Re: NASA test rocket explodes (ATK's ALV X-1)

In sci.space.policy message <48be0f12.1485673656@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
Fri, 22 Aug 2008 19:11:11, Rand Simberg <simberg.interglobal@xxxxxxxxx>
posted:
On Fri, 22 Aug 2008 14:03:33 -0400, in a place far, far away, "Jeff
Findley" <jeff.findley@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> made the phosphor on my monitor
glow in such a way as to indicate that:

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/08/22/nasa_rocket_failure/

Since it "went bang" 27 seconds into the flight, it could very well be a
catastrophic failure of the solid first stage. ATK's got some explaining to
do!

I've heard that it was on RSO command. But it seems like they never
learn, flying payloads on untested vehicles.

No worse than firing a rocket that might work with nothing useful on the
top of it.

It's just a question of comparing the value gained by using the payload
with the cost of wasting a payload, in combination with the estimated
probability of it working. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose; but
estimate correctly and you can win in the end. That's hoe bookmakers
usually get rich.


I think I may have read that the first Falcon 9 to berth at ISS will
carry no cargo. That would be silly. Load it moderately with items not
immediately needed that would be useful at ISS but whose cost on the
ground is negligible compared with the normal cost of delivery to ISS;
items that, if delivered by F9, could be struck off later Progress / F9
/ ATV / HTV / Orion manifests.

I don't know the figures; but if Progress costs $30M and carries 3
tonnes, that's $10K per kg delivery. At 30g/pr, wholesale cost perhaps
$1/pr, socks would cost a mere $30/kg. It seems worth gambling $30 of
socks if $10K of Progress might be saved. Of course, spaceman-rated
socks might cost more.

I believe that Progress cargo includes water, a substance readily and
cheaply available in Florida ...

--
(c) John Stockton, nr London, UK. ?@merlyn.demon.co.uk Turnpike v6.05 MIME.
Web <URL:http://www.merlyn.demon.co.uk/> - FAQish topics, acronyms, & links.
Proper <= 4-line sig. separator as above, a line exactly "-- " (SonOfRFC1036)
Do not Mail News to me. Before a reply, quote with ">" or "> " (SonOfRFC1036)
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: overhead costs - opportunity costs
    ... complex and the is a significant opportinity cost for delay as ... the Resource Sheet create a material resource with a material label ... assign this material resource to the top summary line. ... I'm not sure what you mean about not showing summary progress. ...
    (microsoft.public.project)
  • Re: Percentage
    ... Saving a baseline before starting to post in the progress will give you what ... Project compares schedule against baseline and can give you ... resources with a cost of $1 and assign them to the tasks. ...
    (microsoft.public.project)
  • Re: progress meter for Calculation?
    ... I think if you added a helper column you could do it with a SUMIF (which is ... put the actual cost amounts, and that's where the trouble really comes in. ... how to speed up Excel calculation. ... I see lots of progress meters out there for monitoring the progress ...
    (microsoft.public.excel.misc)
  • Re: progress %
    ... and there will be no such thing as progress. ... You can only analyse what you can measure, and you can only measure what ... Hours and Dollars and you can count the pigeons. ... so I the cost fields are empty... ...
    (microsoft.public.project)
  • Re: overhead costs - opportunity costs
    ... complex and the is a significant opportinity cost for delay ... the Resource Sheet create a material resource with a material ... assign this material resource to the top summary ... I'm not sure what you mean about not showing summary progress. ...
    (microsoft.public.project)
Loading