SpaceX CEO Elon Musk -- Ariane 5 has no chance.
Posted on 02/02/2016 11:31:13 AM PST by BenLurkin
The Ariane 5 rocket is a workhorse for delivering satellites and other payloads into orbit, but fitting the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) inside one is pushing the boundaries of the Ariane 5’s capabilities, and advancing our design of space observatories at the same time.
The Ariane 5 is the most modern design in the ESA’s Ariane rocket series. It’s responsible for delivering things like Rosetta, the Herschel Space Observatory, and the Planck Observatory into space. The ESA is supplying an Ariane 5 to the JWST mission, and with the planned launch date for that mission less than three years away, it’s a good time to check in with the Ariane 5 and the JWST.
The Ariane 5 has a long track record of success, often carrying multiple satellites into orbit in a single launch.
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(Excerpt) Read more at universetoday.com ...
No NASA boosters that capable anymore, eh?
The Ariane 5 is a massive (cough) 7 ton lift engine ...
Two years after the launch, the Russian Fenix new tech engines will be lifting 150+ tons ...
Very techno geek cool.
“No NASA boosters that capable anymore, eh?”
That would put the U.S. out front. It’s like world wide
affirmative action and the U.S. is the white male.
It would be a gross display of superior engineering,
genius in longevity and the rugged individualism needed
to get the job done which would reek havoc on the self
esteem of the rest of the world.
It make make them mad and attack like they did in
Benghazi.
atlas 5 does not have horses to get the JWT to L2.
ULA does not have the rocket. NASA only contract’s for the ride.
Seems so long now that i will be dead by the time the JW telescope gets launched.
Even this it will be my grandchildren crossing their fingers hoping the thing actually deploys....
Having been around working Rocketdyne F-1 engines, my perspective on ‘massive’ is a bit different.
that was a (cough) massive ... the new Russian Fenix will dwarf the F-1. 150 tons to orbit maybe more, 2020 or so if they don’t lose funding. Falcon XX in about the same league at 154 tons.
Humm ... just read that Musk plans on retiring to Mars ...
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