Starman @StarmanF

I led the Aerocapture Assessment for @NASA 's Ice Giants Pre-Decadal Survey Mission Study Report (planetary.org/articles/20170…) and we were "startled" with a number of insights related to aerocapture, which rendered several previous aerocapture studies wrong. The study was led by @NASAJPL 's Mark Hofstadter. The best case for aerocapture is for a mission to the Ice Giants, Uranus and Neptune, potentially the next flagship class NASA mission. When you test it, "design" the test which is applicable to a mission to the Ice Giants. A typical mission to the ice giants, would take close to 10 years, but aerocapture can enable super fast mission, say 6-8 year transit time. Unlike for chemical propulsion capture around these, aerocapture enables capture at extremely high arrival V∞, which are outside the capabilities of any known chemical propulsive rocket stage. One of the key advancement needed for aerocapture at the ice giants is the computation of "Required Corridor Width." Estimation of the required corridor width involves detailed navigation analyses, detailed vehicle design, and atmosphere models. And we do not have great atmosphere models of the ice giants. Near-in situ data were from the Voyager missions and to some extent from ground based observations. Perhaps JWST will help us in the near future. The work resulted into a software, AEROCAPTURE MISSION ANALYSIS TOOL (AMAT)—is an open source collection of Python subroutines for rapid conceptual design of aerocapture and atmospheric Entry, Descent, and Landing (EDL) missions in a Jupyter environment. My previous PhD student built it and he maintains it. There are industrial software tools (like POSt2, DSENDS) which offer mission analysis capabilities for aerocapture missions. These offer much higher fidelity, but are also substantially more complex to set up and run. Such fidelity is most often not required at the level conceptual studies. AMAT solve this problem and probably the only tool for rapid conceptual studies of aerocapture mission. Check out AMAT: amat.readthedocs.io/en/master/inde… Sunsequently, NASA Langley colleagues have studied the problem in further details for the Ice Giants mission. Wish @InversionSpace and @NASA great success for aerocapture demo. Should have happened decades ago!

@NASAAdmin @NASAhistory @NASASolarSystem In the worst case, Pluto be reinducted as a "honorary planet." Pluto for planet! Although I had the opportunity to discuss this with "the man who killed Pluto," Astronomer Mike Brown on a river cruise in Finland!

@sdhrthmp PSLV might have one launch in J-March 2027. PSLV launches in the remainder of 2026 unlikely.

@Varun55484761 2030/31

You are welcome, Astronaut Shukla and thank you for your appreciative message. We both have met before your flight. And I met with Air Cmde Nair in the Director, HSFC's office recently. I would hopefully get a chance to meet with you soon over a cup of Assam tea. We are working and evaluating principal ways to accelerate our own human spaceflight timeline. (More on this later.) I have been fortunate to know, have worked, and be part of history. While I have many, I share another photo with myself, Dr. Buzz Aldrin, and veteran astronaut Michael López-Alegría @ CommanderMLA in Jerusalem, Israel. And as you know, Mike was Axiom's 1st commercial astronaut and crew of Axiom 1 mission.

@siddarthpaim It'll happen.

Gaganyaan G-1 launch reportedly slated for 3–4 months (per @XpressBengaluru, @BoskyKhanna) This timeline doesn't hold up to scrutiny. Anyone tracking the Gaganyaan program's developmental milestones would recognize that G-1 is unlikely to fly before year-end at the earliest — a slip that cascades through the entire human spaceflight (including Chandrayaan) roadmap. The downstream implications are significant: First crewed Gaganyaan mission: likely pushed to 2030+, beyond the current administration's term Bharatiya Antariksh Station (BAS) Module 1: 2028 target appears unfeasible; full station completion by 2035 at serious risk Chandrayaan H1 (crewed lunar flyby/orbit) and H2 (crewed lunar landing): 2040 horizon compounded by heavy-lift vehicle delays These programs are deeply interconnected — and so are their slippages. Given the strategic weight of human spaceflight within the Viksit Bharat 2047 vision, a comprehensive review across these developmental tracks is warranted to identify course corrections and acceleration pathways. The capabilities and plan to compress these timelines exist. The question is whether the institutional alignment to do so will follow. @PMOIndia @narendramodi @DrJitendraSingh @isro 🔗 x.com/XpressBengalur…

