ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 15 เม.ย. 2021
- NASA's maiden NERVA rocket "flight" is moved up in light of the Soviet shuttle Buran essentially acting as a blockade against the U.S's Sea Dragon resupply mission, who they think is harboring nuclear weapons to the moon. Pathfinder will act as weaponized escort for the Sea Dragon resupply mission to "deter" the Russians from attacking-basically the Cuban Missile Crisis but in space.
- เกม
![[TH] VCT Masters Shanghai Playoffs DAY 2 // PRX vs G2 | EDG vs TH](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/T5j2XVcDFs0/mqdefault.jpg)
"Fly a ship into space. Not launch, not blast. Fly."
Brings a tear to your eye, doesn't it?
Virgin was so close to this.... they blew it
yes im laughing so hard
@@killian9314 , sure they're nearly a decade behind schedule, but they did have a successful test launch this past week and the first one in New Mexico. They may finally pull a commercial launch off before (look at watch)....uh....(look at other watch...look at calendar)....2030...
@@charlesc4677 you sure about that one broski?
@@charlesc4677 aged like milk
I had the biggest smile on my face when I saw they were air launching a shuttle
So facinating
I'm not alone then
That's the way it was originally supposed to be.
@@starmanxvi So that the US would have invested more in space development and a manned mission to Mars to one up them?
You know I'm sure you could have designed the shuttle for air launch - you might just need something a little better than a 747 to do it. Maybe something with a delta wing but with the afterburning engines from Concorde that can get to 50,000ft and near supersonic speed carrying a pig like the space shuttle on its back.
Ksp fans, this is your time.
Kerbal space program?
On it. I don’t know when I’ll be able to work on it but I’ll sure do my best!
Already have mine on steam
Pls make video about the build🥺
@@neon5815 I can’t, but I can link the workshop item
If there is something to love about this show, is that it uses actual proposed, experimental projects, and/or failed bids for space programs.
For example, Lockheed C-5 (alongside Boeing 747) was proposed to carry Rockwell Space Shuttle. Sea Dragon was a proposed heavy launch vehicle and Pathfinder was the name for a Space Shuttle mock up.
Pathfinder has been around the world, it finally ended up being put on display at the US Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, AL. They took it down for restoration around the same time that season 2 premiered.
Dude i was so excited when i saw the sea dragon. Seeing them flesh out REAL concepts and not just Sci Fi imaginations is part of what made this series so great IMO
the boeing 747 actually did carry the space shuttle from where it was built, to its launch pad. The soviets did something similar with the antonov an-225 which carried all the components for the enegira-buran launch system which was the soviet counterpart to the space shuttle
And the paine space telescope hahaha
It's a shame they didn't bring up project Orion, that ship was bonker
Seeing the nuclear engine burn is like seeing the exact moment our world went from modern to sci-fi. Watching the whole show felt like experiencing the origin of those beloved sci-fi series.
In short, it’s like witnessing the history we didn’t got to own. I literally cried.
We have the ability to build nuclear engines, the issue is radiation pollution and what happens when it explodes
It's a non-history. Good nuclear propellants take up a ton of space so you'd need bigger propellant tanks than the Shuttle's external tank, not this slim thing, and you'd still have trouble getting both enough thrust and enough delta-V (overall acceleration over time - in short, fuel + efficiency) with any kind of nuclear engine that is operable in atmosphere. Physics says it's MARGINALLY possible with a very well-optimized engine using temperature-tolerant materials we don't even know exist yet, but the ship wouldn't look like that.
I know and I have heard that fission and fusion reactors could give almost an unlimited amount of fuel because it doesn’t use fucking hydrogen or any of that primitive shit. A fusion and fission reactor could generate thrust at full power for a shuttle/Buran for hours non-stop. And you only need a few minutes of it to get out of orbit! It makes sense for how they could get to the Moon on a shuttle.
@@Ithirahad that's not entirely true, if Children of a Dead Earth is any indication (which holds the title of 'hardest scifi combat simulator' for now). The best payload-heavy (like, say, warships or, in this case, a shuttle) propellant is actually the methane/propane chain of chemicals... which (if the math behind the NTRs in the game are correct) can give an NTR _kilogravities_ of power...
@@TheTrueAdept That 'chain of chemicals' is called alkanes, and if a certain Russian infographic is to believed you're likely better off with ammonia as dense NTR fuels go.
