I'm in the boonies without a laptop, so I can't embed, but looks like the moon just became a stepping stone.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BZm88uhg1yN/

Done

<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned data-instgrm-version="7" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:658px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);"><div style="padding:8px;"> <div style=" background:#F8F8F8; line-height:0; margin-top:40px; padding:28.10185185185185% 0; text-align:center; width:100%;"> <div style=" background:url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAACwAAAAsCAMAAAApWqozAAAABGdBTUEAALGPC/xhBQAAAAFzUkdCAK7OHOkAAAAMUExURczMzPf399fX1+bm5mzY9AMAAADiSURBVDjLvZXbEsMgCES5/P8/t9FuRVCRmU73JWlzosgSIIZURCjo/ad+EQJJB4Hv8BFt+IDpQoCx1wjOSBFhh2XssxEIYn3ulI/6MNReE07UIWJEv8UEOWDS88LY97kqyTliJKKtuYBbruAyVh5wOHiXmpi5we58Ek028czwyuQdLKPG1Bkb4NnM+VeAnfHqn1k4+GP T6uGQcvu2h2OVuIf/gWUFyy8OWEpdyZSa3aVCqpVoVvzZZ2VTnn2wU8qzVjDDetO90GSy9mVLqtgYSy231MxrY6I2gGqjrTY0L8fxCxfCBbhWrsYYAAAA AElFTkSuQmCC); display:block; height:44px; margin:0 auto -44px; position:relative; top:-22px; width:44px;"></div></div> <p style=" margin:8px 0 0 0; padding:0 4px;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BZm88uhg1yN/" style=" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;" target="_blank">Moon Base Alpha</a></p> <p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;">A post shared by Elon Musk (@elonmusk) on <time style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;" datetime="2017-09-29T02:44:49+00:00">Sep 28, 2017 at 7:44pm PDT</time></p></div></blockquote>
<script async defer src="//platform.instagram.com/en_US/embeds.js"></script>

<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned data-instgrm-version="7" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:658px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);"><div style="padding:8px;"> <div style=" background:#F8F8F8; line-height:0; margin-top:40px; padding:28.10185185185185% 0; text-align:center; width:100%;"> <div style=" background:url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAACwAAAAsCAMAAAApWqozAAAABGdBTUEAALGPC/xhBQAAAAFzUkdCAK7OHOkAAAAMUExURczMzPf399fX1+bm5mzY9AMAAADiSURBVDjLvZXbEsMgCES5/P8/t9FuRVCRmU73JWlzosgSIIZURCjo/ad+EQJJB4Hv8BFt+IDpQoCx1wjOSBFhh2XssxEIYn3ulI/6MNReE07UIWJEv8UEOWDS88LY97kqyTliJKKtuYBbruAyVh5wOHiXmpi5we58Ek028czwyuQdLKPG1Bkb4NnM+VeAnfHqn1k4+GP T6uGQcvu2h2OVuIf/gWUFyy8OWEpdyZSa3aVCqpVoVvzZZ2VTnn2wU8qzVjDDetO90GSy9mVLqtgYSy231MxrY6I2gGqjrTY0L8fxCxfCBbhWrsYYAAAA AElFTkSuQmCC); display:block; height:44px; margin:0 auto -44px; position:relative; top:-22px; width:44px;"></div></div> <p style=" margin:8px 0 0 0; padding:0 4px;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BZm_FXPg6YZ/" style=" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;" target="_blank">Mars City Opposite of Earth. Dawn and dusk sky are blue on Mars and day sky is red.</a></p> <p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;">A post shared by Elon Musk (@elonmusk) on <time style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;" datetime="2017-09-29T03:03:28+00:00">Sep 28, 2017 at 8:03pm PDT</time></p></div></blockquote>
<script async defer src="//platform.instagram.com/en_US/embeds.js"></script>

Summary:

https://www.reddit.com/r/spacex/comm...7_making_life/


Current codename for the vehicle is BFR. ITS has been dropped.

BFR will replace Falcon 9, Falcon Heavy, and Dragon. The vehicles will run concurrently for a while to ease customer onboarding.

BFR should be cheaper to operate than Falcon 1.

BFR has a reusable payload of 150 tons, and an expendable payload of 250 tons.

The upper stage will come in crew, LEO cargo, and LEO tanker variants.

The upper stage will have 4 vacuum Raptor engines and 2 sea level Raptor engines.

The upper stage will contain 40 cabins, along with common areas. Each cabin is expected to house 2 or 3 people for a total crew capacity of approximately 100 people.

On-orbit fuel transfer will be done from the rear of each BFR upper stage vehicle.

