Science Space Exploration megathread - Page 390

**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** · 03-30-2025, 01:30 PM

SpaceX is targeting Monday, March 31 at 9:46 p.m. ET for Falcon 9’s launch of Fram2 to a polar orbit from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. There are three additional launch opportunities within the approximate 4.5-hour window: 11:20 p.m. ET followed by 12:53 a.m. and 2:26 a.m. on Tuesday, April 1. If needed, backup opportunities are available on Tuesday, April 1 starting at the same time.

A live webcast of this mission will begin about one hour prior to liftoff, which you can watch here and on X @SpaceX. You can also watch the webcast on the new X TV app.

The Dragon spacecraft supporting this mission previously flew Crew-1 to and from the International Space Station, Inspiration4, the first all-civilian mission to orbit, and Polaris Dawn, the first commercial mission to conduct an extravehicular activity from Dragon. This will be the sixth flight for the first stage booster supporting this mission, which previously launched Crew-9, RRT-1, Firefly Blue Ghost Mission 1, and two Starlink missions. Following stage separation, Falcon 9’s first stage will land on the A Shortfall of Gravitas droneship stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.

MISSION OBJECTIVES
During their multi-day mission, Dragon and the crew will explore Earth from a polar orbit and fly over Earth’s polar regions for the first time. They will also conduct 22 research studies designed to help advance humanity’s capabilities for long-duration space exploration and understanding of human health in space. Throughout Fram2’s time on-orbit, the crew are planning to take the first x-ray in space, perform exercise studies to maintain muscle and skeletal mass, and grow mushrooms in microgravity. Additionally, after safely returning to Earth, the crew plans to exit from the Dragon spacecraft without additional medical and operational assistance, helping researchers characterize the ability of astronauts to perform unassisted functional tasks after short and long durations in space.

THE CREW
This will be the first human spaceflight for Mission Commander Chun Wang, Vehicle Commander Jannicke Mikkelsen, Vehicle Pilot Rabea Rogge, and Mission Specialist and Medical Officer Eric Philips.

**Donger** · 03-30-2025, 01:51 PM

Almost...

GloryDayz · 03-30-2025, 02:00 PM

There are some fish in the area saying, "WHAT THE ****, MAN!!!"

**Donger** · 03-31-2025, 07:42 PM

T-4:00 for FRAM-2

GloryDayz · 03-31-2025, 07:47 PM

Love these night launches...

GeorgeZimZam · 03-31-2025, 08:11 PM

My parents visited Deep South Texas over the weekend. Although their arrival was upended thanks to the flooded Valley International Airport in Harlingen, had to detour instead to San Antonio and rent a U-Haul to drive southward to Brownsville (they forgot their credit cards, and were denied by all car rental companies when attempting to use debit card), and dinner at Starbase was scrubbed, the rest of the weekend was full of SpaceX and South Padre Island goodness. We were all treated to a special tour of Starfactory on Saturday morning. Sadly, no pictures permitted.

The 1-million square foot Starfactory brings many parts of the manufacturing process under one roof for the first time, moving as much system integration work as possible earlier in the build process, with the goal of eventually producing 1,000 Ships a year pic.twitter.com/vz44XcTTN8
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) October 13, 2024

From there we got to hovercraft over to South Padre Island, enjoyed drinks by the beach, a tour of the new Sea Turtle Inc. facility, and dinner by the bay.

A couple months ago I was able to tag along with my wife to rescue cold-stunned sea turtles, which was a helluva adventure along the remote shores between Starbase and SPI. A few days later we then got to release the turtles the morning of the AFC Championship game. A random YouTube channel happened to document the sea turtle release:

GloryDayz · 04-01-2025, 09:03 AM

Cool live view. Something to do in a different tab while the server catches up..

**srvy** · 04-01-2025, 09:54 AM

Sounds like a good hearty soup. Cold stunted baby sea turtle soup.

**HemiEd** · 04-12-2025, 06:41 AM

Pretty shocking list of woman on the flight. But I guess woman are primarily responsible for Bezos success with Amazon.

Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin NS-31 mission is set to be the first all-female spaceflight since 1963, when the Soviet Union’s Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman in space during a three-day solo mission. The crew will launch from West Texas and includes aerospace engineer Aisha Bowe, film producer Kerianne Flynn, activist Amanda Nguyễn, CBS Mornings host Gayle King, pop singer Katy Perry, and former TV host and Bezos' fiancée Lauren Sánchez.

**HemiEd** · 04-12-2025, 07:17 AM

NASA offers $3M in competition to recycle human poop in space

April 9 (UPI) -- NASA is offering $3 million to anyone who proposes technology to solve an unusual problem: recycling feces and other human waste in space.