When nasa had the us military budget
fr
More actually. Remember they ended Vietnam war 5 years early for the space program
It will have such budget as soon as it will anounce they found oil on Mars
Well, not the entire US military budget. Like 5% would do it.
Capitalized the (US) not (us)
The space program we deserved but had to wait for.
We’re still waiting for it
Or never got.
"For all Mankind, or, The Way Things Should Have Happened"
@@matthewcaughey8898 we might be getting it within the decade or so
Still waiting for. Republicans decided enough with the incredible scientific advancements the Us Government funded, that made the USA the greatest country on earth for a while. What we needed instead was massive debt, more billionaires, massive tax breaks for big business, and eventually flat out theft.
"Y'all ready for the inaugural flight of the most bad ass nuclear rocket ever to grace god's green earth" Me: Fuck yeah
Really? I thought that was cheesy as fuck.
@@rubydooby1679 - It probably what someone would have actually said.
@@rubydooby1679 I'm definitely here for the cheese. I hope we can re-kickstart the NERVA program again.
whoa, nuclear rockets? Is this the concept they are using in they spaceships?? Cool. I have read a little about and found out that nasa once dabble with the prospects of a nuclear-powered space rocket, but in the end they dismissed it for being too dangerous and complex, am i right?
@@maxflaviohs The issue wasn't safety or complexity but rather cost and the fact that there was no need for it since the Apollo program was cancelled and there has never been any serious attempt to go to Mars.
The T-tail on that C-5 had me sweating during the orbiter separation.
Tbh I think they would have to modify it (like they did with the 747 or soviets did with an-225) to help combat air flow distrubances behind the payload. Idk, I think they could have modeled it better in the series.
@@shindenfighter3303 I tought the same
@@shindenfighter3303 NASA has said that the alterations they made to the 747 for transporting the shuttle was actually not needed after additional testing, but they had already made the modification so they left it.
They were originally going to use the C-5 galaxy to transport the space shuttle but later settled on a the 747
@@TheJoeSwanon The report I read stated that the 747 actually could carry a heavier payload. C5 is so big because they need to move bulky things like helicopters etc.
FYI, Pathfinder was an actual shuttle. A full scale mockup, now on display in Alabama
What’s it similar to this?
It’s made of wood and steel.
@@effervescentrelief and plastic, foam, cardboard... it is if you make a life-size shuttle with the things you have around your house.
The Sea Dragon was a real concept too. Most of the shit in the series is real, either prototypes or from NASA drawing boards.
@@nikolakaravida4087 Why didn't any if it make it past the drawing board?
SO many nerd moments in the penultimate episode of S2:
1. Air launched SSTO Pathfinder
2. Sea Dragon night launch
3. The Saturn 1B on the milk stand! (My personal favorite for sentimental reasons.)
4. That thing that happened at the end of the episode. Egad.
Air launch isn’t SSTO. The carrier plane is the first stage.
Air launch isn’t SSTO. The carrier plane is the first stage.
@@kokofan50 Smart ass!
If only we got to see Project Orion
@@terminalius Larry Niven's book "Footfall " uses an orion powered ship that carries all 4 of the shuttles as auxiliary craft. A very fine read. It actually has a logical reason for the aliens to invade. And the weren't men in rubber suits either. Think intelligent elephant like creatures.
I get that this scene is unrealistic in various ways and annoys the fanboys but I like that the show generally leans into the historical record: Sea Dragon, NERVA and air-launched vehicles were all things that the Americans looked at at various points.
Also: Sally Ride - a true American hero
Well it's far more realistic than the nuclear reactor meltdown "threat" from the show.
I mean it is one of the most realistic Space Shows right now probably the most realistic besides Space Shows that take place in our timeline, This scene should also kinda signify this is not our Timeline in the slightest anymore, The Engine alone sounded straight out of Star Wars, Someone else in the comment section also said that, This is now Sci-Fi
@@Venator-Class_Star_Destroyer I treat this show as a mental precursor to the expanse.Just awesome.
God this scene was perfection! I love how the cockpit viewpoint is filmed vertically the whole time prior to the reveal that is actually docked with the transport plane horizontally! Soooo clever!
I love how the show generates so much serious intelligent debate. Just look at this comment section. It’s The first time it’s actually interesting to read people’s comments
Never known a show to be set in the past but makes us optimistic about the future, while being frustrated by the present and nostalgic for the past.
I hope the show is a wake up call, the way csi inspired forensic science or house inspired people to be doctors.
