting longer than initially intended, and the crew had to eat more awful-tasting food for the last few days, because they had eaten through the appetizing one through the first part of the…
Speedphoenix
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What happens to where umbilical lines are connected when a rocket lifts off?
I've read about umbilical lines in rockets but I don't understand what happens with the places where each umbilical is connected to the rocket once it lifts off. I guess they are sealed in some way in order to prevent any damage to those connections…
Egfs
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Is Falcon 9 repainted before reuse?
Before reusing the first stage of Falcon 9, is it repainted?
If yes then why?
Joe Jobs
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Was Venus once seriously believed to be lush under its cloud cover?
Mars was once believed to have canals, and some astronomers seriously argued that they were artificial.
The atmosphere of Venus was first observed in 1761. Wikipedia kind of skips over the period between the discovery of the atmosphere and the time…
Wouter
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Do you need a mattress on the Moon?
In the 1985 work 'The Cat Who Walks Through Walls' by Robert Heinlein, Richard Ames makes the following internal observation; The character is in an underground abode. The accommodations are in a side room off of a main corridor. The atmosphere is…
James Jenkins
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Procedure to deal with the death of Apollo astronaut during a lunar mission
During Apollo lunar missions, had the command module pilot have died while the other two astronauts were on the Moon, or had only one of the two lunar walkers died, did NASA have a procedure for such a possibility and if so, what was it?
Fred
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When did photographic film stop being used in satellites?
Some early observation satellites took pictures on photographic film and the film was dropped towards Earth and picked up by airplanes (e.g. Corona). What was the last satellite to use photographic film? When was the last roll of photographic film…
usernumber
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Where will the Pioneer, Voyager and New Horizons spacecraft be after one galactic orbit?
After the Pioneer, Voyager and New Horizons spacecraft complete one orbit of the Milky Way (in approx. 230-250 million years or one "galactic year"), how close will they then be to our solar system?
(Editing my question for clarification) The reason…
Charlie
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