TNIE Karnataka @XpressBengaluru

4 months ago

Gaganyaan's G-1 mission set for launch in three to four months @BoskyKhanna newindianexpress.com/states/karnata…

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A US CSAR mission of this scale could involve deploying more than 30+ pararescue SF operators to locate the missing personnel, provide immediate medical care, and safely extract them while evading enemy forces. While specially fitted, Black Hawks or similar platforms are used, The Lockheed C-130 Hercules—specifically the HC-130J Combat King II and MC-130J Commando II variants—is central to US Special Forces and Air Force Combat Search and Rescue (CSAR) plans due to its unique combination of long-range capabilities, aerial refueling, and ability to operate from austere, unprepared runways. It serves as the "on-scene commander" platform, coordinating rescue efforts, refueling helicopters, and inserting Pararescue forces (PJs) behind enemy lines. The last know location of the pilot was in the centre of Iran, which necessitated use of C-130s rather than Choppers.

@sidhant Hammer, BEL.

@DrPhiltill Lol. Entire generation of Bobby Braun's students, both at Langley and Gatech had to change their programs after Elon. Around the time Bobby was NASA's Chief Technologist, isn't it?

SpaceX has covered in great detail of the in the Failure Report of Starship #36 here: spacex.com/updates On June 18, 2025, a SpaceX Starship prototype, S36 was destroyed and the most probable root cause was identified as undetectable or under screened damage to a composite overwrapped pressure vessel (COPV). Post Ship 36, SpaceX updated its COPV acceptance criteria and developed a new non-destructive evaluation method to detect internal COPV damage. New external covers are added to COPVs during their integration, adding an additional layer of protection and visual indication of potential damage.

Airbus' cost escalation for mods of A321 aircraft was the primary reason for the much delayed DRDO Netra Mk2 AEW&CS led the program cost to a tail spin (I heard it brought in NSA's direct involvement in the program!). Same factors are in play here. I think it is both Airbus' reticence and TASL playsafe mode are responsible. While the Transfer of Technology (ToT) for C295 clearly indicates that the ToT covers the full lifecycle of the aircraft, including manufacturing, assembly, testing, delivery, maintenance, and future modifications, TASL is just not ready and not equipped (qualified manpower, experience) to take up these heavy modifications as required for this maritime program, atleast for now.

@S12Ajeesh 100%. It's a satire.

@ClimbingCoachX Dean was a priest king climber and adventurer! This video tribute sums up his incredible life. youtube.com/watch?v=xeDSyR…

@Kyangs_Thang I missed it too. Have been super busy building systems for our frontline fighter jets and more! It's hard. News coming soon.

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Just for fun: Photo 1: Pak Conway Saddle Post. You can see the Helipad for Pakis' Aérospatiale SA 315B Lama Helicopters (vs IA's Cheeth/Cheetal). Photo 2: View from Kondus Glacier to Conway Saddle with Baltoro Kangri V (left) and Sia Kangri and Sia La (right) towards India. Photo 3: The Conway saddle right between Sia Kangri and Baltoro Kangri Photo 4: A Paki post somewhere in Gilgit-Baltistan @OsintTV

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Great work by my friend @Kyangs_Thang as always! I just want to add that the crash site location is the, or very close to the Gasherbrum Base Camp (GBC) - a dual use military-civilian camp. GBC, being on the Abruzzi Gl., keeps on shifting over time. This is an interesting location in mountaineering history. If time permits, I might share some more details of this area which could be of interests to our community. @OsintTV

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@phreakv6 Good work by the nex-gen. Would definitely buy. Can consider embedding a quality+Quantity monitoring as well? Significant adulteration currently. Can indirectly compute COx, NOX, Formaldehyde, PAHs etc? Some ideas.

3-D Woven Carbon Cloth, and sometime with resins. Can withstand Heat Flux of about 200 W/cm^2, good enough for aerocapture as well as entry and descent at Mars. This is the hardware version of NASA Ames' Adaptable Deployable Entry and Placement Technology (ADEPT). I think a lot of NASA Ames's Entry Systems Division folks had joined BO several years ago plus, NASA Ames had supplied the initial PICA-X for SpaceX, TPS for RL's Venus Probe and many other projects. nasa.gov/directorates/s…