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:
They're aiming for the ISS, which is moving. If you don't launch at the right time, you miss the station. All ISS launches will have an instantaneous launch windows (which basically means they have to launch at the exact second or not at all).
Thank you. I'll work up a hot take about why they can't just give it some more gas now [Reply]
Originally Posted by Eleazar:
Thank you. I'll work up a hot take about why they can't just give it some more gas now
That gets a bit more complicated, but the simplified version is that braking takes as much fuel accelerating, and you're trying to match the speed of the ISS exactly. They do have the ability to adjust a tiny bit, but it takes a TON of extra fuel to make up any more time than a second or two. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Frazod:
It sucks, but I understand the super anal level of caution. If they have a Challenger incident on their first attempted manned launch, we'll be sending our guys up through Russia for the next ten years.
So, let's be honest. Watching a rocket blast off is about as entertaining as watching water drip from a faucet. We ALL watch hoping deep down inside that suckers gonna explode and of course nobody gets hurt. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Hog's Gone Fishin:
So, let's be honest. Watching a rocket blast off is about as entertaining as watching water drip from a faucet. We ALL watch hoping deep down inside that suckers gonna explode and of course nobody gets hurt.
Originally Posted by Hog's Gone Fishin:
So, let's be honest. Watching a rocket blast off is about as entertaining as watching water drip from a faucet. We ALL watch hoping deep down inside that suckers gonna explode and of course nobody gets hurt.
Originally Posted by Hog's Gone Fishin:
So, let's be honest. Watching a rocket blast off is about as entertaining as watching water drip from a faucet. We ALL watch hoping deep down inside that suckers gonna explode and of course nobody gets hurt.
Originally Posted by Pants:
As I watched Cmdr. Hurley casually yawn just now, I was reminded that some human beings are just superior.
Originally Posted by DaFace:
They're both test pilots who have done two shuttle missions. These guys have taken (calculated) risks their entire lives, so this is practically just another day at the office.
Here's the link where you can figure out if its possible to see the space station pass over your area with the naked eye.
We visited some campers couple of months ago away from the city lights, Used this site to find it. Was really cool. Think I posted pics on here somewhere?
Hey, guys, I recently saw the different amounts of money NASA was giving the three private players (may have been here actually) and SpaceX was receiving by far the lowest amount. I think Blue Origin may have been #1?
