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1. Hoss Delgado (hoss@shitpost.cloud)'s status on Tuesday, 13-Aug-2024 10:49:25 JST Hoss Delgado
   Whoopsie doodles your quick trip to space accidentally turned into an 8 month-long space vacation courtesy of Boeing.
   • Nudhul (nudhul@shitposter.world)'s status on Tuesday, 13-Aug-2024 10:49:21 JST Nudhul

     in reply to

     • egirlyuumimain
     • gentoobro
     @gentoobro @egirlyuumimain @Hoss >The reason they don't just launch a whole new station in advance is politics and incompetency.
     
     id also wager the iss was the most expensive infrastructure/research project in history and even with all their money printers on 24/7 they couldn't meet the price tag
   • gentoobro (gentoobro@shitpost.cloud)'s status on Tuesday, 13-Aug-2024 10:49:22 JST gentoobro

     in reply to

     • egirlyuumimain
     • Nudhul

     The reason they're going to scrap it soon, as far as I understand, is more related to physics than politics. Radiation damages metal, and the 90 minute heating and cooling cycles introduce metal fatigue, and some other similar "shit just wears out being in space" effects. It might last longer, but safety margins are high in space. (Or are supposed to be.)

     The reason they don't just launch a whole new station in advance is politics and incompetency. China just whipped up a station and put it up there no muss no fuss. Musk would already have one if his goals were that low. Russia claims they're going to launch a new one, but don't hold your breath. They'll probably just tag along with China.

   • egirlyuumimain (egirlyuumimain@poa.st)'s status on Tuesday, 13-Aug-2024 10:49:23 JST egirlyuumimain

     in reply to

     • Nudhul
     @Nudhul @Hoss That's what I want to know
   • Hoss Delgado (hoss@shitpost.cloud)'s status on Tuesday, 13-Aug-2024 10:49:23 JST Hoss Delgado

     in reply to

     • egirlyuumimain
     • Nudhul
     They have to keep it going since Russia won't help build a new one and we can't do it by ourselves anymore.
   • Nudhul (nudhul@shitposter.world)'s status on Tuesday, 13-Aug-2024 10:49:24 JST Nudhul

     in reply to
     @Hoss wasnt the iss already scheduled to be shut down after that kike witch sabotaged 50 years of research
   • gentoobro (gentoobro@shitpost.cloud)'s status on Tuesday, 13-Aug-2024 10:49:48 JST gentoobro

     in reply to

     • egirlyuumimain
     • Nudhul

     It is (was?) the single most expensive thing ever built by humanity.

     Much of this had to do with the ungodly amount of corruption in the US space industry and the defense contractors who run it. Remember, China is the second largest launcher in the world after SpaceX, and waaaaay ahead of 3rd place. The vast majority of their rockets are simple and cheap designs, not overengineered ultra-complicated bureaucratic boondoggles. Falcon 9's design is not particularly revolutionary either. It uses the simplest and most naive engine design, built with an eye on cost. It uses simple fuels. It's made from simple, standard materials. Sure, it comes back and lands, and that took a lot of engineering effort, but NASA had the capability to build a Falcon 9 since the mid 90's at least. So did Boeing and Lockheed and Northrop Grumman. But they didn't. They just wanted to feed on the teats of government and guard their pensions.

     The ISS weighs 450 tons. Falcon 9 could lift it for just under $2b, which is less than the cost of two shuttle launches. And it would only take 2 months to launch the entire thing. Even if NASA was only half as efficient as SpaceX, it could relaunch a new ISS in only 4 months for the cost of 2 SLS launches.