The space agency's LunaRecycle Challenge calls on members of the public to propose a technological means of recycling astronauts' feces, urine and vomit on the moon and during long-haul space flights.

burt · 04-12-2025, 08:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HemiEd

NASA offers $3M in competition to recycle human poop in space

April 9 (UPI) -- NASA is offering $3 million to anyone who proposes technology to solve an unusual problem: recycling feces and other human waste in space.

The space agency's LunaRecycle Challenge calls on members of the public to propose a technological means of recycling astronauts' feces, urine and vomit on the moon and during long-haul space flights.

This is CP, of course poop will be mentioned......

**Donger** · 04-12-2025, 09:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HemiEd

Pretty shocking list of woman on the flight. But I guess woman are primarily responsible for Bezos success with Amazon.

Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin NS-31 mission is set to be the first all-female spaceflight since 1963, when the Soviet Union’s Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman in space during a three-day solo mission. The crew will launch from West Texas and includes aerospace engineer Aisha Bowe, film producer Kerianne Flynn, activist Amanda Nguyễn, CBS Mornings host Gayle King, pop singer Katy Perry, and former TV host and Bezos' fiancée Lauren Sánchez.

Hope they had enough room for all the sun visors.

**Easy 6** · 04-13-2025, 04:15 PM

On a scale of 1-10, just how nervous are these women tonight?

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbi...n-mission.html

MagicHef · 04-13-2025, 04:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Easy 6

On a scale of 1-10, just how nervous are these women tonight?

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbi...n-mission.html

10

MagicHef · 04-13-2025, 04:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Donger

Hope they had enough room for all the sun visors.

?

06-01-2014, 09:40 AM
DaFace Kind of a mod Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Donkey Land Casino cash: $-1613101	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: 53,112	1 0

03-30-2025, 01:30 PM	#5836
Donger "Think BOOM!" Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: 33.675° N 106.475° W Casino cash: $6989900 VARSITY	SpaceX is targeting Monday, March 31 at 9:46 p.m. ET for Falcon 9’s launch of Fram2 to a polar orbit from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. There are three additional launch opportunities within the approximate 4.5-hour window: 11:20 p.m. ET followed by 12:53 a.m. and 2:26 a.m. on Tuesday, April 1. If needed, backup opportunities are available on Tuesday, April 1 starting at the same time. A live webcast of this mission will begin about one hour prior to liftoff, which you can watch here and on X @SpaceX. You can also watch the webcast on the new X TV app. The Dragon spacecraft supporting this mission previously flew Crew-1 to and from the International Space Station, Inspiration4, the first all-civilian mission to orbit, and Polaris Dawn, the first commercial mission to conduct an extravehicular activity from Dragon. This will be the sixth flight for the first stage booster supporting this mission, which previously launched Crew-9, RRT-1, Firefly Blue Ghost Mission 1, and two Starlink missions. Following stage separation, Falcon 9’s first stage will land on the A Shortfall of Gravitas droneship stationed in the Atlantic Ocean. MISSION OBJECTIVES During their multi-day mission, Dragon and the crew will explore Earth from a polar orbit and fly over Earth’s polar regions for the first time. They will also conduct 22 research studies designed to help advance humanity’s capabilities for long-duration space exploration and understanding of human health in space. Throughout Fram2’s time on-orbit, the crew are planning to take the first x-ray in space, perform exercise studies to maintain muscle and skeletal mass, and grow mushrooms in microgravity. Additionally, after safely returning to Earth, the crew plans to exit from the Dragon spacecraft without additional medical and operational assistance, helping researchers characterize the ability of astronauts to perform unassisted functional tasks after short and long durations in space. THE CREW This will be the first human spaceflight for Mission Commander Chun Wang, Vehicle Commander Jannicke Mikkelsen, Vehicle Pilot Rabea Rogge, and Mission Specialist and Medical Officer Eric Philips. __________________ I think the young people enjoy it when I "get down," verbally, don't you?
Posts: 190,635

03-30-2025, 01:51 PM	#5837
Donger "Think BOOM!" Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: 33.675° N 106.475° W Casino cash: $6989900 VARSITY	Almost... __________________ I think the young people enjoy it when I "get down," verbally, don't you?
Posts: 190,635

03-30-2025, 02:00 PM	#5838
GloryDayz (Sir/Yes Sir/Aye Aye Sir) Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Diving Casino cash: $905380	There are some fish in the area saying, "WHAT THE ****, MAN!!!" __________________ . #Like 45, 47 Is Going To Be AWESOME! #I still don't have COVID #I'mImmuneToVirtueSignaling
Posts: 123,201

