Science Space Exploration megathread - Page 322

**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.

Hydrae · 02-02-2022, 02:37 PM

Always such a cool watch.

**Donger** · 02-02-2022, 02:37 PM

Incredible precision. I forgot how close those buildings are to the landing pad...

**DaFace** · 02-02-2022, 05:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Donger

Incredible precision. I forgot how close those buildings are to the landing pad...

I'd almost forgotten they even have a pad on the west coast...

unlurking · 02-02-2022, 05:52 PM

Just a fan render, but super cool interior design concept for Starship. Significant upgrade to the Apollo missions.

https://starship.mobile.my3ideas.com/

**Donger** · 02-03-2022, 10:18 AM

SpaceX, not to be out-droned...

Drone shot of today's Falcon 9 launch and landing pic.twitter.com/UWW2iFt6i5
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) February 3, 2022

**DaFace** · 02-03-2022, 10:22 AM

Damn - another launch this afternoon? Three launches in four days is kind of nutty.

**Donger** · 02-03-2022, 10:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaFace

Damn - another launch this afternoon? Three launches in four days is kind of nutty.

Guess the three scrubs of the COSMOS mission compressed things a bit, but even without that, lots of birds flying!

**Donger** · 02-03-2022, 12:04 PM

T-10:00

eDave · 02-08-2022, 09:28 PM

40 Starlink satellites wiped out by a geomagnetic storm

The satellites deployed on Thursday were significantly impacted by a geomagnetic storm on Friday. These storms cause the atmosphere to warm and atmospheric density at our low deployment altitudes to increase. In fact, onboard GPS suggests the escalation speed and severity of the storm caused atmospheric drag to increase up to 50 percent higher than during previous launches.

The deorbiting satellites pose zero collision risk with other satellites and by design demise upon atmospheric reentry.

https://www.spacex.com/updates/

**Donger** · 02-25-2022, 11:04 AM

T-8:30

unlurking · 02-28-2022, 02:12 PM

Just in case anyone is interested in Rocket Lab launches...

htismaqe · 02-28-2022, 02:15 PM

I watched the 2nd season of Space Force over the weekend and they had named all of their satellites after 70's rock bands.

**Donger** · 03-17-2022, 02:46 PM

SLS rollout

manchambo · 03-17-2022, 03:53 PM

SLS is good, in a general sense, I suppose. It's good to have a rocket with moon capability. But is this really the future? Disposable boosters?

SpaceX just seems to be way ahead of everyone else at this point.

**DaFace** · 03-17-2022, 04:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by manchambo

SLS is good, in a general sense, I suppose. It's good to have a rocket with moon capability. But is this really the future? Disposable boosters?

SpaceX just seems to be way ahead of everyone else at this point.

If Starship works, SLS will almost certainly be cancelled. But until we're sure it won't be a flop, I don't blame NASA for having at least SOMETHING working in parallel.

06-01-2014, 09:40 AM
DaFace Kind of a mod Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Donkey Land Casino cash: $-13101	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: 52,572	1 0

02-02-2022, 02:37 PM	#4816
Hydrae MVP Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Newport, Or Casino cash: $607000	Always such a cool watch.
Posts: 14,764

02-02-2022, 02:37 PM	#4817
Donger "Think BOOM!" Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: 33.675° N 106.475° W Casino cash: $8439900 VARSITY	Incredible precision. I forgot how close those buildings are to the landing pad... __________________ I think the young people enjoy it when I "get down," verbally, don't you?
Posts: 187,535

02-02-2022, 05:52 PM	#4819
unlurking MVP Join Date: Aug 2003 Casino cash: $7737309	Just a fan render, but super cool interior design concept for Starship. Significant upgrade to the Apollo missions. https://starship.mobile.my3ideas.com/ __________________
Posts: 10,620

02-03-2022, 10:18 AM	#4820
Donger "Think BOOM!" Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: 33.675° N 106.475° W Casino cash: $8439900 VARSITY	SpaceX, not to be out-droned... Drone shot of today's Falcon 9 launch and landing pic.twitter.com/UWW2iFt6i5 — SpaceX (@SpaceX) February 3, 2022 __________________ I think the young people enjoy it when I "get down," verbally, don't you?
Posts: 187,535

02-03-2022, 10:22 AM	#4821
DaFace Kind of a mod Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Donkey Land Casino cash: $-13101	Damn - another launch this afternoon? Three launches in four days is kind of nutty.
Posts: 52,572

02-03-2022, 12:04 PM	#4823
Donger "Think BOOM!" Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: 33.675° N 106.475° W Casino cash: $8439900 VARSITY	T-10:00 __________________ I think the young people enjoy it when I "get down," verbally, don't you?
Posts: 187,535

02-08-2022, 09:28 PM	#4824
eDave Banned Join Date: Jan 2013 Casino cash: $9998560	*40 Starlink satellites wiped out by a geomagnetic storm* The satellites deployed on Thursday were significantly impacted by a geomagnetic storm on Friday. These storms cause the atmosphere to warm and atmospheric density at our low deployment altitudes to increase. In fact, onboard GPS suggests the escalation speed and severity of the storm caused atmospheric drag to increase up to 50 percent higher than during previous launches. The deorbiting satellites pose zero collision risk with other satellites and by design demise upon atmospheric reentry. https://www.spacex.com/updates/
Posts: 53,803

02-25-2022, 11:04 AM	#4825
Donger "Think BOOM!" Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: 33.675° N 106.475° W Casino cash: $8439900 VARSITY	T-8:30 __________________ I think the young people enjoy it when I "get down," verbally, don't you?
Posts: 187,535	1 0

02-28-2022, 02:12 PM	#4826
unlurking MVP Join Date: Aug 2003 Casino cash: $7737309	Just in case anyone is interested in Rocket Lab launches... __________________
Posts: 10,620	1 0

02-28-2022, 02:15 PM	#4827
htismaqe 'Tis my eye! Join Date: Aug 2000 Location: Chiefsplanet Casino cash: $9669900	I watched the 2nd season of Space Force over the weekend and they had named all of their satellites after 70's rock bands.
Posts: 100,364	1 0

03-17-2022, 02:46 PM	#4828
Donger "Think BOOM!" Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: 33.675° N 106.475° W Casino cash: $8439900 VARSITY	SLS rollout __________________ I think the young people enjoy it when I "get down," verbally, don't you?
Posts: 187,535

03-17-2022, 03:53 PM	#4829
manchambo Veteran Join Date: Dec 2005 Casino cash: $8862156	SLS is good, in a general sense, I suppose. It's good to have a rocket with moon capability. But is this really the future? Disposable boosters? SpaceX just seems to be way ahead of everyone else at this point. __________________ By Allah behave yourself. I will give you a taste of my shoe.
Posts: 4,956