Science Space Exploration megathread - Page 342

**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.

**Donger** · 04-20-2023, 02:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Megatron96

It looked like a good launch until it started doing the pirouettes and losing altitude; If they never planned on recovering the equipment, then it looked like a good launch right up to 1st stage sep (which obviously didn't occur).

I expected it to blow up at Max Q, honestly. And fact that it didn't break apart during those unanticipated flips is amazing. I can't even begin to imagine the stress that put both vehicles under.

Megatron96 · 04-20-2023, 03:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Donger

I expected it to blow up at Max Q, honestly. And fact that it didn't break apart during those unanticipated flips is amazing. I can't even begin to imagine the stress that put both vehicles under.

I actually thought it would explode as it was doing its first 'spin.' Not sure how it survived that, or the second one. They aren't designed to survive that type of centripetal stress.

Hoopsdoc · 04-20-2023, 03:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Donger

That's a RUD!!!

Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly is an OUTSTANDING phrase.

**DaFace** · 04-20-2023, 03:35 PM

From two years ago:

Aspiring to have no flame diverter in Boca, but this could turn out to be a mistake
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 7, 2020

Narrator: It was.

**Donger** · 04-20-2023, 03:44 PM

Wild Rover 2 war zone footage with audio. Good stuff! #SpaceX #Starbase #Starship #Superheavy pic.twitter.com/Y8loOualXR
— LabPadre (@LabPadre) April 20, 2023

**DaFace** · 04-21-2023, 03:48 PM

3 months ago, we started building a massive water-cooled, steel plate to go under the launch mount.

Wasn’t ready in time & we wrongly thought, based on static fire data, that Fondag would make it through 1 launch.

Looks like we can be ready to launch again in 1 to 2 months.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 21, 2023

**Donger** · 04-21-2023, 03:58 PM

Quick cruise by #Starship’s launch pad to asses the damage. pic.twitter.com/vInP7s6EZ5
— Star✦Fleet Tours (@StarFleetTours) April 21, 2023

**Donger** · 04-21-2023, 03:58 PM

Tank farm #ouch pic.twitter.com/vrAqWcBMIQ
— Star✦Fleet Tours (@StarFleetTours) April 21, 2023

**DaFace** · 04-21-2023, 04:12 PM

I kind of love that Starhopper is going to just sit there and take all of this abuse. It'll be a great reminder someday of all the work that went into getting the real thing done.

**Donger** · 04-21-2023, 04:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaFace

3 months ago, we started building a massive water-cooled, steel plate to go under the launch mount.

Wasn’t ready in time & we wrongly thought, based on static fire data, that Fondag would make it through 1 launch.

Looks like we can be ready to launch again in 1 to 2 months.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 21, 2023

So that's about six months in non-Elon time.

**Donger** · 04-21-2023, 04:50 PM

https://arstechnica.com/science/2023...-or-a-success/

What could not be immediately discerned from the ground is that a handful of the Super Heavy first stage's 33 Raptor engines failed in the early moments of the flight. After about two minutes, more engines failed. Before the end, when the rocket reached a peak altitude just short of 40 km, as many as eight engines appeared to have gone out.

As you said DaFace, that's not a good number.

**Donger** · 04-21-2023, 04:54 PM

What it’s like to feel the world’s most powerful rocket, #Starship, from only 8km [5 miles] away!!! It shook our studio like crazy! Watch the door �� It wasn’t horribly loud, but it was thunderous & earth rattling. It. Was. Amazing! Congrats @spacex / @elonmusk! Slow mo coming! pic.twitter.com/cSZVKltdDN
— Everyday Astronaut (@Erdayastronaut) April 20, 2023

**mlyonsd** · 04-21-2023, 05:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BleedingRed

this image tho was super cool

Watching live when they showed this shot I thought this don't look right.

crayzkirk · 04-22-2023, 02:29 AM

How about the James Web Space Telescope causing all of our best scientists to question the theory of the Big Bang; it seems that, again, what the consensus believed about a popular theory is going to require some rethinking.

The science is not, and by the definition of science, ever settled.

MagicHef · 04-22-2023, 11:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by crayzkirk

How about the James Web Space Telescope causing all of our best scientists to question the theory of the Big Bang; it seems that, again, what the consensus believed about a popular theory is going to require some rethinking.

