Science Space Exploration megathread - Page 108

**DaFace** · 07:17 AM

Since a number of cool things are happening in space exploration these days, we'll widen the scope of this thread a smidge. Conversation about all things space exploration are welcome, whether it be from NASA, SpaceX, ULA, Blue Origin, or anyone else. Chances are most of the discussion will still be about SpaceX since they love to make things public and fun, but nothing's off limits. I'll eventually get around to modifying the OP to include resources for other companies too, but in the meantime, feel free to post any cool stuff you run across.

Lists of Upcoming Missions

Spoiler!

How to Watch a Live Launch

Spoiler!

Where to Learn More

Spoiler!

Glossary

Spoiler!

Space discussions tend to get a little bogged down in jargon, so here's a list of terms you might encounter. (Others, please let me know of others that should be added.)

ASDS - Autonomous Spaceport Droneship - The "barges" that they sometimes land rockets on.
Dragon - The cone-shaped capsule that sits at the top of the rocket for ISS-bound launches that holds the cargo (or, in the future, humans).
F9 - Falcon 9, the name of the rocket itself.
FH - Falcon Heavy, the three-booster version.
GTO - Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit, a type of orbit that will eventually result in the satellite orbiting the earth as it turns so that it seems to be in the same spot from the ground (such as DirecTV or Dish satellites). These types of launches are particularly challenging because they require a lot of power to get them into the right orbit, leaving very little fuel left for landing.
HIF - Horizontal Integration Facility - the building near the launch pad where they put all of the pieces of the rocket together before rolling it out to the pad.
ISS - The International Space Station
JRTI - Just Read The Instructions, the name of the "barge" that they land on for west-coast launches.
LEO - Low Earth Orbit, a fairly low orbit shared by many satellites and ISS. These launches usually require less power to achieve the proper orbit, so the first stage can often be landed back on land rather than on a drone ship.
LZ1 - Landing Zone 1, basically a big open slab of concrete at Cape Canaveral where the first stage will attempt to land (for some launches).
NET - No Earlier Than, basically the date they're hoping to launch, but rocket launches have a tendency of getting delayed.
OCISLY - Of Course I Still Love You, the name of the "barge" that they land on for east-coast launches.
RTLS - Return to Landing Site, a mission where the first stage comes back and lands at LZ1.
Starship - SpaceX's next-generation rocket (and spacecraft) that will hopefully one day take us to Mars. Starship is the "second stage" that will carry cargo or people, but also refers to the whole system. (It's confusing, but think of it like the Space Shuttle, which was both the shuttle itself and the entire launch system.)
Super Heavy - The giant booster that will carry Starship to space.

**DaFace** · 02-06-2018, 04:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chitownchiefsfan

We needed a billionaire crazy enough to invest in it.

There's probably an element of technology allowing it too. I'm sure there are some pretty sophisticated computers running all of this stuff that might not be possible 10+ years ago.

**sd4chiefs** · 02-06-2018, 04:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kiimosabi

I think I'll remember watching this for the rest of my life.

Chitownchiefsfan · 02-06-2018, 04:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaFace

There's probably an element of technology allowing it too. I'm sure there are some pretty sophisticated computers running all of this stuff that might not be possible 10+ years ago.

Oh I know I was over simplifying it, but until Musk ULA basically had a monopoly on the rocket game and had no reason to update their business model. Why innovate to lower prices when people had to pay 300 million for a launch.

**DaFace** · 02-06-2018, 04:58 PM

We're gonna have some great shots of this thing.

Ohh my god @ChrisG_NSF & @NASASpaceflight! Remote number one from Falcon Heavy! pic.twitter.com/aj4ly8Cr5r
— Brady Kenniston (@TheFavoritist) February 6, 2018

Kiimo · 02-06-2018, 05:38 PM

Uh, did something just happen? It looked like something hit the rocket

edit: I think it was an optical illusion based on the video skipping and suddenly a reflection is on the rocket.

**DaFace** · 02-06-2018, 05:49 PM

Press conference coming up soon if anyone is interested.

https://abcnews.go.com/video/embed?id=abc_live3

GloryDayz · 02-06-2018, 06:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pitt Gorilla

Simply incredible. Why haven't we always had boosters simply return?

