iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Mack Crawford @mackinspace.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Agena was more than just an upper stage, it could also operate as a satellite bus, performing months-or-years-long missions after inserting itself into orbit. For instance, the KH-8 reconnaissance satellite Render in Blender

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Mack Crawford @mackinspace.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Saturn II (INT-18) was a proposed derivative of Saturn V, eliminating the S-IC. A modified S-II would become the new stage 1, augmented by Titan SRBs. The study considered various configurations, with 5 or 7 J-2s, stretching the S-II, and 2 or 4 SRBs with 4, 5, or 7 segments

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Mack Crawford @mackinspace.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

McDonnell Douglas's reusable Space Transportation System booster deploys a modified Saturn S-II upper stage on a heavy-lift cargo mission. The McD STS could fly with either a reusable orbiter, S-II, or S-IVB augmented with optional solid boosters

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Mack Crawford @mackinspace.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

Launch of McDonnell Douglas's Space Shuttle proposal. The orbiter is carried to altitude aboard a winged flyback booster, which can also be used with a conventional upper stage for heavy uncrewed launches

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Mack Crawford @mackinspace.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

Design evolution of the Blue Moon HLS (approximately to scale)

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Mack Crawford @mackinspace.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

The Blue Moon Human Landing System, moments before touchdown on the lunar surface

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Mack Crawford @mackinspace.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

Blue Moon Mk2 begins its deorbit burn over the moon

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Mack Crawford @mackinspace.bsky.social · 31/05/2026

Agena-D in flight, prior to fairing separation I wish Agena was still in service in an evolved form, like Centaur

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Mack Crawford @mackinspace.bsky.social · 17/05/2026

My Copernicus Mars Transfer Vehicle model is now on CGTrader: www.cgtrader.com/3d-models/sp...

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Mack Crawford @mackinspace.bsky.social · 17/05/2026

After completing Trans-Mars Injection, Copernicus jettisons a spent LH2 tank held inside a truss structure. The still-hot engines continue to vent hydrogen, passed through to cool them down following reactor shutdown

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Mack Crawford @mackinspace.bsky.social · 28/04/2026

The ascent vehicle of a Mars lander redocks to the nadir port of Copernicus, as its crew prepare for the several-month trip back to Earth

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Mack Crawford @mackinspace.bsky.social · 13/04/2026

MTV Copernicus braking into Mars orbit, ahead of rendezvous with the lander that will take its crew to the surface

A Mars transfer vehicle propulsively capturing into orbit over Mars. Three nuclear-thermal engines glow purple as they fire. An Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle is docked to an inflatable habitat module at the front of the craft

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Mack Crawford @mackinspace.bsky.social · 09/04/2026

Ares V's 12 meter diameter payload fairing separates, exposing the propulsion module of a Copernicus Mars Transfer Vehicle on its way to orbit

Ares V's payload fairing split into 4 pieces and falls away from the second stage, carrying a nuclear propulsion module

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Mack Crawford @mackinspace.bsky.social · 08/03/2026

With Centaur V being designed for several-day missions, it is possible that (especially if refueled) the new SLS configuration could place Orion directly in low lunar orbit, rather than just TLI

An Orion spacecraft capturing into a low lunar orbit, propelled by a long-duration Centaur V upper stage. Orion's solar array wings are canted backwards while Centaur's engines fire

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Mack Crawford @mackinspace.bsky.social · 27/02/2026

Initial Manned Orbital Laboratories would be single-use, but later missions could leave the lab and KH-10 imaging system or other module in orbit for reuse. Later missions could either use a Gemini alone to revisit the station, or add on additional modules

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Mack Crawford @mackinspace.bsky.social · 12/02/2026

I know this stuff usually isn't very rational, but you are one of the cooler people I've met if it helps. I'm probably not the person to give life advice but don't hurt yourself please Also +1 for plushies

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Mack Crawford @mackinspace.bsky.social · 08/02/2026

Prior to Earth departure, the Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter's nuclear reactor is not active. Two Delta Cryogenic Propulsion stages, launched separately and modified with docking and extended-duration flight capabilities, boost the probe most of the way to transjupiter injection

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Mack Crawford @mackinspace.bsky.social · 07/02/2026

The Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter maneuvers during a close pass of Europa. Its ion engines consume nearly 200 kilowatts of power, generated by an onboard nuclear reactor

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Mack Crawford @mackinspace.bsky.social · 06/02/2026

A Turtle Orbital Transfer Vehicle in high-Earth orbit

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Mack Crawford @mackinspace.bsky.social · 02/02/2026

A Turtle Orbital Transfer Vehicle docks to Delta Station after returning from lunar orbit, alongside a Space Shuttle orbiter

An Orbital Transfer Vehicle with an aerocapture heat shield docking to a space station, next to a Space Shuttle orbiter

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Mack Crawford @mackinspace.bsky.social · 31/01/2026

The two main proposals for the Personnel Launch System: JSC/Rockwell's HL-20, and Boeing's biconic capsule

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Mack Crawford @mackinspace.bsky.social · 29/01/2026

Ascent of Boeing's Advanced Launch System carrying the biconic Personnel Launch System. PLS can be carried by either the 1.5 or 2 stage ALS, depending on whether or not a comanifested payload is carried

Parallel-staging variant of the Boeing Advanced Launch System carrying a biconic Personnel Launch System capsule

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Mack Crawford @mackinspace.bsky.social · 17/01/2026

Boeing's biconic Personnel Launch System docks at a nadir port of Space Station Freedom

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Mack Crawford @mackinspace.bsky.social · 11/01/2026

For the first time ever, NASA is preparing for a medical evacuation of an ISS crew. Sure would be nice if there was a Crew Return Vehicle designed specifically for evacuations, with a low-g reentry and land-landing to reduce risk to injured or ill crewmembers

