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Rocket Launch in New Zealand Brings Quick, Cheap Space Access

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Re: Rocket Launch in New Zealand Brings Quick, Cheap Space Access

#61

Post by curuinor »

peatmoss wrote: post #2

The years I spent in New Zealand painted a vivid picture of a society of doers. I think there’s something to the idea that this comes in part from being a landmass the size of Colorado, with not much more than 4 million people, with the freedom and requirements to maintain the infrastructure of being a sovereign nation. Seeing a NZ rocket launch condures an image of a small group of doers dreaming big. Way to go NZ!

Wait, isn't Rocket Lab an american company, and they're just locating the rocket in NZ?

Founders were Kiwis but HQ is in California...

Re: Rocket Launch in New Zealand Brings Quick, Cheap Space Access

#62

Post by lostlogin »

sandworm101 wrote: post #44
rsynnott wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They probably mean hydrazine. The Russian Proton rocket uses it, though it’s being discontinued. This isn’t a uniquely Russian oddity, by the way; the European Ariane IV and US Titan IV were still in use into the last decade.

UDMH. This is why Musk can stand beside a crashed falcon rocket while a crashed russian rocket must be approached in suits.

>must be approached in suits

Locals make a living scavenging the toxic parts and have awful health problems as a result. http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/crux/2018/06/07/in-russia-...

Re: Rocket Launch in New Zealand Brings Quick, Cheap Space Access

#63

Post by dtkav »

MichaelMoser123 wrote: post #31

Do these nano satellites turn into some form of space junk, when will the orbit deteriorate / will they burn up? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_debris

As long as cubesat launch providers stick to ~500km orbits, they will typically deorbit within a few years (depending on their ballistic coefficient). The ITU guideline is a max lifetime of 25 years. They burn up in the atmosphere on re-entry.

More info here: https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-R/space/workshops/2015-prague-sma...

Re: Rocket Launch in New Zealand Brings Quick, Cheap Space Access

#64

Post by discoball »

tambourine_man wrote: post #42
nkurz wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For the those wondering why he chuckles, here's the song in question: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGOohBytKTU

Thanks for that, I had a good laugh. I’m still amazed there are videos of something you’ve never heard of with 35 million views.

I remember Flight of the Conchords was a huge hit in the Bay area in 2007-2009 amongst the hipster-ish and nerdy crowd. We used to torrent it =) along with HyperDrive (British comedy set in space) and the super popular IT Crowds. All great shows.

I think HBO allows you to watch it for free now: https://www.hbo.com/flight-of-the-conchords

Re: Rocket Launch in New Zealand Brings Quick, Cheap Space Access

#65

Post by cheyne_nz »

curuinor wrote: post #61
peatmoss wrote: post #2

The years I spent in New Zealand painted a vivid picture of a society of doers. I think there’s something to the idea that this comes in part from being a landmass the size of Colorado, with not much more than 4 million people, with the freedom and requirements to maintain the infrastructure of being a sovereign nation. Seeing a NZ rocket launch condures an image of a small group of doers dreaming big. Way to go NZ!

Wait, isn't Rocket Lab an american company, and they're just locating the rocket in NZ? Founders were Kiwis but HQ is in California...

Mission Control was in Auckland.They used to be an NZ company but incorporated in the US to get a launch license as it was apparently much easier as a US company. Most of their work and staff is still in NZ

Re: Rocket Launch in New Zealand Brings Quick, Cheap Space Access

#66

Post by fvdessen »

dwd wrote: post #9

I'm still chuckling that they called the rocket "It's Business Time". I'm guessing partly a hat tip to SpaceX and the naming of their drone ships, but more so named after a song by the Flight of the Conchords.

> I'm still chuckling that they called the rocket "It's Business Time".

A more sensible choice than "The Humans Are Dead"

Re: Rocket Launch in New Zealand Brings Quick, Cheap Space Access

#67

Post by masklinn »

InTheArena wrote: post #38
sandworm101 wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It gets worse than that. The russian site also has to not fly over chinese territory, further increasing their minimum inclination. Chinese dont want thier stinking rockets falling on china. (Literally. Russian rockets use some nasty stuff that groups like SpaceX have stayed far away from.)

Only the Chinese get to drop rockets on their towns. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJRZ-eyncVk The Red Plume you see is Hypergolic fuels - the aforementioned "bad stuff". Highly toxic and carcinogenic.

Hypergolic doesn't mean "bad stuff", "highly toxic" or "carcinogenic" though, it just means "ignites on its own" (it's usually though not necessarily a combination of a fuel and an oxidiser[0])

Then again, hypergolic components are generally extremely toxic or ridiculously corrosive or both.

[0] generally because e.g. Chlorine Trifluoride is such a strong oxidiser it's famously[1] hypergolic with stuff not usually considered "fuel" like cloth, people, water, sand or asbestos

[1] http://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/archives/2008/02/26/san...

Re: Rocket Launch in New Zealand Brings Quick, Cheap Space Access

#68

Post by dtkav »

gersh wrote: post #17

As launching satellites into space becomes cheaper, I'd imagine we will get increasing issues of satellite collisions and interference. Do we need a regulatory framework to address this? I understand space is becoming increasingly militarized. I wonder what a war will of shooting at satellites will look like. What would happen if all the satellites were taken out?

The Combined Space Operations Center (part of the US military) tracks space objects (satellites, debris) and their risk of collision (called conjunctions). They send satellite operators conjunction warnings, so that they can take action if need be.

Re: Rocket Launch in New Zealand Brings Quick, Cheap Space Access

#69

Post by masklinn »

sandworm101 wrote: post #44
rsynnott wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They probably mean hydrazine. The Russian Proton rocket uses it, though it’s being discontinued. This isn’t a uniquely Russian oddity, by the way; the European Ariane IV and US Titan IV were still in use into the last decade.

UDMH. This is why Musk can stand beside a crashed falcon rocket while a crashed russian rocket must be approached in suits.

As long as it didn't crash with a Dragon anyway (that uses MMH).

Re: Rocket Launch in New Zealand Brings Quick, Cheap Space Access

#70

Post by Qworg »

schoen wrote: post #57
tootie wrote: post #39

> The rocket dubbed “It’s Business Time” took off just before 5 p.m. We've advanced to the point of giving jokey pop culture names to space vehicles. And if they wanted to promote New Zealand's prominence in the world, they couldn't have made a better choice. https://youtu.be/WGOohBytKTU

Compare the SpaceX barge names, which are taken from Iain M. Banks books: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autonomous_spaceport_drone_shi...

The culture we have versus the Culture we want?
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