This show should inspire people to be astronauts and make up for all the last 49 years of wasted time (am counting since apollo 17 in 1972)
@@jimmy2k4o You summed it beautifully on the first sentence. And here I am watching FAM stuff on youtube before JWST is launched. Fingers crossed.
@@jimmy2k4o yes please. Humans are bound to discover. We are done with the earth now, it is time to look towards the stars and really put our effort into it.
I find it extremely weird that the Russians didn't develop Buran as the super powerful shuttle with the Uragan rocket and perhaps even flyback boosters as they intended to. This would have made the timeline so much cooler.
You need to understand that in the “normal” timeline, the Soviet Union is experiencing many internal problems. I guess that’s why.
@@johnjohn-6256 Is the normal timeline referring to our timeline? Here's what we have:
Our timeline: Soviet Union builds Buran on the Energia rocket with disposable side boosters. Energia is flown twice successfully, and is incredibly powerful. Then the whole program is cancelled.
For All Mankind: Buran is a complete copy of the American Space Shuttle.
Why would the Soviets choose that direction? It's so... underwhelming.
@@hdufort It's because the authors didn't really do their homework and know next to nothing about space. They don't even know about the overview effect.
@@Zachomara how would you portray the overview effect?
"I find it extremely weird that the Russians didn't develop Buran as the super powerful shuttle with the Uragan rocket"
I find it extremely hilarious that you thought Russians had original ideas, and didn't just steal the designs for everything they make. Cheating is kind of a part of their culture.
Imagine building something so big that when it launched you have to be at least 6 miles away so your ear drum doesn't explode. Jeez
Orion nuclear pulse rocket would be even more amazing and deadly
@@nickl5658 The Orion engine is like something a twelve year old would come up with after learning what nuclear bombs are. I love it.
This is my favorite scene from Season 2 :-)
The surprise reveal when the camera flips 90 degrees to show the Pathfinder piggyback riding on top of the cargo plane and later SSTO-ing into space was golden.
One peculiarity I noticed is that the C5 Shuttle Carrier in question is a base model, not the Shuttle Carrier Concept with 2 hulls.
@@intothevoid5074 I think that could be a little too much and it would steal the spotligth from Pathfinder, at least for me. The one shown on screen was also a real design, called the piggyback configuration i believe. It was only for transferring the shuttle, not launching it but my inner nerd was still satisfied. A 747 with a T wing launched the Enterprise on one of the glider tests so it was certainly possible.
01:55 WOW....launch from the top of a modified C-5. Now that's a first.
Would have been better if it was a galaxy shuttle carrier
I feel like the T tail from C-5 would make it not suitable for carrying pathfinder, as the wake of the pathfinder might induce an earlier Deep stall
With NERVA used in atmosphere as a main thrust. This show is such a nerd treasure.
@@johnlau8461 Yeah it would not be able to fly with the shuttle on its back. Its the reason why the AN-225 has separated tail fins on each end of her elevators. .. Oh and from which Movie/Series is this taken ?
@@IsegrimSTP It can fly, but just unsafe. BTW thx for mentioning AN-225, certainly gonna read more about it. Its from For all mankind, its in the title m8
Brings a tear to my eye. The music, the pure joy of the crew, the fact that you indeed just flew into space. Awesome.
Yeah, what is the name of the music that is used when they launch? Sounds like I've heard it before.
This is a "dirty" launch, in fact, the sputtering of isotopes in the air, which is why such a power plant was abandoned on large spacecraft in the atmosphere. This is only possible at altitudes of about 100 km.
I read that the radiation given off into the atmosphere was really quite negligible. And it was from bits of the engine ablating away. More development could solve that
@@nicholasn.2883 Anyway, heated hydrogen as a working fluid will be extremely radioactive. Both we and the USA planned to use jet engines only at the last stages.
@@user-bj7cp6hm3q ok, so yeah. I was wondering that. Would a NTR be able to produce sufficient thrust through the mid atmosphere?
Also, are those SABRE (LACE) engine I'm seeing on the side?
@@jacobbaumgardner3406 I'm from Russia, so I don't know what a SABER engine is, but in the shape of the air intakes and the cone, it looks like the engine that was used on the Blackbird, at a speed of 3 M the engine essentially worked as a ramjet engine, that is, the air did not enter the combustion chamber through turbine, but directly under the action of high-speed flow. Such an engine is suitable, up to a speed of 6-7 Mach numbers and an altitude of 35 km, that is, having reached this speed, you can climb a ballistic trajectory to an altitude of 100 km, and then launch NERVA there. ... So it is quite possible to ascend into orbit, but only under such conditions.
