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.
Boeing delays by months test flights for U.S. human space program: sources
SEATTLE (Reuters) - Boeing Co has delayed by at least three months its first uncrewed flight to the International Space Station under NASA’s human spaceflight program, and pushed its crewed flight until November, industry sources said on Wednesday.
Originally Posted by DaFace:
Well, depends on how old you are. :-)
But yeah, I think we get there in the 2030s. In theory SpaceX wants to get there sooner than that, but NASA seems to have their sights on the moon, so it'll be more of a stretch for SpaceX to do it alone. Here's the general timeline as I see it:
2020-2025 - Rapid expansion of launch vehicle capabilities (New Glenn, Starship, and maybe SLS)
2025-2030 - Manned missions to the moon to start building a base and to test out technology that would allow for long-term habitats. Also, unmanned missions to Mars that take far bigger payloads than we've ever sent there before.
2030-2035 - Manned missions to Mars, but we don't stay longer than we have to. (Granted, we might have to stay quite a while since you have to wait for the right launch window.)
2035+ - Long-term missions to Mars.
Of course, that's all just guessing. We could get there earlier or much later. Or, frankly, it's possible that we never really figure out how to live on Mars long-term. We'll see.
Thanks for the update. It’s interesting stuff
Is the thought that we could actually colonize Mars? [Reply]
Originally Posted by O.city:
Thanks for the update. It’s interesting stuff
Is the thought that we could actually colonize Mars?
Theoretically, yes. But I'd be pretty surprised if anyone alive today ever sees more than a handful of people there at a time. It's...not exactly a hospitable place. [Reply]
I read once that it's possible to colonize Venus, and Venus could be a more hospitable place in the long run.
The problem with Venus is that it has a massive amount of carbon dioxide, which produces all sorts of problems. But there are certain types of bacteria that could survive there and that eat carbon dioxide. So you fire a rocket there that's full of those bacteria, wait a hundred years or some such time until they clean the place up, and then introduce oxygen and water. Voila - you have created an inhabitable new world. [Reply]
Originally Posted by DaFace:
Theoretically, yes. But I'd be pretty surprised if anyone alive today ever sees more than a handful of people there at a time. It's...not exactly a hospitable place.
Yeah, you get into terraforming and we just aren't anywhere close to that as a civilization yet.
And Falcon Heavy (sans fairing) is on the pad for a static fire today!
Launch Complex 39A: The first ever Block 5 @SpaceX Falcon Heavy stands vertical in the morning light in preparation for tonight's static fire test. pic.twitter.com/HvcBlpqury
And we have CONFIRMATION that #FalconHeavy's static fire has slipped to tomorrow, Friday, 5 April. Test window is 10:00-19:00 EDT (1400-2300 UTC). Launch date is slipping, too. Will not be Sunday. SpaceX will confirm a new launch date once Static Fire is complete. #Arabsat6Apic.twitter.com/waAtUQFSQt
Originally Posted by DaFace:
Theoretically, yes. But I'd be pretty surprised if anyone alive today ever sees more than a handful of people there at a time. It's...not exactly a hospitable place.
Water is the biggest issue to overcome for space travel.
If Mars doesn't have ice below the surface, the whole idea is dead in the water. Bringing water with us to a "colony" is just not sustainable.
They can make water out of thin air now. Too expensive on earth to be practical. Don't know if its even possible on Mars. The Israelis have been using desalinization to provide water since the 80's. But, that option, as far as I know is not available anywhere near us.
My son did some research in college that maybe as we travel along we could find trapped ice in large meteorites as a solution to providing water for space travel. [Reply]