03-31-2025, 07:42 PM	#5839
Donger "Think BOOM!" Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: 33.675° N 106.475° W Casino cash: $6989900 VARSITY	T-4:00 for FRAM-2 __________________ I think the young people enjoy it when I "get down," verbally, don't you?
Posts: 190,635	1 0

03-31-2025, 07:47 PM	#5840
GloryDayz (Sir/Yes Sir/Aye Aye Sir) Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Diving Casino cash: $905380	Love these night launches... __________________ . #Like 45, 47 Is Going To Be AWESOME! #I still don't have COVID #I'mImmuneToVirtueSignaling
Posts: 123,201	1 0

03-31-2025, 08:11 PM	#5841
GeorgeZimZam Repeal the 19th Amendment Join Date: Nov 2018 Location: KC > ATX > RGV Casino cash: $1810400	My parents visited Deep South Texas over the weekend. Although their arrival was upended thanks to the flooded Valley International Airport in Harlingen, had to detour instead to San Antonio and rent a U-Haul to drive southward to Brownsville (they forgot their credit cards, and were denied by all car rental companies when attempting to use debit card), and dinner at Starbase was scrubbed, the rest of the weekend was full of SpaceX and South Padre Island goodness. We were all treated to a special tour of Starfactory on Saturday morning. Sadly, no pictures permitted. The 1-million square foot Starfactory brings many parts of the manufacturing process under one roof for the first time, moving as much system integration work as possible earlier in the build process, with the goal of eventually producing 1,000 Ships a year pic.twitter.com/vz44XcTTN8 — SpaceX (@SpaceX) October 13, 2024 The 1-million square foot Starfactory brings many parts of the manufacturing process under one roof for the first time, moving as much system integration work as possible earlier in the build process, with the goal of eventually producing 1,000 Ships a year pic.twitter.com/vz44XcTTN8 — SpaceX (@SpaceX) October 13, 2024 From there we got to hovercraft over to South Padre Island, enjoyed drinks by the beach, a tour of the new Sea Turtle Inc. facility, and dinner by the bay. A couple months ago I was able to tag along with my wife to rescue cold-stunned sea turtles, which was a helluva adventure along the remote shores between Starbase and SPI. A few days later we then got to release the turtles the morning of the AFC Championship game. A random YouTube channel happened to document the sea turtle release:
Posts: 1,742

04-01-2025, 09:03 AM	#5842
GloryDayz (Sir/Yes Sir/Aye Aye Sir) Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Diving Casino cash: $905380	Cool live view. Something to do in a different tab while the server catches up.. __________________ . #Like 45, 47 Is Going To Be AWESOME! #I still don't have COVID #I'mImmuneToVirtueSignaling
Posts: 123,201

04-01-2025, 09:54 AM	#5843
srvy Fight, build, win! Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: KC Casino cash: $-1968750	Sounds like a good hearty soup. Cold stunted baby sea turtle soup. __________________ "The victim stance is a powerful one. The victim is always morally right, neither responsible nor accountable, and forever entitled to sympathy."
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04-12-2025, 06:41 AM	#5844
HemiEd Supporter Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Ozarks Casino cash: $-239436	Blue Origin's upcoming all-female spaceflight to launch Monday. Pretty shocking list of woman on the flight. But I guess woman are primarily responsible for Bezos success with Amazon. Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin NS-31 mission is set to be the first all-female spaceflight since 1963, when the Soviet Union’s Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman in space during a three-day solo mission. The crew will launch from West Texas and includes aerospace engineer Aisha Bowe, film producer Kerianne Flynn, activist Amanda Nguyễn, CBS Mornings host Gayle King, pop singer Katy Perry, and former TV host and Bezos' fiancée Lauren Sánchez.
Posts: 34,791

04-12-2025, 07:17 AM	#5845
HemiEd Supporter Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Ozarks Casino cash: $-239436	NASA offers $3M in competition to recycle human poop in space NASA offers $3M in competition to recycle human poop in space April 9 (UPI) -- NASA is offering $3 million to anyone who proposes technology to solve an unusual problem: recycling feces and other human waste in space. The space agency's LunaRecycle Challenge calls on members of the public to propose a technological means of recycling astronauts' feces, urine and vomit on the moon and during long-haul space flights.
Posts: 34,791

04-13-2025, 04:15 PM	#5848
Easy 6 pie is never free Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: the drivers seat Casino cash: $87775	On a scale of 1-10, just how nervous are these women tonight? https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbi...n-mission.html
Posts: 98,200	1 0