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Those big windows are really cool.
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This might be the main highlight from the day though...
Metro: Jeff Bezos face-plants after Blue Origin lands back on Earth |
Now look you lot. Order, order, I will............... to bring this back to sensible, PPRUNE , informed debate - I am told, as I sit in my fold-away deckchair in the field opposite,awaiting the alien invasion, that, Bez & Gates are going head to head for NASA investment in their private space exploration companies. This was just part of it. Oh and also part of the much wider "Agenda".................Ok, OK; I'm back in the fold-away !
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Originally Posted by clareprop
(Post 11866786)
Was it my imagination or was that capsule door opened from the inside (and then shut again very quickly) about five minutes before Bezoz 'opened' it with that special tool? In fact, even that looked to be false as when he leant on it, the door opened immediately without him turning the tool. Special effects for the media?
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Better described as a very expensive Amusement Park Ride.
What a crock. |
Originally Posted by DuncanDoenitz
(Post 11867172)
Pretty sure I saw that too.
Door was opened from the inside. Then the video feed immediately went offline. When the live feed returned, the door was shut and a few moments later, Bezos and his magic socket wrench pretended to re-open the door. |
Yes, fortunately they disarmed and cross checked the slides first
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Does this mean that the door was not properly secured prior to liftoff ? That's the only explanation I can think of that requires it to be unlocked from the outside with a lever. Will the FAA be asking awkward questions ?
Anyway, it looked like a fun hen party trip. |
Originally Posted by B Fraser
(Post 11868710)
Does this mean that the door was not properly secured prior to liftoff ? That's the only explanation I can think of that requires it to be unlocked from the outside with a lever. Will the FAA be asking awkward questions ?
Anyway, it looked like a fun hen party trip. |
A Ryanair ride for the 'crew' without control or a pressure suit :eek:
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Originally Posted by clareprop
(Post 11869365)
It just spoiled the photo op for Mr Bezoz. As I understand it, all crewed spacecraft are required to have a door which can be opened from the inside. Presumably, 'real' spacecraft that are going into orbit have a fairly complicated affair but this one, I'm guessing, has a pressurised aircraft style door which just opens with a lever.
One of the "passengers" on a Shuttle flight noticed that the door could be easily opened whilst in orbit i.e. there was no locking mechanism that had to be overcome. The commander commented that it could, but nobody would be that stupid. The "passenger" was kept an eye on for the duration of the flight. |
Originally Posted by B Fraser
(Post 11869804)
Quite possibly although his photo op requiring him to open the door for them is a bit daft.
One of the "passengers" on a Shuttle flight noticed that the door could be easily opened whilst in orbit i.e. there was no locking mechanism that had to be overcome. The commander commented that it could, but nobody would be that stupid. The "passenger" was kept an eye on for the duration of the flight. CollectSpace - Discussion on padlock. |
New Glenn launch is tomorrow.
November 9th from 2:45PM EST to 4:44PM EST (19:45-21:44 UTC) NASA Spaceflight Link (NSF) |
Launch was scrubbed. Next launch window on Wednesday 12th of November.
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Well that was bloody impressive.
Second attempt and they've absolutely nailed it. |
Yes, incredible! Picture-perfect performance. And they don't talk about it all the time, they just keep quiet and do it. Congratulations, Blue Origin!
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I find comfort and pride in the fact that two American companies are able to perform these amazing technological miracles! Well Done, Mssrs. Bezos and Musk!
- Ed |
A pity the excellent feeds are spoilt by over excited screaming children.
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The chase camera they had up was excellent - from separation thru re-entryburn until the bloody clouds got in the way!
https://www.digitaltrends.com/wp-con...nn-landing.jpg Jeff just needs some Starlink to get higher quality video back in real time :hmm: |
Originally Posted by ZFT
(Post 11988780)
A pity the excellent feeds are spoilt by over excited screaming children.
