Brit attempted launch of rocket from plane fails

RichA

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Jan 11, 2023, 12:20:27 PM1/11/23

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https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-64223882

Martin Brown

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Jan 12, 2023, 6:12:07 AM1/12/23

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On 11/01/2023 17:20, RichA wrote:
> https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-64223882
>
The rocket launch from the plane succeeded it was the second stage
propulsion system that failed and so the satellites were all lost.

I expect the cost to insure then next time will be rather higher.

I note that you are strangely quiet on the fact that it was private
enterprise rocket - Richard Branson's "Virgin Orbit" that failed.

I'm not convinced that having a UK space port in Cornwall makes any
sense at all - you might as well steal as much orbital velocity from the
planets rotation by launching at lower latitudes.

The only reason that Cornwall airport exists today is so that London and
Dublin based politicians can quickly get to their holiday homes in
Cornwall for weekend breaks.

https://www.cornwallairportnewquay.com/live-flights

--
Regards,
Martin Brown

Gerald Kelleher

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Jan 12, 2023, 10:25:23 AM1/12/23

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The obvious question is, what the rotational velocity at the Equator is?

Sorry all those fine scientists in London, including those up at Greenwich hill, won't accept the 1037.5 mph value consistent with the 24-hour and Lat/Long systems, along with all the history of that location.

You will feel better and relieved once you admit that they made an awful mistake centuries ago by dumping everything into the daily change in the position of the stars in circumpolar motion and the basis of RA/Dec

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYy0EQBnqHI

"... our clocks kept so good a correspondence with the Heavens that I doubt it not but they would prove the revolutions of the Earth to be isochronical... " John Flamsteed to Jonas Moore

Then again, a certain section of English society has adopted the motto of never apologise and never explain. I admire what John Harrison did and many of the other great English innovators but not the theorists following Sir Isaac and Flamsteed, including you.

RichA

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Jan 12, 2023, 8:37:10 PM1/12/23

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On Thursday, 12 January 2023 at 06:12:07 UTC-5, Martin Brown wrote:
> On 11/01/2023 17:20, RichA wrote:
> > https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-64223882
> >
> The rocket launch from the plane succeeded it was the second stage
> propulsion system that failed and so the satellites were all lost.
>
> I expect the cost to insure then next time will be rather higher.
>
> I note that you are strangely quiet on the fact that it was private
> enterprise rocket - Richard Branson's "Virgin Orbit" that failed.

Branson's efforts aren't exactly Space-X in scope, he's a hobbyist.

>
> I'm not convinced that having a UK space port in Cornwall makes any
> sense at all - you might as well steal as much orbital velocity from the
> planets rotation by launching at lower latitudes.
>

How is the weather there?

> The only reason that Cornwall airport exists today is so that London and
> Dublin based politicians can quickly get to their holiday homes in
> Cornwall for weekend breaks.

No different than putting construction plants for fighter jets or bases for rockets in swamps
or out in the middle of nowhere. It's always politics. Like the U.S. defense industry.

RichA

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Jan 12, 2023, 9:01:26 PM1/12/23

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On Wednesday, 11 January 2023 at 12:20:27 UTC-5, RichA wrote:
> https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-64223882

Just a follow up. This explanation sounds really massaged. It sounds like the rocket blew up, or was blown up even though it had reached 112 miles above the Earth. I wonder at what altitude the satellites were to be released at?

https://phys.org/news/2023-01-virgin-orbit-premature-shutdown-rocket.html

Martin Brown

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Jan 13, 2023, 4:53:57 AM1/13/23

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I'm guessing here that the second stage cutting out prematurely meant
that the vehicle had the altitude but it did not attain the necessary
velocity to orbit the Earth and so it fell back in a parabolic free fall
trajectory and burnt up on reentry (or was deliberately exploded).

I doubt if they would intentionally blow it up >100 miles above the
Earth's surface since some fragments of shrapnel might then end up at or
near escape and in orbits that could hit other satellites.

If you want proper amateur science academic rockets then Starchaser is
the one to beat. Really nice guy and he literally started out with sugar
(sponsored by Sankey) and perchlorate way back in the 1990's. These days
he is licensed to use commercial rocket propellant (but not at first).

https://www.space.com/2960-starchaser-racing-virgin-space.html

Again inclined to have heroic failures than successful launches but on a
miniscule budget compared to all the other players in this game.

--
Regards,
Martin Brown

Gerald Kelleher

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Jan 13, 2023, 11:20:31 AM1/13/23

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You would have some authority if you could manage the basic rotational facts of a round and rotating planet; however, as you are a RA/Dec enthusiast who doesn't believe the planet turns at a rate of 15 degrees per hour, you belong with flat-earthers who are also engineers and whatnot.

RichA

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Jan 16, 2023, 1:27:00 AM1/16/23

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Why do I see the "space race" bankrupting nations the way the Cold War did the Russians?