BFR's first stage will have 31 Raptor engines.

Raptor has achieved 1200 seconds of firing time over 42 test fires, the longest single firing being 40 seconds.

Last year's 12-meter carbon fiber tank failed catastrophically while being tested well above margins.

BFR will see application as a point-to-point travel method on Earth, with most terrestrial destinations within 30 minutes of each other. Launches from floating pads at sea.

The aim is for BFR construction to begin in 6-9 months, with flights within 5 years. 2x cargo flights to Mars in 2022, 2x cargo & 2x crew in 2024.

I assume BFR stands for Big ****ing Rocket?

Berger with an excellent write-up, as always...

https://arstechnica.com/science/2017...bit-more-real/

Includes a bunch of the presentation slides as well.

https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-conte...7/09/Spx18.jpg

Should have been working towards that for the last 40+ years, IMO. Biggest issue with killing the Apollo program back in the day.

The question is, how does Elon Musk pay for this? BFR has a huge payload, but very few entities need that kind of payload. For the vast majority, Falcon 9 and the Falcon Heavy are more than capable of servicing their needs.

Me likey, but let's fly Falcon Heavy first, boys...

From the article...

Finally. Why we never colonized was beyond me.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

Big Falcon Rocket

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

Nah. It's definitely a synonym for carnal relations.

Apollo served it's purpose of sending men to the moon. NASA tried to go to lesser expensive Near Earth Orbit space stations where crews could do science longer in space with Sky lab hoping to eventually prove long distance missions to Mars, etc but the money and excitement wasn't there. People wanted to solve issues on Earth which are still brewing today. Plus people love low taxes. Hard to do unless you are a private company like SpaceX is.

It is interesting that NASA has gone back to the Apollo era with their SLS system.

I hope Musk can pull it off. There is no reason we shouldn't have a base on the Moon, a space station around the moon and a long distance craft that can ferry men back and forth from Mars and beyond.

Boring.

Here's a pic of re-entry taken by the ISS:

https://icdn5.digitaltrends.com/imag...-640x427-c.jpg

To be fair, it pretty much sounds like they are chalking up FH as a mistake and are moving on pretty quickly. I'm excited to see it fly, but it's not on the critical path anymore, and I'll bet it flies no more than 5-10 times.

Sounds like Falcon Heavy isn't gonna happen in 2017.

http://www.spaceflightinsider.com/or...-heavy-lc-39a/

"We are targeting no earlier than the end of 2017 for Falcon Heavy’s inaugural flight from Launch Complex 39A in Florida."

I mean, yeah, it is. Falcon is definitely a play on the word to insinuate "****ing".

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/BFR_(rocket)

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

Elon didn't come up with the name - reddit did years ago when it was nothing but a vague rumor. It's a play on the BFG 9000 from Doom in the 90's.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BFG_(weapon)

So, sure, people can call it the Big Falcon Rocket if that makes them feel better, but it's pretty clear that that's not what redditors were thinking. And as for Elon himself, keep in mind he's the same guy who intentionally named his first three cars so that they spell out SEX. ROFL

-----

Apparently Gwynne at least is rebranding it. But we all know the truth.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Evidently, Shotwell is calling BFR “Big Falcon Rocket”. We got a chuckle out of that.</p>&mdash; Jeff Foust (@jeff_foust) <a href="https://twitter.com/jeff_foust/status/915962663234043909?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 5, 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

-----

Also, SES has been bumped to the 11th.

Heads up bump for the early birds tomorrow.

Alarm already set!

Launch incoming.

Good landing. Time for stage 2 to coast for a while.

ho hum

'nuther day, 'nuther landing

nuthin' ta see here

reddit stream discussion thinks there may be a fire on JRTI, apparently one of the engines didn't shut down after landing?

I didn't notice anything on the webcast

I thought I heard something on the call out about a fire. Surely they have a fire suppression system on the drone ship, though.

Supposedly they have water cannons on board, I've just never seen them used. I'm assuming it's a non-issue.

Love watching the deployments. Amazing views.

All good. Getting to be a little mundane. :)

Reviewed it here. And yes, it's not live but it's nice to skip to the action shots.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/pEusfF-nWS4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

So a question for thread viewers.

Even I'm starting to lose enthusiasm for every little launch. They haven't had a failure - either launch or landing - in over a year (knock on wood). The webcasts have been pruned down to pretty basic stuff without a lot of extra info.

Do you guys like having the thread bumped for launches, or should I just add a link to SpaceXNow to the OP and only bump the thread for notable launches and major news?

Obviously people can bump the thread on their own any time you want to chat about a launch or whatever.