Had the room been full of Brits, there would have been a round of applause and comments such as "not bad, is the bar still open ?". Well done cousins, it was genuinely impressive. |
Originally Posted by MostlyHarmless
(Post 11989081)
Jeff just needs some Starlink to get higher quality video back in real time :hmm:
But seriously. Falcon family here, Starship/Superheavy there, I must applaud the Blue team. Slowly but steadily - they are closing in. Second attempt and nice precision with the landing on the ship. Satellite/Space Missions on first attempt. All in all, they have a very good (classical) engineering and an effective management (compared to old industry). And I shall not forget the production/quality_control! Now show me the reusability of that booster, and I am totally blown off. Congratulations! |
Blue Origin have announced that they plan to reuse this booster on the unmanned moon landing mission with the Blue Moon robotic lander early next year.
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All in all, they have a very good (classical) engineering and an effective management (compared to old industry). And I shall not forget the production/quality_control! Now show me the reusability of that booster, and I am totally blown off. SpaceX now has Falcon 9 turnaround times down to 9 days*, the aim for the Starship Heavy Booster is same day turnaround. * https://www.theweeklyspaceman.com/ar...2D57%20mission. They do seem to have a niche market though. Falcon has the satellite LEO market sewn up - around 99% reliability, fast turn around and small enough to put pylons into designated orbits from equatorial to polar. Starship will replace Falcon Heavy (the same niche as Glenn) and offer far lower costs per ton for heavy payloads. |
………………
[quote]Blue Origin press release: Blue Origin to Pause New Shepard Flights for No Less Than Two Years Resources will be redirected to further accelerate lunar human flight program Blue Origin today announced it will pause its New Shepard flights and shift resources to further accelerate development of the company's human lunar capabilities. The decision reflects Blue Origin's commitment to the nation's goal of returning to the Moon and establishing a permanent, sustained lunar presence. New Shepard is the first reusable spaceflight system to vertically land and has flown 38 times and carried 98 humans above the Kármán line to date. New Shepard has launched more than 200 scientific and research payloads from students, academia, research organizations, and NASA. This consistent and reliable performance, combined with an exceptional customer experience, has resulted in a multi-year customer backlog. |
NEWS: SpaceX has filed a letter with the FCC, accusing Amazon of continuing to violate its approved orbital debris mitigation plan. "Amazon is dispensing satellites 50-90 km higher than authorized and without adequate coordination or information sharing. Amazon’s and its launch partner Arianespace’s negligence needlessly and significantly increases risk to other operational systems and inhabited spacecraft. To be clear, Amazon and Arianespace can easily launch in a manner that dramatically decreases this risk if they simply adjust their launch plans to bring them into compliance with Amazon’s authorization." Full letter: https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....cef52615f8.png |
The stage is set at LC-36 for @blueorigin and their New Glenn rocket, aiming to launch @AST_SpaceMobile's BlueBird 7 satellite into orbit no earlier than tomorrow morning. This is Blue's first attempt to reuse GS1 booster, "Never Tell Me The Odds", marking a significant milestone in the New Glenn program and the company's long-term vision of reusable orbital-class hardware. The two-hour launch window opens at 6:45am EDT - go NG-3! |
"re-use" but they've swapped out all the engines from the last flight.
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Good launch and safe booster landing on the recovery ship offshore.
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Great stuff. Space X have serious competition.
