*Something* went wrong during a static test firing of the capsules Super Draco engines. Few details as yet, but this will doubtless set the project back some. Feh.
Apr 202019
Apr 192019
A piece of Rocketdyne art illustrating something just not quite as possible as they thought at the time: a manned landing on Saturns moon Titan. This dates from prior to (quite likely a decade prior to) 1968 and depicts a terribly 1950’s rocketship standing on its tail in the nicely transparent air of Titan, with Saturn clearly visible in the sky above some modest lower-level atmospheric haze.
This almost certainly does not depict an engineering study, but is simply the result of an aerospace artist at Rocketdyne being let loose to create some PR images.
Apr 182019
A model I CAD-mastered for Fantastic Plastic has finally been released… the 1/288 scale Max Valier “Raketenschiff” from 1929. This was a very art deco “rocket ship” designed as a hypersonic trans-Atlantic passenger transport. It was never much more than a notion and some art, but it’s always been a concept I’ve been fond of. Its design is a combination of zeppelin and Colliers Ferry Rocket. Go to Fantastic Plastic and buy a couple.
Apr 182019
For no good reason other than pure curiosity I gathered together all of the “Zaneverse” stories I’ve written and totaled up how many words they have. Assuming a standard of 300 words per novel-sized page… it turns out I’ve cranked out around 1,200 pages. This surprised me and initially impressed me; then I realized that Stephen King could probably bang out a 1,200 page novel in a single drunken weekend and I promptly became less impressed with myself.
The question remains what to do with it all. For a year I tried going through a literary agent to get “Novel 1” published, but he turned out to be a bit of a disappointment (apparently health issues… shrug). One of the short stories was submitted for a sci-fi anthology… but I never heard back, not even a notice of receipt of the manuscript, never mind an acceptance or rejection. Grrr. “Novel 0” is something I’m currently hacking away at, and it is specifically intended to *not* be published; it’s weird and from a literary point of view not needed, in much the same way the “Solo” movie wasn’t needed. However, having the origin story of the main characters put down on paper (so to speak) will help me keep things straight. Plus, I just wanted to do it.
Anybody know any literary agents who might want to be in on the ground floor of the next publishing powerhouse, sure to leave Harry Potter in the dust? Self publishing is always an option, but given that I have neither skill nor talent in the area of effective self promotion, that’s not terribly appealing.
Apr 182019
Latest update on the Ajax, showing the location of ladder rungs on the surface. On the final model these will likely be molded-in raised rectangular solids. At 1/200 scale, the rung would be *really* tiny (they’re about 1/12 of an inch wide and of course much thinner than that) and could only be done via photoetch; and while that has the potential to look spectacular, holy crap it’d be a nightmare.
Also: note that there are a number of parts shown in light blue. These are parts that are meant to be cast in clear resin. The fuselage and wings are hollow, allowing ready access to clear parts for those who wish to light the model with LEDs. The walkways are “troughs” with the “ceilings” being separate flat parts to be cast in clear. The main parts of the walkways need detailing and will not have the open doorways.
Apr 152019
Well, here’s another bit of bummer news for the day…
SpaceX’s Center Core Booster for Falcon Heavy Rocket Is Lost at Sea
Turns out tall narrow things standing unsecured on the deck of a barge in 8 to 10 foot swells? Not so secure.
Apr 152019
We’ve known for a long time that long durations in microgravity does the human body no favors. Scott Kelly’s year in space has helped nail down the effects, but a lot of confusion remains.
What a Year in Space Did to Scott Kelly
A lot of it boils down to “things changed while in orbit and changed back when he came back to earth. Some effects went really weird… his cognitive function went *up* in space, dropped well below normal when he came back, and slowly crawled back up… but not to the pre-flight standard.
So far as we know, there are three main influencers on human physioloy while in space:
- Stress
- Lack of gravity
- increased radiation
The lack of gravity, of course, can be dealt with… just build your space stations and long duration spacecraft with artificial gravity in mind. Stress… shrug. Being in a tin can in space is probably gonna be stressful no matter what you do. Radiation… a few tricks can be played, but until the time we’re building spaceships so vast that several *meters* of physical shielding separate you from the cosmic rays zipping around, radiation is just going to be one of those things.
Apr 132019
So, good job to the team of people who have labored on this thing. I just remain baffled by what the thing is actually gonna *do.* Without Paul Allen, SpaceX, or their own dedicated launcher, it just seems like a plane without a purpose.
Apr 132019
Latest Ajax renders. There will be a few parts cast in clear: the canopy, obviously, along with the “lights” on the underside of the nose. The model isn’t being made *specifically* for lighting, but it’d be pretty spiffy with lights. It will also have a basic set of details for the bridge.
Apr 112019
UPDATE: Launched, both boosters *and* the core successfully recovered, payload in correct initial orbit.
Suck it, flattards!