@@user-bj7cp6hm3q really? The ntr is really just using fission to heat up the hydrogen, hydrogen is pretty resistant to neutron activation anyways so won’t really become radioactive unless you leave it there. The only radioactive parts should just be stuff that remains in the engine and the fuel pellets itself since that gets activated by the neutron radiation.
Having a Nerva/ntr so close to everything seems a bit dumb though, it’s going to activate the airframe and everything around it
Nice animation. Keep healthy, everyone, we still have to witness the Great Return to Space this century. I'm def going to be a excited old man.
When I first saw the Pathfinder cockpit and the clouds outside, I was wondering, will they launch from Kennedy or Vandenberg? Then that 90 degree turn blew away my expectations. Awesome setup and scene!
To anyone curious the NERVA project was a series of nuclear rocket engines that had been intended for post Apollo usage. The belief was that in order to send missions to Mars and beyond a more efficient means of propulsion had to be created. The theory was that NERVA would allow the final Apollo missions to carry significantly more mass and potentially allow for a base to be established on the moon. The NERVA was more fuel efficient and powerful but being smaller it let you move more mass for less fuel. Several were tested and were found to be ideal but for political reasons the project was dropped. This was believed to be cause Nixon didn’t want to invest in a Mars mission or moon base. Instead he shackled the space program to the shuttle and it became from the earth to somewhere around the earth. Only now are we realizing just how much we’ve forgotten from project Gemini and Apollo. And we’ve got to do Apollo over again to get back to where we were in the 1970s
I say to people all the time, screw Watergate, Nixon killed America's future in space.
@@knytrydr73 he gave us from the earth to somewhere around the earth
IRL the American public preferred to spend all that money on the Vietnam war and the military industrial complex. Public opinion polls showed that most people didn’t even want us going to the moon, much less establishing a base or going to Mars.
The American public will always choose bombs and bullets over gay stuff like space exploration, healthcare, science, etc.
@@mbaxter22 if things get much worse in this country they’ll get their wish and we’ll be buying the bombs and bullets off other countries to use on each other
Darn you Nixon!
The end of this episode was so insane!!
They are pretty good with that. Every episode ends with chaos
Americans: *Kill 1 and injured 1 soviet cosmonaut* "Accidentally"
Soviets: "Hey boys, let's go murder some westerns at 3am"
@@captainmcmelon4001 take my like and leave
@@captainmcmelon4001 REVENGE FOR DA BROTHAS
@@doodleboi7034 Gang gang till the Russians cause Chernobyl in Jamestown lmao
For all mankind, the show that brings fourth the promises never given to the generations watching it
Love that they put Sally Ride into the show.
In our timeline, Sally Ride operated the robot arm on the Space Shuttle. In this one, she is the flight engineer on a nuclear soacecraft.
The only nitpick that I have with that scene is the fact that the C5 has its regular tail rather than something custom Like An-224 or 747 that carried the Shuttle IRL.
Thank you so much for uploading all of these high-quality, full scenes to youtube
Single stage to orbit to TLI. Fucking incredible.
Not quite, they had FRED as a first-stage
@@dragoninthewest1 ah FRED, always a good friend. Though an interesting choice for the carrier over the 747.
Also, fantasy in this case, because there is no way a shuttle-sized spaceplane like that could carry enough liquid hydrogen to make it anywhere.
Nuclear engines run of the least dense reaction mass, you need massive tanks to carry enough.
@@TheOwenMajor What if it was lox-augmented? Or simply refueled in LEO.
@@Matthew35333 Hydrolox still requires massive tanks, look at the actual space shuttle. And to make matters worse we see in the last episode the payload bay is empty, it's not even a tank.
Nuclear engines are efficient, but they aren't that efficient. And once you start injecting oxygen that efficiency goes way down.
While a few things in this scene are pretty unrealistic, it has to be one of my favorite TV scenes I've ever seen. The sound of the engine spooling up when Ed (the commander) forces the throttle forward and the ignition of the engine... MAN I enjoy that. Seeing the shuttle speed off to the moon with its bright blue exhaust flames from the engine is so awesome too.
I mean the Engine sound alone kinda feels like the End of an Era, This was the official Jump to Sci-Fi, Flying into Space with a Nuclear Engine
This is what the real Pathfinder dreams of it was never a flying shuttle it was a test shuttle to fit rockets and other things on before they went on the real shuttles.