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The operation was a success, but the patient died……
NG-3 Update: We have confirmed payload separation. AST SpaceMobile has confirmed the satellite has powered on. The payload was placed into an off-nominal orbit. We are currently assessing and will update when we have more detailed information. Unverified, but elsewhere have seen 460km x 164km. EARLY ORBIT DATA SUGGESTS RECOVERABLE SCENARIO Unverified numbers like 460 km x 164 km point to a highly elliptical orbit, with a reasonably high apogee and a low perigee that is the real concern. The key issue is that ~160 km perigee sits in the upper atmosphere. At that altitude, drag is non trivial and the satellite will lose energy each orbit. Left uncorrected, that leads to rapid orbital decay. So in its current state, that orbit is not stable. But this is not automatically a loss. If BlueBird 7 is healthy, has attitude control, and has sufficient onboard propulsion, the problem becomes a recovery exercise. The priority would be raising perigee, not apogee. That is a relatively efficient maneuver if executed early, and once perigee is lifted into a more stable regime, the orbit can then be circularized over time. What determines outcome now comes down to three variables. How quickly AST can begin orbit raising. How much propellant margin the satellite has. And how the spacecraft is oriented and controlled during these early passes through denser atmosphere. A scenario like 460 x 164 is not a clean insertion, but it is also not inherently mission ending. There is a credible path where this becomes a usable orbit with some loss of lifetime or margin. There is also a path where drag wins before corrections are completed. So this sits in the middle ground. Not a nominal success, but very much within the range of recoverable outcomes if the spacecraft is performing and intervention happens quickly. |
Update -apparently the orbit is not recoverable:
AST Spacemobile BlueBird 7 Satellite Lost ASTS admits the satellite is too low and cannot be saved. Based on what the orbit appears to be. 20kg of fuel they can only raise it part of the way. During the New Glenn 3 mission, BlueBird 7 was placed into a lower than planned orbit by the upper stage of the launch vehicle. While the satellite separated from the launch vehicle and powered on, the altitude is too low to sustain operations with its on-board thruster technology and will de-orbited. |
As we know, New Glenn's upper stage failed to conduct its planned circularization burn; this left the payload in an unrecoverable low orbit. We have tracking data on the payload - however, there is no data provided for the New Glenn upper-stage at this time. It's safe to assume it did not complete a disposal burn. New Glenn upper stage and payload will re-enter within the next 4-5 days. New Glenn upper stage dry mass is around 25 metric tons and measures in at ~ 77ft x 23ft which is comparable to the Long March 5B stage that the CASC left in orbit a few years ago. New Glenn's upper stage poses a significant risk to locations between 36.11 degrees N/S latitude and will generate a large debris field. If it re-enters over land, largely intact pieces may be found, possibly as large as 5 feet or more in diameter. Lighter-weight spherical objects such as COPVs are expected to partially/completely survive re-entry. |
Bad engine, it seems
Preliminary data indicate that one of the upper stage engines failed to produce enough thrust, Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp said. |
Something has de-orbited according to the NYT.
Jonathan McDowell, a retired astrophysicist who is an expert in space debris, said the United States Space Force, which tracks tens of thousands of objects in orbit, reported that an object it identified as the satellite dropped out of orbit on Monday. The Space Force has not identified the New Glenn upper stage, and some experts felt it was possible that it had mixed up the satellite with the stage. “The upper stage is the big mystery right now,” Dr. McDowell said. |
Something still up there...
We observed a man-made celestial object of negative magnitude moving at high speed. This is footage captured from my home near the zenith at 4:00 AM on April 20, 2026. Based on orbital determination, it appears to have an inclination of approximately 36 degrees and an altitude of about 175 km. It is possibly the New Glenn upper stage that failed to reach orbit, and if so, this would be its state about 7.5 hours after launch. It is expected to reenter in just a few days. |
A big boom
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Wow! Teaches one to continue to keep a hell of respect for those machines (Astronauts etc.). What a bucket of energy!
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The main loss here isn’t the ship - it’s the pad, LC36. (Which is why SpceX and NASA have separate sites for their static fire tests so their lunch pad and all the GSE isn’t at risk.
Building repairing LC36 will not be quick - SpaceX took 15 months. The lightning tower is gone. The Transporter-Erector is gone, the GSE is destroyed. The concrete of the pad itself and it’s foundations will have to be repaired if not dug up and replaced before any of the other work can start. |
https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/0...tic-fire-test/
The most spectacular rocket explosion since N1 just happened in Florida |
Well, that's not good.
Scott Manley has had a good look at it. Worth a few minutes of your time. |
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