Science Space Exploration megathread - Page 131

**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** · 01-06-2019, 03:05 PM

I'm a sucker for Elon's sense of humor.

pic.twitter.com/Vl6pIb1q9b
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 6, 2019

**DaFace** · 01-10-2019, 06:50 PM

This is just fan art - not anything official from SpaceX - but it's a cool look at what the finished product MIGHT look like.

**DaFace** · 01-10-2019, 08:37 PM

Launch tomorrow morning if anyone's interested. Should be landing on the droneship on the west coast.

Falcon 9 and 10 Iridium NEXT satellites vertical on SpaceX’s California launch pad at Vandenberg Air Force Base. Tomorrow’s instantaneous launch window is at 7:31 a.m. PST, 15:31 UTC → https://t.co/gtC39uBC7z pic.twitter.com/z3fv7j11xH
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) January 11, 2019

**DaFace** · 01-10-2019, 09:35 PM

Starship test flight rocket just finished assembly at the @SpaceX Texas launch site. This is an actual picture, not a rendering. pic.twitter.com/k1HkueoXaz
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 11, 2019

(Note Starman for scale.)

RINGLEADER · 01-10-2019, 09:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaFace

Launch tomorrow morning if anyone's interested. Should be landing on the droneship on the west coast.

Falcon 9 and 10 Iridium NEXT satellites vertical on SpaceX’s California launch pad at Vandenberg Air Force Base. Tomorrow’s instantaneous launch window is at 7:31 a.m. PST, 15:31 UTC → https://t.co/gtC39uBC7z pic.twitter.com/z3fv7j11xH
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) January 11, 2019

Awesome! Will be driving down Sunset at that very moment...

**DaFace** · 01-10-2019, 09:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RINGLEADER

Awesome! Will be driving down Sunset at that very moment...

Might be a little late for a really spectacular show (since it'll be slightly after sunrise), but it should still be fun to watch!

**DaFace** · 01-11-2019, 09:25 AM

T-5 minutes

allen_kcCard · 01-11-2019, 09:40 AM

That was all nominal.

Hydrae · 01-11-2019, 09:41 AM

Another awesome launch. Love how routine it all is now.

**DaFace** · 01-11-2019, 10:00 AM

I'm kind of going to miss Iridium. They've been a huge supporter of SpaceX, and a lot of the "iffy" launches have been theirs. I bet we'll miss not having them as a mainstay customer.

allen_kcCard · 01-11-2019, 10:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaFace

I'm kind of going to miss Iridium. They've been a huge supporter of SpaceX, and a lot of the "iffy" launches have been theirs. I bet we'll miss not having them as a mainstay customer.

Why are they losing them? Do they have all the satellites deployed now that they could ever need?

**DaFace** · 01-11-2019, 10:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by allen_kcCard

Why are they losing them? Do they have all the satellites deployed now that they could ever need?

Yep. Iridium is replacing their old network with 75 new satellites at 10 per launch. This was launch #8, so they don't need any more.

I suppose it's possible they might need more down the road, but it'll be a long time.

RINGLEADER · 01-11-2019, 10:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hydrae

Another awesome launch. Love how routine it all is now.

Unfortunately super overcast so nothing to see from the ground.

**Donger** · 01-11-2019, 11:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaFace

Starship test flight rocket just finished assembly at the @SpaceX Texas launch site. This is an actual picture, not a rendering. pic.twitter.com/k1HkueoXaz
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 11, 2019

(Note Starman for scale.)

Wood.

GloryDayz · 01-11-2019, 11:43 AM

Saw the replay of today's launch. It's amazing how a rocket engine can disrupt a radio signal. I get that it's shake the hell out of everything, but wow...

And a perfectly centered landing.. Woot!

06-01-2014, 09:40 AM
DaFace Kind of a mod Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Donkey Land Casino cash: $-3101	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: 52,565	1 0

01-06-2019, 03:05 PM	#1951
DaFace Kind of a mod Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Donkey Land Casino cash: $-3101	I'm a sucker for Elon's sense of humor. pic.twitter.com/Vl6pIb1q9b — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 6, 2019
Posts: 52,565

01-10-2019, 06:50 PM	#1952
DaFace Kind of a mod Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Donkey Land Casino cash: $-3101	This is just fan art - not anything official from SpaceX - but it's a cool look at what the finished product MIGHT look like.
Posts: 52,565

01-10-2019, 08:37 PM	#1953
DaFace Kind of a mod Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Donkey Land Casino cash: $-3101	Launch tomorrow morning if anyone's interested. Should be landing on the droneship on the west coast. Falcon 9 and 10 Iridium NEXT satellites vertical on SpaceX’s California launch pad at Vandenberg Air Force Base. Tomorrow’s instantaneous launch window is at 7:31 a.m. PST, 15:31 UTC → https://t.co/gtC39uBC7z pic.twitter.com/z3fv7j11xH — SpaceX (@SpaceX) January 11, 2019
Posts: 52,565

01-10-2019, 09:35 PM	#1954
DaFace Kind of a mod Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Donkey Land Casino cash: $-3101	Starship test flight rocket just finished assembly at the @SpaceX Texas launch site. This is an actual picture, not a rendering. pic.twitter.com/k1HkueoXaz — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 11, 2019 (Note Starman for scale.) Last edited by DaFace; 01-10-2019 at 09:42 PM..
Posts: 52,565

01-11-2019, 09:25 AM	#1957
DaFace Kind of a mod Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Donkey Land Casino cash: $-3101	T-5 minutes
Posts: 52,565

01-11-2019, 09:40 AM	#1958
allen_kcCard Veteran Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Kansas City Casino cash: $3433183	That was all nominal.
Posts: 2,775

01-11-2019, 09:41 AM	#1959
Hydrae MVP Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Newport, Or Casino cash: $617000	Another awesome launch. Love how routine it all is now.
Posts: 14,763

01-11-2019, 10:00 AM	#1960
DaFace Kind of a mod Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Donkey Land Casino cash: $-3101	I'm kind of going to miss Iridium. They've been a huge supporter of SpaceX, and a lot of the "iffy" launches have been theirs. I bet we'll miss not having them as a mainstay customer.
Posts: 52,565

01-11-2019, 11:43 AM	#1965
GloryDayz (Sir/Yes Sir/Aye Aye Sir) Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Diving Casino cash: $2105380	Saw the replay of today's launch. It's amazing how a rocket engine can disrupt a radio signal. I get that it's shake the hell out of everything, but wow... And a perfectly centered landing.. Woot! __________________ . #Like 45, 47 Is Going To Be AWESOME! #I still don't have COVID
Posts: 119,937