X-38 lifting body in independent flight in low Earth orbit

X-38 Crew Return Vehicle docked to the International Space Station, configured with Node 3 facing nadir

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Mack Crawford @mackinspace.bsky.social · 28/12/2025

After completing its deorbit burn, Boeing's Personnel Launch System detaches its expendable service module. Though expended, the SM is very simple; just structures, radiators, and 3 pressure-fed engines. All RCS, power, GNC, and ECLSS hardware remains in the reusable capsule

Biconic crew capsule separating from a conical service module, firing RCS thrusters

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Mack Crawford @mackinspace.bsky.social · 13/12/2025

McDonnell Douglas's MURP (Manned Upper-stage Reusable Payload) separates from the Chrysler SERV (Single-stage Earth-orbital Reusable Vehicle), tugging a station module behind it (References for MURP are relatively limited, so don't rely on this as authoritative)

MURP spaceplane separating from SERV booster with a space station module underneath

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Mack Crawford @mackinspace.bsky.social · 30/11/2025

*checks what I titled the picture* Yes, I think friendship was what I had in mind. They may even be roommates

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Mack Crawford @mackinspace.bsky.social · 29/11/2025

The explosion effect kinda sucks because I did this 3 years ago, but

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Mack Crawford @mackinspace.bsky.social · 29/11/2025

I think this is all of the Shuttle-derived launch vehicles I've modeled (I now have so many rocket models I have to make separate rocket garden pictures divided by category, can't fit all in one picture) Which is your favorite, and why is it the 2009 Sidemount HLV?

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Mack Crawford @mackinspace.bsky.social · 22/11/2025

NASA's First Lunar Outpost at lunar morning. The pressurized element is derived from Space Station Freedom's laboratory/habitat modules. In the distance, a set of deployable experiment packages have been set up for astronomical and geological observations

Habitat module on top of a lunar lander, sitting on the surface of the moon. Earth hangs above the horizon in the distance

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Mack Crawford @mackinspace.bsky.social · 16/11/2025

Space Transfer Concepts and Analyses for Exploration Missions (STCAEM): A Boeing Mars mission concept from the 1990s. Two broad variants were proposed, with either chemical propulsion and aerocapture or nuclear-thermal propulsion

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Mack Crawford @mackinspace.bsky.social · 11/11/2025

My full set of renders of Delta Clipper: Launch, payload deployment, station servicing, and reentry

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Mack Crawford @mackinspace.bsky.social · 29/07/2025

The X-20 Dyna-Soar reentering Earth's atmosphere

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Mack Crawford @mackinspace.bsky.social · 28/07/2025

Crew Dragon transfers passengers to a Cygnus-derived transit habitat on Cislunar Transporter, to be delivered to a waiting lander in lunar orbit

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Mack Crawford @mackinspace.bsky.social · 23/06/2025

The "Mission-B" Cygnus, for use on the remaining CRS2 Cygnus flights. Mostly differentiated visually by a 4th PCM segment, but there are lots of subsystem changes as well to support longer-duration flights, reduce cost, and support more complex applications beyond simple cargo

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Mack Crawford @mackinspace.bsky.social · 26/05/2025

Blue Moon Mk2 being maneuvered and refueled by the Cislunar Transporter

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Mack Crawford @mackinspace.bsky.social · 05/04/2025

Sadly, Dyna-Soar and MOL could have never met in orbit: X-20 was canceled the same day the MOL program began. I still think of them as siblings though

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Mack Crawford @mackinspace.bsky.social · 01/04/2025

For an early crewed lunar flyby, a follow-on to Gemini-Agena was proposed where a modified Gemini would dock to a pair of Transtages, which would boost it to TLI

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Mack Crawford @mackinspace.bsky.social · 27/03/2025

An operational derivative of the X-20 docked to a wet workshop built around an S-IV stage Not much published on the station, but likely served a similar role to MOL

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Mack Crawford @mackinspace.bsky.social · 16/03/2025

By request, Orion docked directly to Blue Moon. This would be a possible scenario either if Gateway is canceled, or in event of a failure on the lander requiring Orion to retrieve the crew Any other missions/vehicles people want to see?

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Mack Crawford @mackinspace.bsky.social · 12/03/2025

Size comparison of the FLO piloted lander vs Altair, Blue Moon, and (outdated model) Starship HLS. Its not outrageously huge overall, but it is a much taller ladder than I'd want to climb down

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Mack Crawford @mackinspace.bsky.social · 07/03/2025

Was gonna include the bit about the name, but forgot. Comet sounds cool though Chemical was the baseline for FLO, but there were proposals to bring nuclear forward sooner, partially for performance and partially to demonstrate it before Mars

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Mack Crawford @mackinspace.bsky.social · 07/03/2025

Following separation from the J-2S-powered second stage, Comet's nuclear-thermal third stage jettisons its aerodynamic insulation panels (similar to early Centaurs prior to Atlas II) and begins a coast phase prior to translunar injection

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Mack Crawford @mackinspace.bsky.social · 05/03/2025

"The former USSR has a cheap booster for heavy-lift rockets" "We'll take your whole stock" One of the launch vehicle options for First Lunar Outpost was the Saturn V-derived base option but with up to 8 Energia strapon boosters

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Mack Crawford @mackinspace.bsky.social · 04/03/2025

The First Lunar Outpost HLLV second stage compared to SLS's core stage. 2/3 as much propellant mass (its shorter, but wider and has a common bulkhead)

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Mack Crawford @mackinspace.bsky.social · 04/03/2025

This guy is the one I'm doing. Scaled up Saturn V with boosters I hadn't seen RL10-Jarvis before, just the F-1 and RS-25 versions. Neat

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