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.
The oxygen supply system has failed in a module on the Russian segment of the International Space Station (ISS) but the crew is in no danger, Russian space agency Roscosmos said Thursday.
The oxygen supply system on the Zvezda module on the orbital lab failed late on Wednesday but a second system on the American segment is operating normally, a Roscosmos spokesperson told AFP.
"Nothing threatens the security of the crew and the ISS," said the spokesperson, adding this repair work to fix the issue would be carried out on Thursday.
The issue arose after three new crew - two Russian cosmonauts and an American astronaut - reached the ISS on Wednesday to bring the number of current crew on board to six.
The problem is the latest incident on the ISS - whose first module was launched over two decades ago in 1998 - after the crew in August detected an air leak on board.
Roscosmos emphasised at the time that the leak was not significant and posed no danger. But part of the problem was detecting precisely where it came from.
The crew believe that they have now found the source of of the leak. The Roscosmos spokesperson said that they would receive precise instructions from mission control to carry out future work on the problem.
Quoted by the RIA Novosti news agency, veteran Russian cosmonaut Gennady Padalka said that the Russian equipment aboard the ISS was well past its use-by date.
"All modules of the Russian segment are exhausted," said Padalka, who holds the world record for most days spent in space.
He added that the equipment should only be used for 15 years whereas it was now two decades old.
Roscosmos is pretty fucked right now, and NASA should be planning on moving forward without Zvezda. Russia has threatened to leave the ISS and decouple Zvezda before. ISS doesn't have it's own propulsion system and uses Zvezda. Apparently station-keeping can also be done via a docked Soyuz' propulsion. Hopefully Crew Dragon and Starliner have been designed to provide propulsion as well. [Reply]
Launch site: LC-39A, Kennedy Space Center, Florida
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch the 14th batch of approximately 60 satellites for SpaceX’s Starlink broadband network, a mission designated Starlink V1.0-L13. Delayed from September and Oct. 10. [Reply]
Looks like all went well. I couldn't bring myself to get up at 6am on a Sunday for a Starlink launch. I'm glad that they've become so kind anew that I don't care, though. [Reply]
"Maybe one more time - it's just so cool. I must have watched it about a hundred times last night." - @OSIRISREx principal investigator Dante Lauretta of @UArizonaLPL reveals the first images from the spacecraft's TAG of asteroid Bennu yesterday. #ToBennuAndBackpic.twitter.com/DqTtOA2pwg
Launch site: SLC-40, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch the 15th batch of approximately 60 satellites for SpaceX’s Starlink broadband network, a mission designated Starlink V1.0-L14. Delayed from Oct. 21. [Reply]
Originally Posted by DaFace:
It's sometimes mind boggling the timelines NASA has to deal with. Launch in 2016. Intercept in 2020. Return to Earth in 2023.
Yes it is.
FYI tonight on PBS NOVA is going to do a show on this. 8pm ct. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Donger:
How does the return package, well, return? It must have some form of propulsion and guidance system?
The probe itself stays intact until it gets back to Earth. Once it gets close, the payload gets jettisoned and returns to the surface under parachute. [Reply]
Originally Posted by DaFace:
The probe itself stays intact until it gets back to Earth. Once it gets close, the payload gets jettisoned and returns to the surface under parachute.
It's not as exciting when it's a Russian spacecraft, but Chris Cassidy and the other Russians are on their way down from ISS right now. Should touch down in a couple hours.
