Science Space Exploration megathread - Page 377

**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.

BleedingRed · 10-12-2024, 08:54 AM

Pretty amazing,

But also a great example on a department that need to be changed. The FAA is too slow to keep up.

arrowheadnation · 10-12-2024, 09:18 AM

I think I recall Elon saying the biggest cause for delay this time was getting all of the required bird permits.

BleedingRed · 10-12-2024, 09:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by arrowheadnation

I think I recall Elon saying the biggest cause for delay this time was getting all of the required bird permits.

It’s a great example of how over regulated certain industries are.

GeorgeZimZam · 10-12-2024, 11:09 AM

Starship is a go for Sunday.https://t.co/UHMgWvMed1
— Eric Berger (@SciGuySpace) October 12, 2024

Targeting Sunday, October 13 for Starship’s fifth flight test. A 30-minute launch window opens at 7:00 a.m. CT → https://t.co/hibmw2lVv1 pic.twitter.com/3mZeH09eyl
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) October 12, 2024

**Donger** · 10-12-2024, 01:04 PM

Catching Super Heavy with the chopsticks sounds insane. Just like landing on a droneship sounded the same 300+ landings ago.

Go SpaceX!!!!

**Donger** · 10-12-2024, 01:14 PM

Starship's fifth flight test is targeted to launch on Sunday, October 13. The 30-minute launch window opens at 7 a.m. CT.

A live webcast of the flight test will begin about 35 minutes before liftoff, which you can watch here and on X @SpaceX. You can also watch the webcast on the new X TV app. The launch window will open as early as 7:00 a.m. CT. As is the case with all developmental testing, the schedule is dynamic and likely to change, so be sure to stay tuned to our X account for updates.

Flight 4 was a tremendous success. A fully successful ascent was followed by the first ever booster soft-landing in the Gulf of Mexico and Starship making it through a brilliant reentry, before its own landing burn and splashdown in the Indian Ocean.

The fifth flight test of Starship will aim to take another step towards full and rapid reusability. The primary objectives will be attempting the first ever return to launch site and catch of the Super Heavy booster and another Starship reentry and landing burn, aiming for an on-target splashdown of Starship in the Indian Ocean.

Ready to catch a booster? starshipthegame.spacex.com

Extensive upgrades ahead of this flight test have been made to hardware and software across Super Heavy, Starship, and the launch and catch tower infrastructure at Starbase. SpaceX engineers have spent years preparing and months testing for the booster catch attempt, with technicians pouring tens of thousands of hours into building the infrastructure to maximize our chances for success. We accept no compromises when it comes to ensuring the safety of the public and our team, and the return will only be attempted if conditions are right.

Thousands of distinct vehicle and pad criteria must be met prior to a return and catch attempt of the Super Heavy booster, which will require healthy systems on the booster and tower and a manual command from the mission’s Flight Director. If this command is not sent prior to the completion of the boostback burn, or if automated health checks show unacceptable conditions with Super Heavy or the tower, the booster will default to a trajectory that takes it to a landing burn and soft splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico.

The returning booster will slow down from supersonic speeds, resulting in audible sonic booms in the area around the landing zone. Generally, the only impact to those in the surrounding area of a sonic boom is the brief thunder-like noise with variables like weather and distance from the return site determining the magnitude experienced by observers.

Starship will fly a similar trajectory as the previous flight test with splashdown targeted in the Indian Ocean. This flight path does not require a deorbit burn for reentry, maximizing public safety while still providing the opportunity to meet our primary objective of a controlled reentry and soft water landing of Starship.

One of the key upgrades on Starship ahead of flight was a complete rework of its heatshield, with SpaceX technicians spending more than 12,000 hours replacing the entire thermal protection system with newer-generation tiles, a backup ablative layer, and additional protections between the flap structures. This massive effort, along with updates to the ship’s operations and software for reentry and landing burn, will look to improve upon the previous flight and bring Starship to a soft splashdown at the target area in the Indian Ocean.

With each flight building on the learnings from the last, testing improvements in hardware and operations across every facet of Starship, we’re on the verge of demonstrating techniques fundamental to Starship’s fully and rapidly reusable design. By continuing to push our hardware in a flight environment, and doing so as safely and frequently as possible, we’ll rapidly bring Starship online and revolutionize humanity’s ability to access space.

GeorgeZimZam · 10-12-2024, 03:35 PM

Watch Starship's fifth flight test https://t.co/LVrCnTv797
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) October 12, 2024

Fingers crossed, NO POSTPONEMENT!

GeorgeZimZam · 10-12-2024, 07:45 PM

Starship and comet C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS tonight ahead of Flight 5, scheduled for tomorrow, October 13! pic.twitter.com/7959OwMaft
— John Kraus (@johnkrausphotos) October 13, 2024

GeorgeZimZam · 10-13-2024, 04:09 AM

Currently still go for launch, with flight window opening in just over 4 hours at 7am CT https://t.co/VAL7vbf7NL
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 13, 2024

Passed through the Cameron County Sheriff checkpoints before 3am to get to Starbase in time for the better half to do her thing. For me: coffee, breakfast, and a few hours to kill before go! time.