Keep them coming. It's just beginning to get exciting. People spending over a year in space to study the effects for long distance space travel. With every launch they are fine tuning. They are working on plans for a viable Moon base and a trip to Mars. These are the baby steps that have to be taken in order to reach even further out in space.

Keep bumping, DaFace. Thanks.

Agree with everyone else, keep bumping.

Next launch Wednesday!

Pretty cool sped-up version of the deploy process yesterday. It's fun to see the earth just a rotating around down there.

<iframe src='https://gfycat.com/ifr/DisastrousDecisiveAardwolf' frameborder='0' scrolling='no' allowfullscreen width='640' height='360'></iframe>

Also, (roughly) 24-hour bump for the launch tomorrow. This one's at least moderately notable since it's another previously-flown stage.

Keep them coming.

<iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FSpaceX%2Fposts%2F10159968502210131&width=500" width="500" height="632" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowTransparency="true"></iframe>

T-5 minutes

Shit. Almost missed it.

Thanks DaFace.

1. Go to app store
2. Download SpaceXNow
3. ????
4. Profit

Purdy

Home safe. For the 18th time.

Not much in the way of great shots this time, but cool that yet another booster has been reused. Looked really hot on the entry, but maybe it was just the lighting.

Anyway...boring as usual (and that's good).

Sucks they lost the downlink. :(

Just to close the loop, sat deploy was successful. I didn't watch. :)

T-5 minutes

Just got home from jury duty, perfect timing!

Beautiful blue-sky day. Too bad it's not RTLS - it'd be cool to get some views of it flipping around.

Not much for landing visuals this time except to see that it was pretty toasty!

https://s3.postimg.org/en1m04ctf/tum...9agdo1_400.png

Next up is the mysterious "Zuma" launch. We may not know much more about it, but it's on the clock.

Donger can start getting excited now.

https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2017...-falcon-heavy/

SpaceX aims for late-December launch of Falcon Heavy
November 1, 2017 by Chris Gebhardt no alt

A major question for SpaceX’s end of year manifest appears to be gaining some answers as the company aims to debut its Falcon Heavy rocket in the late-December time period. With one launch left off LC-39A before the pad’s final conversion for the new rocket occurs, SpaceX is understood to be targeting mid-December for the Static Fire of Falcon Heavy followed by a late-December, No Earlier Than 29 December, launch of the heavy lift rocket.

(more at the link)

This would end up being the 20th launch of the year (assuming Zuma, CRS-13, and NEXT-4 are successful). That's insanely awesome. Steamroller. What a way to cap off 2017 (if it happens).

They may end up doing 2 static fires. I really hope those are streamed live. I will be tuned in!

Thunk I'm going to try to take my son to see the Heavy launch. Hope it's at night.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

There's a part of me that hopes it gets pushed into January. I'd consider making the trip down, but not over the holidays.

24-hour(ish) bump.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Static fire test of Falcon 9 complete—targeting November 15 launch of Zuma from Pad 39A in Florida.</p>&mdash; SpaceX (@SpaceX) <a href="https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/929487948289937408?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 11, 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Probably not gonna be the most interesting webcast since this is a classified mission, but maybe we'll get some cool fiery views of the first stage coming back down in the dark.

Did you see this about an explosion on during testing last week:

https://www.space.com/38712-spacex-r...explosion.html

Yep. After that article was written, SpaceX said it was a problem with the ground support equipment rather than the engine, so it shouldn't cause any problems aside from a few weeks of downtime while they repair the test bay.

https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2017...ssue-manifest/

This is kind of a cool video showing some views of the McGregor test facility.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/TXYh4re0j8M" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

That is really cool. I did not even know they had a facility in central Texas. I may have to make a run up there next spring and check it out!

The cows running across the screen was awesome!

One day delay for rejiggering the whosie whatsits.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">SpaceX has announced a one-day delay in the next Falcon 9 launch from the Kennedy Space Center. Liftoff of the Falcon 9 rocket is now targeted for Thursday at 8 p.m. EST (0100 GMT Friday) with the top secret Zuma payload for the U.S. government. <a href="https://t.co/dDunIA6GOZ">https://t.co/dDunIA6GOZ</a> <a href="https://t.co/Q7Yg7t7y5X">pic.twitter.com/Q7Yg7t7y5X</a></p>&mdash; Spaceflight Now (@SpaceflightNow) <a href="https://twitter.com/SpaceflightNow/status/930694462266859520?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 15, 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

now Friday night
 

Updated: 11/16/2017 14:02 Stephen Clark

SpaceX has again delayed its next Falcon 9 launch until at least Friday evening. A U.S. Air Force spokesperson confirmed the delay to Spaceflight Now.

