Space Exploration megathread

[DaFace]

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.

[PHOG]

Uh oh. Canceled the lunar mission.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/techn...a3c9d4d8&ei=23

[4th and Long]

Originally Posted by PHOG

Uh oh. Canceled the lunar mission.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/techn...a3c9d4d8&ei=23

I think once they got conformation of caves on the moon, they changed their strategy.



https://science.nasa.gov/solar-syste...caves-on-moon/

[Donger]

Sorry if Q. Sulfur found on Mars:

https://studyfinds.org/nasa-curiosit...stals-on-mars/



Ran over it and broke it open. Highly scientific!!

[DaFace]

Cleared to fly again.

Thanks to the pace we’ve been able to launch, we’re able to gather unprecedented levels of flight data and are poised to rapidly return to flight as soon as Saturday, July 27 → https://t.co/DvO0z1NbUm

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) July 25, 2024

[Donger]

SpaceX finds cause of Falcon 9 failure, eyes return to flight as soon as July 27

https://www.space.com/spacex-finds-c...rocket-failure

SpaceX says it has identified and fixed the problem that caused its Falcon 9 rocket to fail during a launch earlier this month.

That failure occurred on July 11, as a Falcon 9 carried 20 of SpaceX's Starlink broadband satellites toward low Earth orbit. The rocket's first stage performed normally that day, but its upper stage sprang a leak of liquid oxygen, which prevented it from conducting an orbit-raising burn as planned; the Starlink satellites were deployed too low as a result and came back down to Earth in relatively short order, burning up in our planet's thick atmosphere.

The cause of the leak is a mystery no longer. It resulted from "a crack in a sense line for a pressure sensor attached to the vehicle’s oxygen system," SpaceX announced in an update on Thursday afternoon (July 25). "This line cracked due to fatigue caused by high loading from engine vibration and looseness in the clamp that normally constrains the line."

[DaFace]

Wow. They're actually considering sending SpaceX on a rescue mission.

A final decision has not been made, but I now believe it is more likely than not that Starliner's crew returns on Dragon. I asked NASA about this and their reply was not a denial, but rather, "we're evaluating all options." Story:https://t.co/MazPtCjyIO

— Eric Berger (@SciGuySpace) August 1, 2024

[GloryDayz]

Originally Posted by DaFace

Wow. They're actually considering sending SpaceX on a rescue mission.

A final decision has not been made, but I now believe it is more likely than not that Starliner's crew returns on Dragon. I asked NASA about this and their reply was not a denial, but rather, "we're evaluating all options." Story:https://t.co/MazPtCjyIO

— Eric Berger (@SciGuySpace) August 1, 2024

That thing must be majorly broken...

[GeorgeZimZam]

Raptor engine upgrade:

Raptor 3, SN1 pic.twitter.com/gV1NemIyXU

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 3, 2024

Performance stats of previous versions:

Raptor 1 (sea level variant)
Thrust: 185tf
Specific impulse: 350s
Engine mass: 2080kg
Engine + vehicle-side commodities and hardware mass: 3630kg

Raptor 2 (sea level variant)
Thrust: 230tf
Specific impulse: 347s
Engine mass: 1630kg
Engine… pic.twitter.com/8PgQeALOx4

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) August 3, 2024

Starship Tower Two progressing:

Tower 2 at Starbase Pad B is now six modules tall!https://t.co/e3xbqPnwZ5 pic.twitter.com/wfyGM5K2mM

— Chris Bergin - NSF (@NASASpaceflight) August 3, 2024

[GeorgeZimZam]

Anticipation building for Starship Flight 5 and the first attempted booster catch with Mechazilla, but still a month or so out.

JULY 29, 2024

STARSHIP’S SONIC BOOM

With each flight of Starship and the Super Heavy booster, we get closer to our goal of making life multiplanetary. The most important advancement to make this happen is full and rapid reusability of the entire launch system, operating Starship like an airplane which is fully and rapidly reusable after each flight. To do this, we have designed Starship’s upper stage and the Super Heavy booster to be capable of returning to the launch site. The returning vehicles will slow down from supersonic speeds, resulting in audible sonic booms in the area around the return location.

A sonic boom is a brief, thunder-like noise a person on the ground hears when an aircraft or other object travels faster than the speed of sound. As a fast-moving object travels through the air, it pushes the air aside and creates a wave of pressure which eventually reaches the ground. The change in air pressure associated with a sonic boom, known as overpressure, increases only a few pounds per square foot. A person could experience a similar pressure change by riding down several floors in an elevator. What makes sonic booms audible is the quick speeds at which the pressure change occurs.

Generally, the only impact to those in the surrounding area of a sonic boom is the brief noise. There are many variables that determine the impact of sonic booms, including the mass, shape and size of the object traveling at high speeds, along with its altitude and flight path. External factors like weather conditions can also affect the intensity of a sonic boom. The strongest effects of the sonic boom’s pressure change are localized to the area directly beneath the vehicle, concentrated under the rocket’s flight path and the landing site.

Sonic booms in spaceflight have typically only been experienced by observers on Earth when encountering vehicles designed to be reused, such as SpaceX’s Falcon family of rockets. When the first stage booster of a Falcon rocket returns for landing, its size and speed generate multiple sonic booms heard on the ground as a double clap of thunder. Similar sonic booms were heard during the return and landing of the NASA’s space shuttle. In each case, the sonic boom marks the end of just one in a series of missions for the vehicle returning from flight.

Data gathered from the first ever Super Heavy landing burn and splashdown on Starship’s fourth flight test indicates that while Super Heavy’s sonic boom will be more powerful than those generated by Falcon landings, it does not pose any risk of injury to those in the surrounding areas. The strongest effects will be localized to the area immediately around the Starbase launch pad. This area is cleared well in advance of launch and has been rigorously designed to withstand the environments of launching and returning the most powerful rocket ever flown.

Sonic booms announce the return of rockets and spacecraft built to be reused. With Starship, they’ll signal the arrival of a rapidly reusable future in spaceflight to travel to Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars, and beyond.

pic.twitter.com/wIzB08rOkC

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) July 29, 2024

[DaFace]

Meanwhile...

NASA confirms Crew-9 will slip as it mulls safety of Starliner spacecraft. Also, NASA chief says he will make the final call on how Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams fly home.https://t.co/pi7JoertLw

— Eric Berger (@SciGuySpace) August 6, 2024

[4th and Long]

Originally Posted by DaFace

Meanwhile...

NASA confirms Crew-9 will slip as it mulls safety of Starliner spacecraft. Also, NASA chief says he will make the final call on how Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams fly home.https://t.co/pi7JoertLw

— Eric Berger (@SciGuySpace) August 6, 2024

Butch and Suni are going to have to wait for a ride from the Russians.

[Donger]

Just an orbital class rocket coming home to land. No biggie:

Tracking footage of Falcon 9’s first stage booster landing and sonic boom pic.twitter.com/HNohw3oCCp

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) August 5, 2024

[GeorgeZimZam]

Truly a wild Starliner press conference:
-- NASA finally went into detail about a SpaceX contingency plan for bringing Butch and Suni home
-- People within NASA do not agree on which path to take
-- They need to decide by mid-August on how to move forwardhttps://t.co/JrEamD5mv5

— Loren Grush (@lorengrush) August 7, 2024

[DaFace]

Glad they're finally being transparent about it at least. What a mess.

[GeorgeZimZam]

Flight 5 Starship and Super Heavy are ready to fly, pending regulatory approval. Additional booster catch testing and Flight 6 vehicle testing is planned while waiting for clearance to fly pic.twitter.com/FFoGPEtztI

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) August 8, 2024