Ok, they really activated NERVA in atmosphere? :D
In this politically correct world, atomic rockets do not produce radioactive fallout.
@@davidh9844 or they just don't care.
@@DavidKnowles0 probably that lol
Reagan said it was fine!
@@Orthanc6 Reagan was a doddering, senile fool too.
I remember STS-135 in 2011. God, whenever I think of that day, it brings a tear to my eye.
3:47 they said engine cutoff but their engine is still on 🤔
GOTM
yeah wtf their in orbit why do they need engine power
Either a continuity error or pathfinder is circularizing its orbit. It’s very likely it’s the former
might have been sea dragon
@@Godsjudgement12 ?
Damn they really whipped out the Sea Dragon and a DyanSoar inspired shuttle. That's pretty dope!
For all mankind is a repensention of what should've happened a long time ago.
Yeah it's the Vietnam war that really killed what could've been.
Someone better decide when that engine is on or off. Lots of scene between "cutoff" and "burn" showing the engine fully lit. Cutoff at 3:16 then "Sea Dragon burn in 20 minutes".
actually federal law requires that any fictionalized depiction of spaceflight in film or television be written by the medically stupid. not sure how that one got through committee tbh, but thems the rules
clearly just an editing mistake but i can overlook it. seems like the whole speech ed gives afterwards was supposed to be before the cutoff callout.
That launch sequence was a legitimate goosebumps moment. Nice.
Genius way of using the tilted camera perspektive as an instrument of story telling.
I thought the Space Shuttle Pathfinder was going to be launched with the external fuel tank and the solid rocket boosters. 🤷🏻♂️
The same thing I thought
That’s what they wanted you to think, hence why they framed the shot to imply they were lying on their backs.
That's what I thought also, heck I even made a video about it of my recreation in Kerbal Space Program with the STS launch system configuration.
Me too
No need. NERVA is so insanely efficient that the fuel tanks would fit inside.
NASA is pretty bold to launch it from single tailed aircraft.
that was the initial idea for how to get the space shuttle into orbit not have rockets blast it there
They specified the altitude and airspeed as 22,000 and 270 respectively but they didn't mention the units. However because the C5 has a service ceiling of 41,000 feet or 12,000 metres it has to be feet, which is a very low altitude for air-launch-to-orbit.
The C5 would have to dive very quickly because the pathfinder would plummet the moment it was released before the engines start.
The added weight and drag of the shuttle reduces the service ceiling. For example, the 747's ceiling is normally around 45,000 feet, but the shuttle carrier variant was reduced to 15,000 feet when it was carrying the shuttle orbiter.
@@VigilanteAgumon Indeed, and the range was reduced to 1,000 nautical miles (1,200 mi; 1,900 km), compared to an unladen range of 5,500 nautical miles (6,300 mi; 10,200 km).
So they're launching from 7,000 feet higher than the actual SCA but still very low for ALTO. They would get more lift due to the denser air at the lower altitude which makes separating from the carrier aircraft easier but it's still dangerous.
In the real life air separation tests, the attach mounts for the Orbiter were positioned in such a way that at release speed, the Orbiter had a higher AoA than the 747 and could develop 1.5 g's of lift immediately. I'd imagine they'd employ a similar design here
@@dsdy1205 You would think so, but they didn't. The forward mount shown here is the same height as the ones at the back so Pathfinder is level, which what would be used for a ferry flight. For both captive and free flights the nose strut should be longer to point it upwards so that when it's level the carrier aircraft is in a shallow dive to aid separation. Because the C5's tail is actually half a metre higher than the 747 if anything the AoA should be even greater so they would part more quickly.
That's why they say "pushing over", going from 25,000 ft to 22,000 ft.
I think this is one of my favorite scenes from this season. Being able to see a shuttle that can fly into space, not be launched is amazing!
"For all Mankind, or, The Way Things Should Have Happened"
I hear the sound of Kerbals.....
Pathfinder NERVA: kicks them into orbit easily
KSP NERV: struggles to get up to speed
Well pathfinder did get some help by being launched from a high altitude, bypassing the negligible ISP that nuclear engines have at sea level.
Also the acceleration was probably exaggerated to make the launch more awesome.