Friday's launch window opens at 8 p.m. EST (0100 GMT Saturday).

The 229-foot-tall (70-meter) rocket is standing at pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. It will haul the U.S. government's secretive Zuma payload into low Earth orbit

Weird. OP updated. Thanks for the heads-up!

FWIW, the rumblings are that media has been told not to show up tonight, so they're almost certainly not going to try and launch today. From what I can gather, there was a test for a DIFFERENT (future) launch that may have revealed a potential issue with the payload fairing, so they're being extra cautious and making sure it's not an issue with this launch.

I'm gonna take down the countdown clock, but in theory this could go any evening in the next week or whatever at 8pm EST. I'll try and bump when something seems more solid, but I'm not gonna keep bumping it back by one day at a time until is seems like things are solid again.

Old school:

<iframe width="640" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Xtfnl_KOuCM" frameborder="0" gesture="media" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Insane. I can't imagine anything more nerve wracking than being in that thing when landing.

Also, paint the thing yellow and it looks like the goddamned Magic School Bus. Where's Ms Frizz?

Used to hear the sonic booms whenever they’d land at Edwards.

Lots of things happening lately - I just haven't been keeping up. A few notable things:

-Zuma appears to be indefinitely on hold until they figure out their fairing issue (whatever it is).
-CRS-13 is on the clock for a week from now. This will be the first launch back at the repaired SLC-40 site that was damaged last year. Also, this will be the first time an ISS mission is launched on a previously-flown booster.
-Iridium-4 is coming up in about 3 weeks off the west coast.
-Falcon Heavy is pushed back to early January (but not a set date yet)

And on that note...

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Falcon Heavy to launch next month from Apollo 11 pad at the Cape. Will have double thrust of next largest rocket. Guaranteed to be exciting, one way or another.</p>&mdash; Elon Musk (@elonmusk) <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/936781265675599873?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 2, 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

And I think he's serious... ROFL

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Payload will be my midnight cherry Tesla Roadster playing Space Oddity. Destination is Mars orbit. Will be in deep space for a billion years or so if it doesn’t blow up on ascent.</p>&mdash; Elon Musk (@elonmusk) <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/936782477502246912?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 2, 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Confirmed to be legit by a SpaceX employee.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/beeberunner?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@beeberunner</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/nextspaceflight?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@nextspaceflight</a> oh this is legit and of course there will be cameras!</p>&mdash; Joy Dunn (@RocketJoy) <a href="https://twitter.com/RocketJoy/status/936786839268032513?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 2, 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

A couple questions maybe y'all can answer that crossed my mind watching this:

Around 3:30 the guy announces that they are switching from one guy at the stick to the other. Why is it necessary to change who's steering it halfway through?

It might just be camera angles, but are they pretty much vertical at some points in that descent? Talk about coming in hot...

When the landing gear deployed, it seemed like the compartment doors were much thicker than standard wheel well door. Are they pressurized to keep the wheels from exploding in 0 pressure? Or are they solid rubber? Or are they inflated during the descent?

Not sure on any of this, but I'd love to speculate! I'd imagine it's thicker b/c of the heat shield required too ensure it doesn't burn up in re-entry.

Also, I'd imagine the wheels weren't inflated on descent, as too many things could go wrong. Solid sounds most likely, but a pressurized space could work too. If you lost pressure though, could be bad news for any hopes out coming home. I'm going with solid rubber.

Anyone know?

Had to laugh at the dopey look on Musk's face, but apparently this maybe his personal Roadster, the one intended to launch on top of the FH.

https://static3.businessinsider.com/...-musk-2008.jpg

<iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FSpaceX%2Fposts%2F10160219528035131&width=500" width="500" height="744" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowTransparency="true"></iframe>

It's not the camera angle. It is thpretty steep and for most of it.

According to a random forum post:

http://www.collectspace.com/ubb/Foru...ML/000559.html

It's common for commanders to give the pilot control here and there just for practice. Not very exciting, I know.

According to this article...

https://science.howstuffworks.com/space-shuttle7.htm

It comes in at a max angle of -20 degrees. Compare that to around -3 degrees for a commercial aircraft landing. That's far from vertical, and the camera angles probably exaggerate it, but it's definitely a steep rate.

Here's some info on the Space Shuttle tires. In short, they're nitrogen-filled.

https://www.nasa.gov/aeroresearch/re...re-basic-facts

My guess is that they are plenty strong to be fine in a vacuum. The wheel doors are probably thicker just due to the amount of heat the shuttle has to handle on the way down.

The steep descent angle is probably because the shuttle has a terrible glide ratio.

Great info! Thanks for hunting that down.