Unanswered Questions
2,261 questions with no upvoted or accepted answers
18
votes
0
answers
819
views
Have there ever been any incidents where something valuable was unintentionally thrown out with the trash?
In "What do astronauts do with their trash on the ISS?", a commentator asked the title question and was encouraged to make it a new question, but apparently never did.
The linked question is ...
18
votes
0
answers
450
views
How did "the kid" (John Meisenheimer) calculate that there was a wave in the jet stream and Explorer 1 would be okay to launch?
The tough but timely question NASA at sIxty years, will there be a new moonshot mandate? links to the NASA YouTube video NASA 60th: How It All Began which shows a lot of really nice, historical file ...
17
votes
1
answer
548
views
Does the SpaceX spacesuit address any of the criticisms of ACES raised by Columbia Crew Survival Investigation Report?
A brief history of what Shuttle crews wore for ascent and entry, from the Columbia Crew Survival Investigation Report:
The shuttle was originally designed to be operated in a shirtsleeve (bare-hands) ...
CommunityBot
- 1
16
votes
1
answer
886
views
28V vs. 124V on the ISS
Apparently the US segment of the ISS runs on 124v DC, while the Russian segment is on 28v DC. Why the difference? I understand it is often safer to have several different voltages rather than one, but ...
CommunityBot
- 1
15
votes
1
answer
455
views
Will Soyuz spacecraft be able to visit the Lunar Gateway?
I mean launch from Earth, dock to the gateway and come back.
13
votes
0
answers
348
views
Which kinds of survival equipment does Crew Dragon have, in case of an emergency landing?
Soyuz spacecraft has various survival equipment for different cases of emergency landing.
The cases include water landing, desert landing, snow winter landing (crews have special winter suits). They ...
13
votes
1
answer
692
views
How much does the ISS "banana" or flex under the constantly changing conditions of solar heating?
This answer to Do antennae on the ISS have to constantly move to maintain data links? discusses some of the challenges precisely pointing an antenna mounted to the ISS exterior. While the ISSs orbit ...
CommunityBot
- 1
12
votes
0
answers
443
views
What would be the disadvantages in Ingenuity accompanying Perseverance at a safe distance when the flight test program has been a success?
This answer to the question "How long could the Mars helicopter Ingenuity keep up with the Perseverance rover if it wanted to?" reasons that indeed it could for years !
But according to the ...
- 3,756
12
votes
0
answers
250
views
Does Crew Dragon have a quick-release hatch?
After today's Crew Dragon launch was scrubbed, it took the pad ninjas at least ten minutes to open the hatch. One of the major criticisms of the Apollo Block 1 hatch design after the Apollo 1 fire ...
- 569
11
votes
1
answer
540
views
Has a rocket engine with LOX as the oxidizer ever fired beyond the GEO belt?
Intuitive Machines' Nova-C lunar lander is scheduled to launch in mid-February of this year. Notably, the lander uses liquid methane as fuel and liquid oxygen as the oxidizer, and it will rely on this ...
CommunityBot
- 1
11
votes
0
answers
514
views
Were there any launch vehicles with so heavily pronounced Plume Induced Flow Separation (PIFS), other than Saturn V?
This answer describes a very interesting phenomenon of Plume Induced Flow Separation on Saturn V vehicle.
(Apollo-6 S68-29737 photo, courtesy NASA)
This is, basically, when "fire" from ...
CommunityBot
- 1
10
votes
0
answers
360
views
What's the shiny triangular feature on this Progress vehicle?
Picture from here
What's the shiny, slightly curved triangular plate with rails above it?
A larger version, cropped from here, thanks to a comment by ohsin.
10
votes
0
answers
590
views
Why was the Apollo 6 service module painted white?
All other SM's were silver except Apollo 6. I'm wondering what the justification for this was, if any?
- 2,285
10
votes
0
answers
370
views
What spinoff technologies have come from the Soviet/Russian space program?
There is plenty of information available on NASA spinoff technologies including a Wikipedia page and Space SE question. What innovations are a byproduct of the Russian space program?
- 4,567
9
votes
0
answers
104
views
How does the JWST sunshade cover release work?
In animations of the James Webb Space Telescope unfolding, you see material rolling itself up to uncover the folded-up sunshade. How is that rolling-up process driven? The animations don't show any ...
- 13.1k