GeorgeZimZam · 10-13-2024, 04:57 AM

A good omen as we approach T-minus 1 hour mark! Pre-flight checks must be passing Go/No Go calls.

WB57 is in the air! pic.twitter.com/3vXJG7TPIm
— Robin (@xdNiBoR) October 13, 2024

**Donger** · 10-13-2024, 05:50 AM

Let's ****ing GO!!!!

**Donger** · 10-13-2024, 05:56 AM

SpaceX feed is live:

https://x.com/i/broadcasts/1RDGlyognOgJL

**DaFace** · 10-13-2024, 05:59 AM

I'm here. I'm sleepy.

GeorgeZimZam · 10-13-2024, 06:10 AM

EDIT: Didn't realize how shitty this image quality was when I posted it live.

GeorgeZimZam · 10-13-2024, 06:19 AM

06-01-2014, 09:40 AM
DaFace Kind of a mod Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Donkey Land Casino cash: $36899	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: 52,558	1 0

10-12-2024, 08:54 AM	#5641
BleedingRed Banned Join Date: Mar 2016 Location: Houston, Tx Casino cash: $3290400	Pretty amazing, But also a great example on a department that need to be changed. The FAA is too slow to keep up.
Posts: 28,395

10-12-2024, 09:18 AM	#5642
arrowheadnation MONTANA #19 Join Date: Mar 2005 Casino cash: $4507357	I think I recall Elon saying the biggest cause for delay this time was getting all of the required bird permits. __________________ Things I need to happen in order to die happy.... KU wins a National Championship....Check! The Royals win a World Series....Check! The Chiefs win a Super Bowl....FINALLY!!!
Posts: 4,425

10-12-2024, 11:09 AM	#5644
GeorgeZimZam Repeal the 19th Amendment Join Date: Nov 2018 Location: KC > ATX > RGV Casino cash: $3200400	FAA LICENSE GRANTED Starship is a go for Sunday.https://t.co/UHMgWvMed1 — Eric Berger (@SciGuySpace) October 12, 2024 Targeting Sunday, October 13 for Starship’s fifth flight test. A 30-minute launch window opens at 7:00 a.m. CT → https://t.co/hibmw2lVv1 pic.twitter.com/3mZeH09eyl — SpaceX (@SpaceX) October 12, 2024
Posts: 1,670	1 0

10-12-2024, 01:04 PM	#5645
Donger "Think BOOM!" Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: 33.675° N 106.475° W Casino cash: $8489900 VARSITY	Catching Super Heavy with the chopsticks sounds insane. Just like landing on a droneship sounded the same 300+ landings ago. Go SpaceX!!!! __________________ I think the young people enjoy it when I "get down," verbally, don't you?
Posts: 187,377	1 0

10-12-2024, 01:14 PM	#5646
Donger "Think BOOM!" Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: 33.675° N 106.475° W Casino cash: $8489900 VARSITY	Starship's fifth flight test is targeted to launch on Sunday, October 13. The 30-minute launch window opens at 7 a.m. CT. A live webcast of the flight test will begin about 35 minutes before liftoff, which you can watch here and on X @SpaceX. You can also watch the webcast on the new X TV app. The launch window will open as early as 7:00 a.m. CT. As is the case with all developmental testing, the schedule is dynamic and likely to change, so be sure to stay tuned to our X account for updates. Flight 4 was a tremendous success. A fully successful ascent was followed by the first ever booster soft-landing in the Gulf of Mexico and Starship making it through a brilliant reentry, before its own landing burn and splashdown in the Indian Ocean. The fifth flight test of Starship will aim to take another step towards full and rapid reusability. The primary objectives will be attempting the first ever return to launch site and catch of the Super Heavy booster and another Starship reentry and landing burn, aiming for an on-target splashdown of Starship in the Indian Ocean. Ready to catch a booster? starshipthegame.spacex.com Extensive upgrades ahead of this flight test have been made to hardware and software across Super Heavy, Starship, and the launch and catch tower infrastructure at Starbase. SpaceX engineers have spent years preparing and months testing for the booster catch attempt, with technicians pouring tens of thousands of hours into building the infrastructure to maximize our chances for success. We accept no compromises when it comes to ensuring the safety of the public and our team, and the return will only be attempted if conditions are right. Thousands of distinct vehicle and pad criteria must be met prior to a return and catch attempt of the Super Heavy booster, which will require healthy systems on the booster and tower and a manual command from the mission’s Flight Director. If this command is not sent prior to the completion of the boostback burn, or if automated health checks show unacceptable conditions with Super Heavy or the tower, the booster will default to a trajectory that takes it to a landing burn and soft splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico. The returning booster will slow down from supersonic speeds, resulting in audible sonic booms in the area around the landing zone. Generally, the only impact to those in the surrounding area of a sonic boom is the brief thunder-like noise with variables like weather and distance from the return site determining the magnitude experienced by observers. Starship will fly a similar trajectory as the previous flight test with splashdown targeted in the Indian Ocean. This flight path does not require a deorbit burn for reentry, maximizing public safety while still providing the opportunity to meet our primary objective of a controlled reentry and soft water landing of Starship. One of the key upgrades on Starship ahead of flight was a complete rework of its heatshield, with SpaceX technicians spending more than 12,000 hours replacing the entire thermal protection system with newer-generation tiles, a backup ablative layer, and additional protections between the flap structures. This massive effort, along with updates to the ship’s operations and software for reentry and landing burn, will look to improve upon the previous flight and bring Starship to a soft splashdown at the target area in the Indian Ocean. With each flight building on the learnings from the last, testing improvements in hardware and operations across every facet of Starship, we’re on the verge of demonstrating techniques fundamental to Starship’s fully and rapidly reusable design. By continuing to push our hardware in a flight environment, and doing so as safely and frequently as possible, we’ll rapidly bring Starship online and revolutionize humanity’s ability to access space. __________________ I think the young people enjoy it when I "get down," verbally, don't you?
Posts: 187,377