Because the Pentium chip had a floating point problem and the rockets would miss and crash.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk

Kiimo · 02-06-2018, 06:16 PM

Do we know if the main booster landed successfully yet?

MagicHef · 02-06-2018, 06:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kiimosabi

Do we know if the main booster landed successfully yet?

It successfully hit the water at 300 mph. 2 of 3 rockets didn't light.

Kiimo · 02-06-2018, 06:26 PM

Geez is it totally destroyed?

Chitownchiefsfan · 02-06-2018, 06:38 PM

Anyone watching the star man feed? There was a few minutes where the lights died then the feed went down. Back up now though. Anyone know how long that feed is supposed to last?

**DaFace** · 02-06-2018, 06:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kiimosabi

Geez is it totally destroyed?

The booster? Yeah, it's in a million tiny pieces. Sounds like the drone ship was damaged as well, but not beyond repair or anything.

They weren't going to reuse any of the three boosters, so at least they still got good data from it and can learn for the future.

**DaFace** · 02-06-2018, 06:51 PM

Cool little quick recap gif.

Chitownchiefsfan · 02-06-2018, 07:14 PM

This should go without saying but never go on Twitter to see what people are saying.

People who have no idea how the space industry works ( I barely have a grasp on any of it) bitching about there being a car in space.

**DaFace** · 02-06-2018, 07:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chitownchiefsfan

This should go without saying but never go on Twitter to see what people are saying.

People who have no idea how the space industry works ( I barely have a grasp on any of it) bitching about there being a car in space.

via GIPHY

06-01-2014, 09:40 AM
DaFace Kind of a mod Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Donkey Land Casino cash: $-63101	Space Exploration megathread Since a number of cool things are happening in space exploration these days, we'll widen the scope of this thread a smidge. Conversation about all things space exploration are welcome, whether it be from NASA, SpaceX, ULA, Blue Origin, or anyone else. Chances are most of the discussion will still be about SpaceX since they love to make things public and fun, but nothing's off limits. I'll eventually get around to modifying the OP to include resources for other companies too, but in the meantime, feel free to post any cool stuff you run across. Lists of Upcoming Missions Spoiler! General lists: https://nextspaceflight.com/ http://spaceflightnow.com/launch-schedule/ SpaceX specific list: https://spacexnow.com/upcoming.php How to Watch a Live Launch Spoiler! SpaceX: https://www.spacex.com/launches/ ULA: https://www.youtube.com/user/UnitedLaunchAlliance RocketLab: https://www.youtube.com/user/RocketLabNZ NASATV will also cover some launches (primarily ISS resupply missions): https://www.youtube.com/user/NASAtelevision Where to Learn More Spoiler! Some cool pics... https://www.flickr.com/photos/spacex/ https://www.instagram.com/spacex/?hl=en Twitter feed is usually interesing... https://twitter.com/SpaceX https://twitter.com/elonmusk The SpaceX sub is a great source of info... https://www.reddit.com/r/spacex https://www.reddit.com/r/spacex/wiki/index And for a more forum-style discussion board... http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php#c17 And there are plenty of YouTube channels with great content... Joe Scott - Lost of "future" discussion. Some about rockets and space. Much that goes beyond. Scott Manley - Super smart dude (engineer) who reviews a lot of major events in space exploration. Frazer Cain (Universe Today) - Podcast-style videos that go in-depth into space topics. Tim Dodd (Everyday Astronaut) - A "random dude" who got really into space (particularly SpaceX). He's a great resource for simple explanations of this stuff, as well as live hosting launches. USLaunchReport - Lost of videos of the more mundane stuff (e.g., booster recovery operations). Not a ton of commentary. NASASpaceFlight - Live hosting of most launches including a ton of video of Starlink operations. Glossary Spoiler! Space discussions tend to get a little bogged down in jargon, so here's a list of terms you might encounter. (Others, please let me know of others that should be added.) ASDS - Autonomous Spaceport Droneship - The "barges" that they sometimes land rockets on. Dragon - The cone-shaped capsule that sits at the top of the rocket for ISS-bound launches that holds the cargo (or, in the future, humans). F9 - Falcon 9, the name of the rocket itself. FH - Falcon Heavy, the three-booster version. GTO - Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit, a type of orbit that will eventually result in the satellite orbiting the earth as it turns so that it seems to be in the same spot from the ground (such as DirecTV or Dish satellites). These types of launches are particularly challenging because they require a lot of power to get them into the right orbit, leaving very little fuel left for landing. HIF - Horizontal Integration Facility - the building near the launch pad where they put all of the pieces of the rocket together before rolling it out to the pad. ISS - The International Space Station JRTI - Just Read The Instructions, the name of the "barge" that they land on for west-coast launches. LEO - Low Earth Orbit, a fairly low orbit shared by many satellites and ISS. These launches usually require less power to achieve the proper orbit, so the first stage can often be landed back on land rather than on a drone ship. LZ1 - Landing Zone 1, basically a big open slab of concrete at Cape Canaveral where the first stage will attempt to land (for some launches). NET - No Earlier Than, basically the date they're hoping to launch, but rocket launches have a tendency of getting delayed. OCISLY - Of Course I Still Love You, the name of the "barge" that they land on for east-coast launches. RTLS - Return to Landing Site, a mission where the first stage comes back and lands at LZ1. Starship - SpaceX's next-generation rocket (and spacecraft) that will hopefully one day take us to Mars. Starship is the "second stage" that will carry cargo or people, but also refers to the whole system. (It's confusing, but think of it like the Space Shuttle, which was both the shuttle itself and the entire launch system.) Super Heavy - The giant booster that will carry Starship to space. Last edited by DaFace; 10-13-2024 at 07:17 AM..
Posts: 52,578	1 0

