Space Access Notes: Day One
Ok, I promised to put some stuff up on the blog about the Space Access conference two weeks ago, so here's part one of the core dump. I'm just going to touch on ideas or news that I hadn't already heard a ton before, because if I've heard it a lot before, you probably have too. Sorry if this comes out kinda jumbled and schizophrenic, I don't really have time to try and filter it all down into something more journalistic--my Zeitgeist distillation unit is in the shop for repairs at the moment.
Henry Spencer: Introduction to Space Access
After a brief introduction from Henry V, Henry Spencer has been the openning speaker at all the Space Access conferences I've been to. He usually gives a little primer on orbital dynamics that is simplified enough that pretty much anyone who wants to can understand it (little Jonny only lasted for 10 minutes of his talk though). A lot of his talk covered some fairly well trod ground, but he did make a point or two that was interesting.
First off, he criticized the meme that had we just kept going after X-15 building higher and faster airplanes, that we would have eventually had an orbital RLV. He pointed out while there is some merit to the discussion, "we didn't creat aircraft by making faster steam locomotives". Basically, while there is a lot in common between aircraft and reusable space vehicles, one should be careful not to take the analogy any farther then it really goes. While there are definitely good lessons and design ideas to take from aircraft, we don't want our rockets having vestigal organs now do we?
The other good point he made, while not quite as new was also important: savability. Basically, he said that for a good RLV if you don't have intact abort through as much of the flight as possible, you'll never get reliability. You want to be able to save not just the payload, but the whole vehicle as well, in case of almost all accidents. It's much harder to figure out what went wrong and fix it if you're trying to pick up rocket droppings out of the ocean. He also made the point that Launch Escape Systems (which are all the rage at NASA these days) are really a bandaid. You want to be able to recover the whole vehicle, and all the cargo, not just the crew. The whole idea that it's ok to go through great lengths to save the crew, but that a billion dollar satellite isn't worth saving, is just plain silly. Now, how to make a vehicle that has intact abort over as much of its flight regime as possible? If it were easy, people like me wouldn't have a job, now would we?
Intermission
After Henry's talk, when I went out into the courtyard there at the hotel, John Carmack and several of the Armadillo guys were showing off some pieces of hardware to some of the other MSS guys, and Dave asked me to go get our engine chamber that I had brought with me in the car. It was kind of fun, and quite a relief that in spite of the fact that our two companies are IMO the main competitors for over a million dollars worth of prizes this fall, that we were both still on good, friendly terms, and that we were still able to openly discuss a lot of the lessons we had learned along the way. There were still obviously some "magic squirrel juice" lines for both companies, where we didn't want to give too much away, but it was quite fun shooting the breeze and trading ideas. That's one of the big things I noticed this year over last year. As several of us who are "playing for keeps" in this industry have gotten further along, I think we've realized that collaboration is just as important as competition (moreso in fact) in a new industry like this one.
Leik Myrabo: Laser Launch
Ok, I finally got back in in time to catch Leik's talk. I like Leik, and he is making some progress on things, but I just really have a hard time believing that he'll ever get his stuff to work. Multi GW lasers pointing down from orbit to illuminate spacecraft? Being able to superheat hydrogen and run in through an MHD conversion system to generate GW of electrical power in something not too much bigger than a suitcase? None of his stuff is physically impossible, just seems like it is mostly premature and/or impractical when you figure in all that would really be involved in implementation. That said, it is very cool. I just hope he can figure out a better way to develop this that doesn't depend on governments "having the power of will to spend the money it takes" to build all the infrastructure for him.
Lee Valentine: Space Studies Institute
Next up was a good friend, Lee Valentine. Lee's and SSI have been working quietly behind the scenes for the last many years trying to demonstrate the technologies that will be necessary for space settlement and industrialization. As Lee put it, SSI's goal was to help the settlement and industrialization of space through private enterprise and private capital formation. Their accomplishments to jaw-flapping ratio seems a lot higher than most space organizations out there, including doing hardware work with lunar regolith separation stuff (taking advantage of the different magnetic moments of some of the materials), mass driver development, closed loop life support systems, etc. They're also looking for other "high-levarage" hardware projects--projects where they can make the biggest difference the quickest and for the least amount of required money. I honestly probably haven't followed SSI as closely as I should, because they seem to be succesfully doing serious hardware projects in a much better manner than most other space advocacy groups.
Wrap-Up
After Lee's talk, all of us MSS guys stepped out for an hour or two to hold a quick all-hands planning meeting since we were all together. I obviously can't go into details, just wanted to explain why I missed the rest of the talks. After we got out, I ended up staying up ridiculously late chatting with Jeff Greason, Alex Bruccoleri, and several others. Since I missed Alex's talk about Microwave Thermal rocketry, I discussed his progress a bit with him. He was trying to come up with a good subscale way of demonstrating the idea inexpensively.