@@pokemonfanmario7694 maybe augmenting the thrust by also burning the hydrogen with oxygen provided by the air intakes could explain Pathfinder's abilities (of course, in vacuum it would've switched vacuum mode)
@@pokemonfanmario7694 Nuclear ISP can be fine at sea level, but the problem is actually TWR... and high-altitude launch does not fix that. Afterburning with air might help, but probably still wouldn't quite make it all work.
Did anyone else freak the f out when you realized during the shot that the camera was rotating because Pathfinder wasn’t launching vertically, but rather via airborne?
Because I did.
That little vertical fakeout was great.
"The arching sky is calling
Spacemen back to their trade." Heinlein...
"All hands! Stand by! Free falling!
And the lights below us fade."
@@MarsFKA And we pray for one last landing on the globe that gave us birth; Let us rest our eyes on fleecy skies and the cool green hills of Earth.
More clips please yessss!
"Just fly".
And no eccessive accelerations either!
This is show is definitely a work of art
I love your channel keep up the great stuff!
Just like the 2006 superman returns movie...without the airplane save
oh I remember the NERVA rocket test in Stephen Baxters book Voyage
The NASA Trilogy. One of my favourite book series.
although in Voyage, NERVA went horribly and killed three astronauts. They ended up taking the slow route to Mars
@@BrSgtJordan It was a pretty stupid scene. It depends on NASA not having run into, and thus fixed, that exact same scenario while developing the J-2 engine for Saturn V. Not really believable.
@@kayl456jenna Baxter wrote the Apollo-N disaster as a deliberate parallel to the Challenger disaster IRL. It's not any more unbelievable than the actual Challenger disaster imo. It's directly discussed how the engineers were aware of the issue beforehand but the problem was not relayed to NASA management, who were pushing to get the flight off the ground ASAP due to political/budget pressures. There's a whole section discussing how the recurrence of the pogo oscillations (despite that being previously solved in Saturn V development) was caused by unaddressed stresses on the launch vehicle as a result of the differences in the aerodynamics and mass distribution of Saturn V stack due to modifications made to accommodate Apollo-N and NERVA.
@@connormackay7098 I can accept a recurrence of pogo in a very large and complex system. I cannot accept the specific NERVA failure mode as plausible: the LH2 plumbing was only tested in atmosphere where the frost damped the vibrations, which shattered it on a vacuum. That exact scenario happened in J2 engine development, and was subsequently fixed. My suspension of disbelief snapped with the identical failure just a handful of years later on NERVA.
Fun fact, "Fred" isn't someone's name, it's an acronym that stands for "Fucking Ridiculous Economic Disaster", a notorious nickname for the C5 Galaxy. Very cool how they used some air force slang.
I remember watching Kennedy space center and Houston mission control for the Apollo missions. When things were not good, you couldn't tell in any voice or physical tell as the engineers sat at huge consoles. When things went good, they were cool as cucumbers too. Very different bred we had during Apollo.
"Pathfinder is in orbit"
"MEC confirmed"
>engine still burning.
weren't they talking about sea dragon ?
@@lucasgrd4258 no
Nerva was an engine you'd use after getting into space to get a payload to the Moon or Mars vs something you'd fire inside the atmosphere such as in place of the J-2 on the S-IVB where it would have nearly doubled the TLI payload of a Saturn V.
The later Timber Wind project engine could be used on a second stage or the core stage with Titian URMs.
NERVA was a program, not a particular engine; what’s described here is a very high thrust nuclear thermal rocket engine of some sort, possibly both air-breathing and closed cycle to push them out of the atmosphere with max efficiency.
I'm assuming NERVA exhaust would be radioactive, no? So to use it inside our atmosphere would be very hazardous to the planet.
@@manofsan Not particularly unless it's being ran hot enough to cause the core to melt but the biggest issue is the poor thrust to weight of NTR engines and the fact the core is not really that radioactive until it has been fired so a launch mishap would not make a radioactive mess to clean up.
@Patchuchan - surely that reactor's nuclear fuel poses a strong risk of contaminating the exhaust stream, doesn't it? How would they avoid that? Furthermore, it's a launch vehicle - there's an inherently high risk of it crashing or being destroyed in flight. That in itself would pose an unacceptably high risk of contamination of the Earth.
@@manofsan, it really depends on the design and how hard you pushed it. NERVAs were designed to utilize hydrogen (which, if you want a payload, requires you to have a ship that is basically 99.99% skeleton, including the shuttle launch section) and were pretty safe and didn't contaminate the exhaust stream. You really need to push an S-NTR (Solid Nuclear Thermal Rocket) pretty hard to get it to flake.