02-06-2018, 04:58 PM	#1609
DaFace Kind of a mod Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Donkey Land Casino cash: $-63101	We're gonna have some great shots of this thing. Ohh my god @ChrisG_NSF & @NASASpaceflight! Remote number one from Falcon Heavy! pic.twitter.com/aj4ly8Cr5r — Brady Kenniston (@TheFavoritist) February 6, 2018
Posts: 52,578

02-06-2018, 05:38 PM	#1610
Kiimo MVP Join Date: Feb 2013 Location: Studio City, CA Casino cash: $2728742	Uh, did something just happen? It looked like something hit the rocket edit: I think it was an optical illusion based on the video skipping and suddenly a reflection is on the rocket. Last edited by Kiimo; 02-06-2018 at 05:53 PM..
Posts: 13,378

02-06-2018, 05:49 PM	#1611
DaFace Kind of a mod Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Donkey Land Casino cash: $-63101	Press conference coming up soon if anyone is interested. https://abcnews.go.com/video/embed?id=abc_live3
Posts: 52,578

02-06-2018, 06:16 PM	#1613
Kiimo MVP Join Date: Feb 2013 Location: Studio City, CA Casino cash: $2728742	Do we know if the main booster landed successfully yet?
Posts: 13,378

02-06-2018, 06:26 PM	#1615
Kiimo MVP Join Date: Feb 2013 Location: Studio City, CA Casino cash: $2728742	Geez is it totally destroyed?
Posts: 13,378

02-06-2018, 06:38 PM	#1616
Chitownchiefsfan Starter Join Date: Jan 2018 Casino cash: $1910400	Anyone watching the star man feed? There was a few minutes where the lights died then the feed went down. Back up now though. Anyone know how long that feed is supposed to last?
Posts: 467

02-06-2018, 06:51 PM	#1618
DaFace Kind of a mod Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Donkey Land Casino cash: $-63101	Cool little quick recap gif.
Posts: 52,578

02-06-2018, 07:14 PM	#1619
Chitownchiefsfan Starter Join Date: Jan 2018 Casino cash: $1910400	This should go without saying but never go on Twitter to see what people are saying. People who have no idea how the space industry works ( I barely have a grasp on any of it) bitching about there being a car in space.
Posts: 467