Science Space Exploration megathread - Page 262

**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** · 01-17-2021, 12:13 PM

Even though SLS really needs to die, that sucks pretty bad. It's almost certain SLS won't fly in 2021 now.

Even though the programs are in dramatically different places, it's also striking how different it is for Starship vs. SLS. Starship finds some issues? Swap a couple of engines. Hopefully fly in a week. SLS finds some issues? Back to the drawing board. Hopefully fly next year.

**DaFace** · 01-18-2021, 03:52 PM

Kind of flew under the radar that Virgin managed to get to orbit yesterday! That doesn't sound like much, but they're only the third private company to do so (I think), and no one has ever done it from under a jet before. Pretty cool.

“Looks like the blue skies went to black!” We are overjoyed to share this new video of our Launch Demo 2 flight. The adrenaline is still flowing after we aced this flight and delivered satellites for nine different @NASA and university teams exactly to their target orbit. pic.twitter.com/nVX21hXywi
— Virgin Orbit (@Virgin_Orbit) January 18, 2021

**DaFace** · 01-19-2021, 02:38 PM

As a sign of things to come, SpaceX appears to have purchased two oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico and named them Phobos and Deimos (moons of Mars). Doesn't take a rocket scientist (pun intended) to figure out that these will likely be involved in Starship down the road.

Following up on @thejackbeyer's find, I can confirm that Deimos and Phobos are the names of two oil rigs purchased by SpaceX – likely for conversion to support Starship operations.

ENSCO 8500 and ENSCO 8501 were the previous names of the rigs. They are nearly identical twins.
— Michael Baylor (@nextspaceflight) ?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 19, 2021

(more info if you click into the full thread)

**Donger** · 01-19-2021, 03:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaFace

As a sign of things to come, SpaceX appears to have purchased two oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico and named them Phobos and Deimos (moons of Mars). Doesn't take a rocket scientist (pun intended) to figure out that these will likely be involved in Starship down the road.

Following up on @thejackbeyer's find, I can confirm that Deimos and Phobos are the names of two oil rigs purchased by SpaceX – likely for conversion to support Starship operations.

ENSCO 8500 and ENSCO 8501 were the previous names of the rigs. They are nearly identical twins.
— Michael Baylor (@nextspaceflight) ?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 19, 2021

(more info if you click into the full thread)

Makes complete sense. Those rigs are semi-submersibles. Or, half sunk. Or, half floating?

kstater · 01-19-2021, 05:05 PM

Is the thought to launch from them, or catch the booster?

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

**DaFace** · 01-19-2021, 05:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kstater

Is the thought to launch from them, or catch the booster?

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Complete conjecture, but most likely both. Recent Twitter ramblings from Musk suggest they're trying to figure out how to basically catch the boosters on the launch pad itself so they can just fuel them up again and be ready to launch with a new payload.

kstater · 01-19-2021, 07:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaFace

Complete conjecture, but most likely both. Recent Twitter ramblings from Musk suggest they're trying to figure out how to basically catch the boosters on the launch pad itself so they can just fuel them up again and be ready to launch with a new payload.

Well that would be badass

Sent from my Pixel 4 using Tapatalk

unlurking · 01-19-2021, 08:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaFace

Complete conjecture, but most likely both. Recent Twitter ramblings from Musk suggest they're trying to figure out how to basically catch the boosters on the launch pad itself so they can just fuel them up again and be ready to launch with a new payload.

Just to be clear, catch and launch the Super Heavy, land the Starship.

**DaFace** · 01-20-2021, 11:39 AM

I slept through this one, but launch #8 for a booster!

Falcon 9 launches Starlink to orbit – the eighth launch and landing of this booster pic.twitter.com/zyj8ZdDFql
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) January 20, 2021

**Donger** · 01-20-2021, 12:23 PM

**Donger** · 01-20-2021, 02:03 PM

Possible SN9 static fire with the two new engines today:

Hydrae · 01-20-2021, 02:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Donger

You can tell how softly it sets down there. When watching the launch last week it was hard to tell if that soft landing worked or if the puff of dust was from the force of the landing.

unlurking · 01-20-2021, 06:27 PM

Definitely looks like a hell of a fun ride. Out of my price range though.

**Donger** · 01-21-2021, 06:19 PM

Seems like SN9 doesn't want to fly...

Starship SN9 Static Fire testing during a foggy day in Boca Chica.

Looked short and lacking the usual power of a normal test. Potential abort during the firing?

➡️https://t.co/3JwGoYpjN4 pic.twitter.com/wrMUPF15kd
— Chris B - NSF (@NASASpaceflight) January 21, 2021

**Donger** · 01-22-2021, 09:55 AM

STATIC FIRE! Starship SN9 fires up her three Raptors. Very smooth morning pad flow to ignition.

Looks and sounded very good. Let's hope the data was good to approve launch next week.