For an SSTO, you're better off using a 'closed gas nuclear thermal rocket' (aka the 'nuclear lightbulb', basically a vaporized fission reaction in a quartz lightbulb).
This series looks awesome!!!
Very unrealistic, Everyone would be going absolutely nuts in the control/firing room XD
In the show, the military is overseeing this mission and the main control room has no idea what is happening.
@@lightbox8019 fuuuck really? That’s shitty. I need to watch it. Would an absolute space nerd love it?
@@ItsMrGoatAgain My man..... WATCH THE SHOW. It's so damn good. This is just one of many awesome scenes that will make you completely nerd out :D great characters and story, awesome special effects. It's my favorite show at the moment
@@ItsMrGoatAgain it’s basically a love letter to the space race era or to any fan of NASA. Would recommend
@@ItsMrGoatAgain Find a clip with Sea Dragon launch that is the post credits scene at the end of Season 1. Like mentioned before - it’s a love letter to the space program through and through.
whats sad here is that this (before season 3) is Ed's LAST mission with NASA before he switched to work for helios :(
FRED!!!! As a former C5 mechanic that callsign made my day.
Having your old lady cheating on you with a punk ass cadet and then flying a goddamn space shuttle. That's what I call grace under pressure.
What irks me is that they EXPRESSLY call for the shuttle to shut off its engine and call out that it has entered orbit, which only has a meaning if the shuttle isn't under acceleration from an engine, and then promptly show us the shuttle with the motor clearly still burning.
Yo that sea dragon tho
Music is really a great thing in spicing up scenes i can watch this all day and im gonna fail on lying im not impressed
there is soooooo much with this show
They need start the nerva engine project again.
3:14 - I like that they've got the OV numbers as 2XX, to contrast the 1XX of the "real" shuttles. Out of interest, OV101 was the "Enterprise" test shuttle.
Enjoyed Parthfinder launch and the Night Sea Dragon
Dam fine show and a dam fine launch
In the least pathetic, doomer way I can put it, this show depresses the HELL out of me. NASA originally had plans to go to mars by 1981 in our universe. I get so bummed out watching this show because it hurts so much knowing we could’ve had this world , I could’ve been born into a multi planetary society. Just like Gordo said in the pilot, I truly believe if the world was able to see what humanity could achieve when we put our differences aside, the world would be a much happier, peaceful place. But instead in our timeline we didn’t put our differences aside and we gave all the budget to the military and corporation bail outs. This show is so good it’s just every episode reminds me how shitty the real world is. I try to stay optimistic but god damn, what could’ve been. I hope season 4 takes us to the 2020s or at least 2010, I can’t wait to see what that looks like.
Season 4 will take us to the early 2000s but I also agree, I would have loved for us to invest way more in space and science
Fun fact:the sea dragon the rocket that was launched at sea is actually a real designed but never flown
It was never built and it would probably not have worked even if it had been - would have had all kinds of engine problems.
The mission control guy says engine cutoff, but when we cut back to Pathfinder, that engine is certainly still burning.
I think it's a jump cut to the intercept burn
Should have reported like the USS Nautilus, "Houston, we are....UNDERWAY ON NUCLEAR POWER" :)
(I was a submariner...couldn't help it lol)
Hydrogen emission spectrum gets intensive in red area . The exhaust plume had to be pink .
Due to the heavy reactor and shielding the TWR of solid core NTRs (NERVA) is below 1. SO they don't work for getting out of earts gravity well. Even with the lower densety of the atmosphere Pathfinder would fall out of the sky like a brick. It make more sense to use cemical rockets (like RS 25) for flight to orbit and then fire up the Nuclear Rocket.
None of this makes sense. Pathfinder should have been a in orbit man test of a nuclear engine, probably specifically design first for speedier journeys to the moon and then for large vessels to the Moon.
It's already in aerodynamic flight, and in thin air at perhaps 40,000 ft, thanks to the C-5 carrier. As long as the Nerva thrust exceeds aerodynamic drag, they can reach orbit eventually. But it will be a very long burn.
TWR for a NERVA alone is something lieke 1.4 now add the mass of the fully fueld Pathfinder and it is way below one. Also the acselleration thy showen was like a chemical rocket. Only other explanation I can come up with is that the Nerva is a modified LANTR version. In a LANTR (Lox Argumented Nuclear Thermal Rocket) oxygen is injected into the hydrogen stream for more thrust.