Henry Spencer: Introduction to Space Access
After a brief introduction from Henry V, Henry Spencer has been the openning speaker at all the Space Access conferences I've been to. He usually gives a little primer on orbital dynamics that is simplified enough that pretty much anyone who wants to can understand it (little Jonny only lasted for 10 minutes of his talk though). A lot of his talk covered some fairly well trod ground, but he did make a point or two that was interesting.
First off, he criticized the meme that had we just kept going after X-15 building higher and faster airplanes, that we would have eventually had an orbital RLV. He pointed out while there is some merit to the discussion, "we didn't creat aircraft by making faster steam locomotives". Basically, while there is a lot in common between aircraft and reusable space vehicles, one should be careful not to take the analogy any farther then it really goes. While there are definitely good lessons and design ideas to take from aircraft, we don't want our rockets having vestigal organs now do we?
The other good point he made, while not quite as new was also important: savability. Basically, he said that for a good RLV if you don't have intact abort through as much of the flight as possible, you'll never get reliability. You want to be able to save not just the payload, but the whole vehicle as well, in case of almost all accidents. It's much harder to figure out what went wrong and fix it if you're trying to pick up rocket droppings out of the ocean. He also made the point that Launch Escape Systems (which are all the rage at NASA these days) are really a bandaid. You want to be able to recover the whole vehicle, and all the cargo, not just the crew. The whole idea that it's ok to go through great lengths to save the crew, but that a billion dollar satellite isn't worth saving, is just plain silly. Now, how to make a vehicle that has intact abort over as much of its flight regime as possible? If it were easy, people like me wouldn't have a job, now would we?
Intermission
After Henry's talk, when I went out into the courtyard there at the hotel, John Carmack and several of the Armadillo guys were showing off some pieces of hardware to some of the other MSS guys, and Dave asked me to go get our engine chamber that I had brought with me in the car. It was kind of fun, and quite a relief that in spite of the fact that our two companies are IMO the main competitors for over a million dollars worth of prizes this fall, that we were both still on good, friendly terms, and that we were still able to openly discuss a lot of the lessons we had learned along the way. There were still obviously some "magic squirrel juice" lines for both companies, where we didn't want to give too much away, but it was quite fun shooting the breeze and trading ideas. That's one of the big things I noticed this year over last year. As several of us who are "playing for keeps" in this industry have gotten further along, I think we've realized that collaboration is just as important as competition (moreso in fact) in a new industry like this one.
Leik Myrabo: Laser Launch
Ok, I finally got back in in time to catch Leik's talk. I like Leik, and he is making some progress on things, but I just really have a hard time believing that he'll ever get his stuff to work. Multi GW lasers pointing down from orbit to illuminate spacecraft? Being able to superheat hydrogen and run in through an MHD conversion system to generate GW of electrical power in something not too much bigger than a suitcase? None of his stuff is physically impossible, just seems like it is mostly premature and/or impractical when you figure in all that would really be involved in implementation. That said, it is very cool. I just hope he can figure out a better way to develop this that doesn't depend on governments "having the power of will to spend the money it takes" to build all the infrastructure for him.
Lee Valentine: Space Studies Institute
Next up was a good friend, Lee Valentine. Lee's and SSI have been working quietly behind the scenes for the last many years trying to demonstrate the technologies that will be necessary for space settlement and industrialization. As Lee put it, SSI's goal was to help the settlement and industrialization of space through private enterprise and private capital formation. Their accomplishments to jaw-flapping ratio seems a lot higher than most space organizations out there, including doing hardware work with lunar regolith separation stuff (taking advantage of the different magnetic moments of some of the materials), mass driver development, closed loop life support systems, etc. They're also looking for other "high-levarage" hardware projects--projects where they can make the biggest difference the quickest and for the least amount of required money. I honestly probably haven't followed SSI as closely as I should, because they seem to be succesfully doing serious hardware projects in a much better manner than most other space advocacy groups.
Wrap-Up
After Lee's talk, all of us MSS guys stepped out for an hour or two to hold a quick all-hands planning meeting since we were all together. I obviously can't go into details, just wanted to explain why I missed the rest of the talks. After we got out, I ended up staying up ridiculously late chatting with Jeff Greason, Alex Bruccoleri, and several others. Since I missed Alex's talk about Microwave Thermal rocketry, I discussed his progress a bit with him. He was trying to come up with a good subscale way of demonstrating the idea inexpensively.
posted by Jon Goff at 8:33 AM
2 Comments:
Hey, Jon - I really appreciate the coverage. I'm usually running around like my hair's on fire at these things and miss much of the content at the time.
You're welcome Henry. I'm glad that someone is getting some benefit from these notes.
~Jon
Post a Comment
<< Home