OrbitalHub

NASA dicit:

A terrain relative navigation system developed by Draper of Cambridge, Massachusetts, will be tested on a Masten Space Systems Xodiac rocket. The flight is made possible with support from NASA’s Flight Opportunities and Game Changing Development programs. The Draper technology will eventually be ported directly into a NASA-developed descent landing computer for additional testing.

This video shows one of a series of tether tests of the navigation system mounted on the rocket. Tether tests like this ensure the rocket and navigation technology are communicating before the actual suborbital launch and landing.

NASA and commercial partners are relying on the most advanced technology to upgrade navigation for future robotic and crewed missions to the Moon. The agency is developing a suite of precision landing technologies for possible use on future commercial lunar landers.

Video Credit: NASA

Wikipedia dicit:

The Aerojet Rocketdyne RS-25, otherwise known as the Space Shuttle main engine (SSME), is a liquid-fuel cryogenic rocket engine that was used on NASA’s Space Shuttle. NASA is planning to continue using the RS-25 on the Space Shuttle’s successor, the Space Launch System (SLS).

Designed and manufactured in the United States by Rocketdyne (later known as Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne and Aerojet Rocketdyne), the RS-25 burns cryogenic liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen propellants, with each engine producing 1,859 kN (418,000 lbf) of thrust at liftoff. Although the RS-25 can trace its heritage back to the 1960s, concerted development of the engine began in the 1970s, with the first flight, STS-1, occurring on April 12, 1981. The RS-25 has undergone several upgrades over its operational history to improve the engine’s reliability, safety, and maintenance load.

The engine produces a specific impulse (Isp) of 452 seconds (4.43 km/s) in a vacuum, or 366 seconds (3.59 km/s) at sea level, has a mass of approximately 3.5 tonnes (7,700 pounds), and is capable of throttling between 67% and 109% of its rated power level in one-percent increments. The RS-25 operates at temperatures ranging from −253 °C (−423 °F) to 3300 °C (6000 °F).

The Space Shuttle used a cluster of three RS-25 engines mounted in the stern structure of the orbiter, with fuel being drawn from the external tank. The engines were used for propulsion during the entirety of the spacecraft’s ascent, with additional thrust being provided by two solid rocket boosters and the orbiter’s two AJ-10 orbital maneuvering system engines. Following each flight, the RS-25 engines were removed from the orbiter, inspected, and refurbished before being reused on another mission.

Video Credit: Aerojet Rocketdyne

Copenhagen Suborbitals dicit:

Adrian guides you through his project of a Reaction Control System for our crewed Spica space capsule. This system will enable our spacecraft to orient and stabilize itself in the vacuum of space.

Copenhagen Suborbitals is the world’s only manned, amateur space program, 100% crowdfunded and nonprofit. In the future, one of us will fly to space on a home built rocket.

Video Credit: Copenhagen Suborbitals

Wikipedia dicit:

A Soyuz spacecraft consists of three parts (from front to back): a spheroid orbital module, which provides accommodation for the crew during their mission; a small aerodynamic reentry module, which returns the crew to Earth; a cylindrical service module with solar panels attached, which contains the instruments and engines.

The orbital and service modules are single-use and are destroyed upon reentry in the atmosphere. Though this might seem wasteful, it reduces the amount of heat shielding required for reentry, saving mass compared to designs containing all of the living space and life support in a single capsule. This allows smaller rockets to launch the spacecraft or can be used to increase the habitable space available to the crew (6.2 m3 or 220 cu ft in Apollo CM vs 7.5 m3 or 260 cu ft in Soyuz) in the mass budget. The orbital and reentry portions are habitable living space, with the service module containing the fuel, main engines and instrumentation.

Soyuz can carry up to three crew members and provide life support for about 30 person days. The life support system provides a nitrogen/oxygen atmosphere at sea level partial pressures. The atmosphere is regenerated through potassium superoxide (KO2) cylinders, which absorb most of the carbon dioxide (CO2) and water produced by the crew and regenerates the oxygen, and lithium hydroxide (LiOH) cylinders which absorb leftover CO2.

The vehicle is protected during launch by a payload fairing, which is jettisoned along with the SAS at ​2 1⁄2 minutes into launch. It has an automatic docking system. The ship can be operated automatically, or by a pilot independently of ground control.

Video Credit: Roscosmos

NASA dicit:

The […] test was conducted using a qualification version of the propulsion system at NASA’s White Sands Test Facility near Las Cruces, New Mexico. While the system never left the ground, it simulated one of the most taxing situations the spacecraft’s engines could encounter after launch.

This test simulated what is referred to as an abort-to-orbit scenario. In the event the interim cryogenic propulsion stage (ICPS) was unable to set the spacecraft on its path to the Moon, Orion would deliberately separate early from the ICPS and the ESA (European Space Agency)-provided service module’s engines would fire to boost the spacecraft into a safe, temporary orbit. That would allow time to evaluate the crew and spacecraft before a decision is made to either continue with an alternate mission profile, or return to Earth. Under an alternate mission profile, Orion and its crew may still be able to accomplish some of the mission objectives even if the trajectory and the primary mission objective has changed.

During the successful test, engineers simulated the abort-to-orbit scenario by firing the Orion main engine on the service module, in addition to all eight of its auxiliary engines simultaneously. Each of the reaction control thrusters were also periodically fired throughout the test to simulate attitude control and overall propulsion system capacity.

Video Credit: NASA

Wikipedia dicit:

Dragon 2 is a reusable spacecraft developed and manufactured by U.S. aerospace manufacturer SpaceX, intended as the successor to the Dragon cargo spacecraft. The spacecraft launches atop a Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket and return via ocean splashdown. In comparison to Dragon, Dragon 2 has larger windows, new flight computers and avionics, redesigned solar arrays, and a modified outer mold line.

The spacecraft is planned to have two variants – Crew Dragon, a human-rated capsule capable of carrying up to seven astronauts, and Cargo Dragon, an updated replacement for the original Dragon. Cargo Dragon capsules are repurposed flown Crew Dragon capsules. Crew Dragon is equipped with an integrated launch escape system in a set of four side-mounted thruster pods with two SuperDraco engines each. Crew Dragon has been contracted to supply the International Space Station (ISS) with crew under the Commercial Crew Program, with the initial award occurring in October 2014 alongside Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner.

Video Credit: SpaceX