Science Space Exploration megathread - Page 327

**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.

stumppy · 07-12-2022, 10:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by O.city

Gravitational lensing at it's finest.

Gravity strong enough to bend light. Crazy shit out there.

Mind blowing isn't it.

**DaFace** · 07-12-2022, 10:19 AM

Better page with the full images and explanations:

https://www.nasa.gov/webbfirstimages

MagicHef · 07-12-2022, 11:27 AM

Booster 7 experienced an explosion during testing.

https://www.teslarati.com/spacex-sta...ted-explosion/

**DaFace** · 07-12-2022, 12:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MagicHef

Booster 7 experienced an explosion during testing.

https://www.teslarati.com/spacex-sta...ted-explosion/

Well, that seems less than ideal.

MagicHef · 07-12-2022, 01:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaFace

Well, that seems less than ideal.

It sounds like this was supposed to be an engine spin test without ignition, but testing 33 engines at once allowed too much methane to build up in the air below the engines. In the future Musk says they will use something like the spark showers under the Space Shuttle to ignite gasses as soon as they come out, and they will not spin all 33 at once.

TLO · 07-12-2022, 02:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MagicHef

Booster 7 experienced an explosion during testing.

https://www.teslarati.com/spacex-sta...ted-explosion/

Looks similar to when I eat Taco Bell

**Donger** · 07-12-2022, 04:31 PM

Obviously a major malfunction...

Chitownchiefsfan · 07-13-2022, 08:11 AM

First images from the webb telescope have been released. This link compares the images to the hubble telescope to give just how much detail we are getting back.

https://www.nbcnews.com/data-graphic...cope-rcna37875

Fish · 07-13-2022, 01:06 PM

Zooming out...

GloryDayz · 07-13-2022, 01:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fish

Zooming out...

Freaking amazing...

**mlyonsd** · 07-13-2022, 03:45 PM

New NOVA tonight on PBS on JWST.

GloryDayz · 07-13-2022, 07:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mlyonsd

New NOVA tonight on PBS on JWST.

Starting right now... Woot..

Fish · 07-14-2022, 11:08 PM

More JWST mind blowing stuff...

Quote:

JWST can also gather more data more swiftly than Hubble. Klaus Pontoppidan, program scientist for the JWST mission, told reporters that NASA scientists spend weeks, on average, downloading and processing individual images before they’re transformed into the depictions that are released to the public.

Hubble transmits about 120 gigabytes of science data to Earth every week. Over the next few days, JWST will release roughly 50 terabytes of data—more than 400 times Hubble’s weekly transmission—to the public. The new image of JWST’s deep field, which President Biden unveiled Monday, was created from a composite of images at different wavelengths and took about 12.5 hours to complete, according to NASA. Alternatively, Hubble’s deepest fields took weeks to put together.

https://www.popsci.com/science/james...ope-next-data/

Otter · 07-15-2022, 06:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fish

More JWST mind blowing stuff...

I hope this doesn't cross lines but this what I mean when I say "God".

You can open no book to explain this stuff.

**Donger** · 07-21-2022, 11:18 AM

T-20:00

SpaceX is targeting Thursday, July 21 for a Falcon 9 launch of 46 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The instantaneous launch window is at 10:39 a.m. PT (17:39 UTC), and a backup opportunity is available on Friday, July 22 at 10:39 a.m. PT (17:39 UTC).

The first stage booster supporting this mission previously launched NROL-87, NROL-85 and SARah-1. Following stage separation, Falcon 9’s first stage will return to Earth and land on the Of Course I Still Love You droneship stationed in the Pacific Ocean.

A live webcast of this mission will begin about five minutes prior to liftoff.

06-01-2014, 09:40 AM
DaFace Kind of a mod Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Donkey Land Casino cash: $116899	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..
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07-12-2022, 10:19 AM	#4892
DaFace Kind of a mod Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Donkey Land Casino cash: $116899	Better page with the full images and explanations: https://www.nasa.gov/webbfirstimages
Posts: 52,532

07-12-2022, 11:27 AM	#4893
MagicHef The Seated Villain Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Seattle Casino cash: $1070247	Booster 7 experienced an explosion during testing. https://www.teslarati.com/spacex-sta...ted-explosion/ __________________ With a sack in 61% of his games, SB MVP Von Miller is the most consistent pass rusher in NFL history.
Posts: 10,711

07-12-2022, 04:31 PM	#4897
Donger "Think BOOM!" Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: 33.675° N 106.475° W Casino cash: $8559900 VARSITY	Obviously a major malfunction... __________________ I think the young people enjoy it when I "get down," verbally, don't you?
Posts: 187,110

07-13-2022, 08:11 AM	#4898
Chitownchiefsfan Starter Join Date: Jan 2018 Casino cash: $2090400	First images from the webb telescope have been released. This link compares the images to the hubble telescope to give just how much detail we are getting back. https://www.nbcnews.com/data-graphic...cope-rcna37875
Posts: 461

07-13-2022, 01:06 PM	#4899
Fish Ain't no relax! Join Date: Sep 2005 Casino cash: $398919	Zooming out... __________________
Posts: 48,438

07-13-2022, 03:45 PM	#4901
mlyonsd Supporter Join Date: Aug 2000 Location: Spink, SD Casino cash: $-226238	New NOVA tonight on PBS on JWST.
Posts: 39,209	1 0

07-21-2022, 11:18 AM	#4905
Donger "Think BOOM!" Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: 33.675° N 106.475° W Casino cash: $8559900 VARSITY	T-20:00 SpaceX is targeting Thursday, July 21 for a Falcon 9 launch of 46 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The instantaneous launch window is at 10:39 a.m. PT (17:39 UTC), and a backup opportunity is available on Friday, July 22 at 10:39 a.m. PT (17:39 UTC). The first stage booster supporting this mission previously launched NROL-87, NROL-85 and SARah-1. Following stage separation, Falcon 9’s first stage will return to Earth and land on the Of Course I Still Love You droneship stationed in the Pacific Ocean. A live webcast of this mission will begin about five minutes prior to liftoff. __________________ I think the young people enjoy it when I "get down," verbally, don't you?
Posts: 187,110