SN9 Status:https://t.co/Q0QbkThFh6

➡️https://t.co/KLFof9P5Ts pic.twitter.com/fs7KK78WYb
— Chris B - NSF (@NASASpaceflight) January 22, 2021

06-01-2014, 09:40 AM
DaFace Kind of a mod Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Donkey Land Casino cash: $6899	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

01-17-2021, 12:13 PM	#3916
DaFace Kind of a mod Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Donkey Land Casino cash: $6899	Even though SLS really needs to die, that sucks pretty bad. It's almost certain SLS won't fly in 2021 now. Even though the programs are in dramatically different places, it's also striking how different it is for Starship vs. SLS. Starship finds some issues? Swap a couple of engines. Hopefully fly in a week. SLS finds some issues? Back to the drawing board. Hopefully fly next year.
Posts: 52,565

01-18-2021, 03:52 PM	#3917
DaFace Kind of a mod Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Donkey Land Casino cash: $6899	Kind of flew under the radar that Virgin managed to get to orbit yesterday! That doesn't sound like much, but they're only the third private company to do so (I think), and no one has ever done it from under a jet before. Pretty cool. “Looks like the blue skies went to black!” We are overjoyed to share this new video of our Launch Demo 2 flight. The adrenaline is still flowing after we aced this flight and delivered satellites for nine different @NASA and university teams exactly to their target orbit. pic.twitter.com/nVX21hXywi — Virgin Orbit (@Virgin_Orbit) January 18, 2021
Posts: 52,565

01-19-2021, 02:38 PM	#3918
DaFace Kind of a mod Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Donkey Land Casino cash: $6899	As a sign of things to come, SpaceX appears to have purchased two oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico and named them Phobos and Deimos (moons of Mars). Doesn't take a rocket scientist (pun intended) to figure out that these will likely be involved in Starship down the road. Following up on @thejackbeyer's find, I can confirm that Deimos and Phobos are the names of two oil rigs purchased by SpaceX – likely for conversion to support Starship operations. ENSCO 8500 and ENSCO 8501 were the previous names of the rigs. They are nearly identical twins. — Michael Baylor (@nextspaceflight) ?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 19, 2021 (more info if you click into the full thread)
Posts: 52,565	1 0

01-19-2021, 05:05 PM	#3920
kstater Custom User Title Join Date: Jan 2007 Casino cash: $-73437	Is the thought to launch from them, or catch the booster? Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk __________________
Posts: 39,737

01-20-2021, 11:39 AM	#3924
DaFace Kind of a mod Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Donkey Land Casino cash: $6899	I slept through this one, but launch #8 for a booster! Falcon 9 launches Starlink to orbit – the eighth launch and landing of this booster pic.twitter.com/zyj8ZdDFql — SpaceX (@SpaceX) January 20, 2021
Posts: 52,565	1 0

01-20-2021, 12:23 PM	#3925
Donger "Think BOOM!" Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: 33.675° N 106.475° W Casino cash: $8459900 VARSITY	__________________ I think the young people enjoy it when I "get down," verbally, don't you?
Posts: 187,521

01-20-2021, 02:03 PM	#3926
Donger "Think BOOM!" Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: 33.675° N 106.475° W Casino cash: $8459900 VARSITY	Possible SN9 static fire with the two new engines today: __________________ I think the young people enjoy it when I "get down," verbally, don't you?
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01-20-2021, 06:27 PM	#3928
unlurking MVP Join Date: Aug 2003 Casino cash: $7737309	Definitely looks like a hell of a fun ride. Out of my price range though. __________________
Posts: 10,620

01-21-2021, 06:19 PM	#3929
Donger "Think BOOM!" Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: 33.675° N 106.475° W Casino cash: $8459900 VARSITY	Seems like SN9 doesn't want to fly... Starship SN9 Static Fire testing during a foggy day in Boca Chica. Looked short and lacking the usual power of a normal test. Potential abort during the firing? ➡️https://t.co/3JwGoYpjN4 pic.twitter.com/wrMUPF15kd — Chris B - NSF (@NASASpaceflight) January 21, 2021 __________________ I think the young people enjoy it when I "get down," verbally, don't you?
Posts: 187,521

01-22-2021, 09:55 AM	#3930
Donger "Think BOOM!" Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: 33.675° N 106.475° W Casino cash: $8459900 VARSITY	STATIC FIRE! Starship SN9 fires up her three Raptors. Very smooth morning pad flow to ignition. Looks and sounded very good. Let's hope the data was good to approve launch next week. SN9 Status:https://t.co/Q0QbkThFh6 ➡️https://t.co/KLFof9P5Ts pic.twitter.com/fs7KK78WYb — Chris B - NSF (@NASASpaceflight) January 22, 2021 __________________ I think the young people enjoy it when I "get down," verbally, don't you?
Posts: 187,521	1 0