"The fundamental flow mechanism is the pressure delta across the umbilical."
  • AutoTL;DR@lemmings.worldBEnglish
    4·
    1 month ago

    This is the best summary I could come up with:

    Some time next year, NASA believes SpaceX will be ready to link two Starships in orbit for an ambitious refueling demonstration, a technical feat that will put the Moon within reach.

    SpaceX is under contract with NASA to supply two human-rated Starships for the first two astronaut landings on the Moon through the agency’s Artemis program, which aims to return people to the lunar surface for the first time since 1972.

    This means they can eventually be reused for multiple missions, and ultimately, could take advantage of propellants produced from resources on the Moon or Mars.

    Kshatriya said that while engineers are still analyzing the results of the cryogenic transfer demonstration, the test on the March Starship flight “was successful by all accounts.”

    Achieving an in-orbit engine restart—necessary to guide Starship toward a controlled reentry—is a prerequisite for future launches into a stable higher orbit, where the ship could loiter for hours, days, or weeks to deploy satellites and attempt refueling.

    To achieve that goal, SpaceX plans to recover and rapidly reuse Starships and Super Heavy boosters, building on expertise from the partially reusable Falcon 9 rocket.

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  • Decronym@lemmy.decronym.xyzBEnglish
    3·
    1 month ago

    Acronyms, initialisms, abbreviations, contractions, and other phrases which expand to something larger, that I’ve seen in this thread:

    Jargon Definition
    cryogenic Very low temperature fluid; materials that would be gaseous at room temperature/pressure
    ~ (In re: rocket fuel) Often synonymous with hydrolox
    hydrolox Portmanteau: liquid hydrogen fuel, liquid oxygen oxidizer
    ullage motor Small rocket motor that fires to push propellant to the bottom of the tank, when in zero-g

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  • Tar_Alcaran@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    3·
    1 month ago

    The fundamental flow mechanism is because of the pressure delta across the umbilical," Kshatriya said.

    So, they don’t plan on using a pump, just thrust and inertia? I don’t get this at all? And won’t that leave a lot of the fuel in the tanker, especially on later launches?

    • threelonmusketeers@sh.itjust.worksOPMEnglish
      2·
      1 month ago

      And won’t that leave a lot of the fuel in the tanker, especially on later launches?

      Not exactly sure what you mean here? Wouldn’t the amount of propellant left in the tanker depend mostly on the location of the “drain” between tanks? I’m also not clear why the problem would compound with multiple launches. Would you be able to clarify?

      • Tar_Alcaran@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
        3·
        1 month ago

        If a “natural” pressure differential is the only thing that’s transferring fuel, you can only ever average out the amount of fuel/pressure in both tanks. So if your craft is at 30%, and your tanker at 50%, a natural delta will result in both craft ending up with 40%.

        I guess they want to settle the liquid fuel with ullage thrust, and then vent the gas in the craft, but not in the tanker, letting more flow into the craft? The article is very light on details.

        • threelonmusketeers@sh.itjust.worksOPMEnglish
          3·
          1 month ago

          Oh, yeah, I’m assuming they have to vent the ullage gas in the receiving tanker. Depending on the layout of the thrusters, they might even be able to utilize this gas to produce the some of the thrust during the propellant transfer.