10-12-2024, 03:35 PM	#5647
GeorgeZimZam Repeal the 19th Amendment Join Date: Nov 2018 Location: KC > ATX > RGV Casino cash: $3200400	Watch Starship's fifth flight test https://t.co/LVrCnTv797 — SpaceX (@SpaceX) October 12, 2024 Watch Starship's fifth flight test https://t.co/LVrCnTv797 — SpaceX (@SpaceX) October 12, 2024 Fingers crossed, NO POSTPONEMENT!
Posts: 1,670

10-12-2024, 07:45 PM	#5648
GeorgeZimZam Repeal the 19th Amendment Join Date: Nov 2018 Location: KC > ATX > RGV Casino cash: $3200400	Starship and comet C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS tonight ahead of Flight 5, scheduled for tomorrow, October 13! pic.twitter.com/7959OwMaft — John Kraus (@johnkrausphotos) October 13, 2024
Posts: 1,670

10-13-2024, 04:09 AM	#5649
GeorgeZimZam Repeal the 19th Amendment Join Date: Nov 2018 Location: KC > ATX > RGV Casino cash: $3200400	LFG! STARSHIP FLIGHT 5 DAY HAS ARRIVED! Currently still go for launch, with flight window opening in just over 4 hours at 7am CT https://t.co/VAL7vbf7NL — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 13, 2024 Passed through the Cameron County Sheriff checkpoints before 3am to get to Starbase in time for the better half to do her thing. For me: coffee, breakfast, and a few hours to kill before go! time.
Posts: 1,670

10-13-2024, 04:57 AM	#5650
GeorgeZimZam Repeal the 19th Amendment Join Date: Nov 2018 Location: KC > ATX > RGV Casino cash: $3200400	NASA WB-57s in the air A good omen as we approach T-minus 1 hour mark! Pre-flight checks must be passing Go/No Go calls. WB57 is in the air! pic.twitter.com/3vXJG7TPIm — Robin (@xdNiBoR) October 13, 2024
Posts: 1,670

10-13-2024, 05:50 AM	#5651
Donger "Think BOOM!" Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: 33.675° N 106.475° W Casino cash: $8489900 VARSITY	Let's ***ing GO!!!! __________________ I think the young people enjoy it when I "get down," verbally, don't you?*
Posts: 187,377	1 0

10-13-2024, 05:56 AM	#5652
Donger "Think BOOM!" Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: 33.675° N 106.475° W Casino cash: $8489900 VARSITY	SpaceX feed is live: https://x.com/i/broadcasts/1RDGlyognOgJL __________________ I think the young people enjoy it when I "get down," verbally, don't you?
Posts: 187,377

10-13-2024, 05:59 AM	#5653
DaFace Kind of a mod Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Donkey Land Casino cash: $36899	I'm here. I'm sleepy.
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10-13-2024, 06:10 AM	#5654
GeorgeZimZam Repeal the 19th Amendment Join Date: Nov 2018 Location: KC > ATX > RGV Casino cash: $3200400	T-minus 15 minutes EDIT: Didn't realize how shitty this image quality was when I posted it live. Last edited by GeorgeZimZam; 10-13-2024 at 09:11 AM..
Posts: 1,670

10-13-2024, 06:19 AM	#5655
GeorgeZimZam Repeal the 19th Amendment Join Date: Nov 2018 Location: KC > ATX > RGV Casino cash: $3200400
Posts: 1,670	2 0