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.
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.
Originally Posted by DaFace:
Thanks for giving me a reason to figure out if I could post a gifv using the new {video} tag. It technically works, but you have to manually change the extension to .mp4 (and that'll only work on imgur I think).
What's really mind-blowing to me is that when I was watching the clock a mere 20 minutes after launch the mission was all but done (except for bringing the 2nd stage back in its terminal phase). I remember a day when it took for seemingly ever to get to the deployment part.
One other observation was the difference in "Mission Control." 25 years ago it was air-cooled consoles with built-in CRTs; today it's a bunch of three-monitor (prolly bought on Amazon Prime) setup on what looks pretty-much like four-legged office table nudged together.
Originally Posted by unlurking:
Yep. Looked incredibly simple. Hopefully this kind of thing becomes common place. No offense to Bezos' penis ship, but SpaceX is a true commercial company. Remember watching their first commercial launch to the ISS. Was amazing. This, doubly so.
Musk's SpaceX is so far more advanced than Bezo'z attempt. [Reply]
Video version of the pic from above. Blow it up to full screen and crank the resolution for best effect - you can even see the legs coming down right in time.
When will they know if the first stage is actually reusable (and didn't sustain too much damage in the process)? If it just needs some parts, gas and paint and is ready to have a second stage, payload and fairing attached, that'd be awesome... [Reply]
Originally Posted by GloryDayz:
When will they know if the first stage is actually reusable (and didn't sustain too much damage in the process)? If it just needs some parts, gas and paint and is ready to have a second stage, payload and fairing attached, that'd be awesome...
I don't think anyone really knows. Musk did indicate on a call last night, though, that he doesn't think this one will ever fly again. I don't know what kind of museum can hold a 14-story rocket, but he seemed to think that's where it ultimately belongs.
That said, I bet that they at least fill it back up at some point and static fire it just to see what happens. [Reply]