The science is not, and by the definition of science, ever settled.

Sounds interesting, do you have a link to an article or something about it?

06-01-2014, 09:40 AM
DaFace Kind of a mod Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Donkey Land Casino cash: $76899	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: 52,542	1 0

04-20-2023, 03:35 PM	#5119
DaFace Kind of a mod Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Donkey Land Casino cash: $76899	From two years ago: Aspiring to have no flame diverter in Boca, but this could turn out to be a mistake — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 7, 2020 Narrator: It was.
Posts: 52,542	1 0

04-20-2023, 03:44 PM	#5120
Donger "Think BOOM!" Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: 33.675° N 106.475° W Casino cash: $8529900 VARSITY	Wild Rover 2 war zone footage with audio. Good stuff! #SpaceX #Starbase #Starship #Superheavy pic.twitter.com/Y8loOualXR — LabPadre (@LabPadre) April 20, 2023 __________________ I think the young people enjoy it when I "get down," verbally, don't you?
Posts: 187,185	1 0

04-21-2023, 03:48 PM	#5121
DaFace Kind of a mod Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Donkey Land Casino cash: $76899	3 months ago, we started building a massive water-cooled, steel plate to go under the launch mount. Wasn’t ready in time & we wrongly thought, based on static fire data, that Fondag would make it through 1 launch. Looks like we can be ready to launch again in 1 to 2 months. — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 21, 2023
Posts: 52,542	1 0

04-21-2023, 03:58 PM	#5122
Donger "Think BOOM!" Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: 33.675° N 106.475° W Casino cash: $8529900 VARSITY	Quick cruise by #Starship’s launch pad to asses the damage. pic.twitter.com/vInP7s6EZ5 — Star✦Fleet Tours (@StarFleetTours) April 21, 2023 __________________ I think the young people enjoy it when I "get down," verbally, don't you?
Posts: 187,185

04-21-2023, 03:58 PM	#5123
Donger "Think BOOM!" Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: 33.675° N 106.475° W Casino cash: $8529900 VARSITY	Tank farm #ouch pic.twitter.com/vrAqWcBMIQ — Star✦Fleet Tours (@StarFleetTours) April 21, 2023 __________________ I think the young people enjoy it when I "get down," verbally, don't you?
Posts: 187,185

04-21-2023, 04:12 PM	#5124
DaFace Kind of a mod Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Donkey Land Casino cash: $76899	I kind of love that Starhopper is going to just sit there and take all of this abuse. It'll be a great reminder someday of all the work that went into getting the real thing done.
Posts: 52,542

04-21-2023, 04:50 PM	#5126
Donger "Think BOOM!" Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: 33.675° N 106.475° W Casino cash: $8529900 VARSITY	https://arstechnica.com/science/2023...-or-a-success/ What could not be immediately discerned from the ground is that a handful of the Super Heavy first stage's 33 Raptor engines failed in the early moments of the flight. After about two minutes, more engines failed. Before the end, when the rocket reached a peak altitude just short of 40 km, as many as eight engines appeared to have gone out. As you said DaFace, that's not a good number. __________________ I think the young people enjoy it when I "get down," verbally, don't you?
Posts: 187,185

04-21-2023, 04:54 PM	#5127
Donger "Think BOOM!" Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: 33.675° N 106.475° W Casino cash: $8529900 VARSITY	What it’s like to feel the world’s most powerful rocket, #Starship, from only 8km [5 miles] away!!! It shook our studio like crazy! Watch the door �� It wasn’t horribly loud, but it was thunderous & earth rattling. It. Was. Amazing! Congrats @spacex / @elonmusk! Slow mo coming! pic.twitter.com/cSZVKltdDN — Everyday Astronaut (@Erdayastronaut) April 20, 2023 __________________ I think the young people enjoy it when I "get down," verbally, don't you?
Posts: 187,185

04-22-2023, 02:29 AM	#5129
crayzkirk Veteran Join Date: Nov 2016 Casino cash: $2230000	How about the James Web Space Telescope causing all of our best scientists to question the theory of the Big Bang; it seems that, again, what the consensus believed about a popular theory is going to require some rethinking. The science is not, and by the definition of science, ever settled.
Posts: 4,754