@@kainessel6392 The TWR of SP-100 (a post-NERVA project in the 1980s) proposed a 100KW particle/pebble-bed reactor with a TWR of 25-35 and a specific impulse of up to 1000. Unlike NERVA, they never built working reactors, AFAIK.
@@kainessel6392 your using the first developed one or kerbal space program instead of considering it could've developed further
The Design of Pathfinder is awesome
I bet we're gonna see this thing go to Mars in Season 3
No in show they said the engines will help us to get to mars not pathfinder, and landing plane on mars is absurd because atmospheric pressure is so low wings wouldn't even matter.
@@Radialguy Well, I didn't say anything about LANDING pathfinder. I think that maybe they're gonna send a separate lander to Mars. Which then docks with pathfinder and transfers the crew to the surface. But who knows maybe Pathfinder will already be outdated by 1995.
I wish they released the track when pathfinder separated from the c5
They did, its from Season 1, Armed Booster/Another Ship ☺️
@@gorenjevaskemaskin No way, thats awesome! Thanks!
@@Spartan2035 This is what you want, There are small parts of it in Armed Booster / Another Ship but the actual track is called Sea Dragon th-cam.com/video/FR6RTLofwbo/w-d-xo.html&loop=0
@3:48 They are waiting 19 minutes until they burn to rendezvous with Sea Dragon. So... why is the NERVA running? They should be coasting...
Decay heat removal?
Im going to guess they were burning to maintain or raise their Orbit to meet the sea dragon.
@@doug2496 A maneuver to meet a thing is called a "rendezvous", so... it was not supposed to burn until 19 minutes later.
Of course we can give them the artistic licence and try to explain stuff away with decay heat removal, but then why is the plume just the same size as when it's doing work? Implausible. :)
Could be wrong, but i think you can't just simply cut off a nuclear engine but rather lower its thrust output to reach nearly 0.
@@Singurarity88 That's a good point. You can chop a fission reaction to about 6% of it's previous output more-or-less instantly, but after that it's several minutes to get to 3%.
It's actually a really good point, now that I think about it. How the hell was NERVA ever supposed to work? It'd overheat after you turned it off!
I just noticed that the tiles around pathfinders widows say ov-201 I love detail in this show
I’m really liking how they made the C-5 sound like a C-5. Bravo Zulu. 👍🏻
Fun fact: Lockheed proposed a twin body C-5 as a Shuttle Carrier Aircraft to counter the Conroy Virtus, but the design was turned down in favour of the Boeing 747.
Ok It's time to play KSP!
So many times in this show, especially in season 3 they just discard the existence of boosters and stages.😂
Love it
someone needs to build sea dragon for real
ksp modders do your thing
Nice
That song when they separate 🔥🔥🔥
The tail of C-5 is not modified which means the pathfinder may collide with the tail and both two of them could crash. I believe the H shape tail on An-225 is better for launch.
The drop test and shuttle-ferrying 747s had additional vertical stabilizers (tails) on the edges of the rear wings but this is primarily for improved stability. Releasing mated craft in flight like this is not new and is well understood. Chances of a tail being ripped off were negligible.
Thanks len tan for the sunday couch engineer worth as much as 2c. Have you also found how to cure cancer since everything is so clear cut?
Yup.
Don’t let this distract you from the fact that a sperm whale is louder than any sound on earth. Yes that includes lighting, volcanos, and space shuttles.
FR?
@@emberthecatgirl8796 A nuclear explosion, astroid impact, and earthquakes are louder but that’s a given. A sperm whale click I believe the males are the loudest is : 230DB
You can tell the newer vs the later episodes of this show because Margot's hair style follows the "inverse Hair Rule" of time passage in media.
I really miss Shuttle, I wish it back.
i keep watching this, its so fucking cool
They really need to get back on that nuclear rocket tech IRL. But just not in the atmosphere lol
They are doing it, NASA awarded 400 millions for the restart of the NERVA program
Nuclear thermal rockets, like nerva, don't release radioactive material. They use the heat from an onboard nuclear reactor to heat liquid hydrogen causing the liquid to expand and provide the force of the rocket engine. TLDR: no radioactive crap coming out the back just hot hydrogen.
This is what I expected irl. Space planes looked more practical than self landing rockets.
WE GETTIN OUTTA STAR CITY WITH THIS ONE 🔥🔥🔥
I am also sure that most space fans got the Easter egg in this episode