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.
Well this is a huge bummer. I knew it was damaged a month or two ago, but it's hard to fathom that the entire thing will need to be demolished. RIP to an iconic piece of scientific equipment.
Following engineering assessments concluding damage to Arecibo Observatory cannot be addressed without endangering the lives and safety of crew and staff, NSF plans to decommission the 305-meter telescope: https://t.co/En0S7OOhY4pic.twitter.com/bB70XNud0v
The initial issue was that a giant (like 4" diameter) cable pulled loose, and in the fall it took out a big chunk of the dish below. More recently, the increased loads took out another cable, and the troubling part is that that cable gave out well under its expected loads.
So now they're nervous about all of the other cables, and they're afraid that, if another one goes, the loads on the rest will be too much and the entire thing will fail catastrophically. And when you're nervous about a giant piece of equipment failing catastrophically, you don't put workers in areas where such a failure would almost certainly be fatal.
So here we are. I'm sure that, with enough money, they could fix it. But it's been underfunded for years now, and it sounds like it's just too risky to try and fix it. [Reply]
Originally Posted by DaFace:
The initial issue was that a giant (like 4" diameter) cable pulled loose, and in the fall it took out a big chunk of the dish below. More recently, the increased loads took out another cable, and the troubling part is that that cable gave out well under its expected loads.
So now they're nervous about all of the other cables, and they're afraid that, if another one goes, the loads on the rest will be too much and the entire thing will fail catastrophically. And when you're nervous about a giant piece of equipment failing catastrophically, you don't put workers in areas where such a failure would almost certainly be fatal.
So here we are. I'm sure that, with enough money, they could fix it. But it's been underfunded for years now, and it sounds like it's just too risky to try and fix it.
Originally Posted by Donger:
Looks like they might try another SN8 three Raptor static fire today:
I tried to stick with it but there just doesn't appear to be any timeline for anything and the chit-chat got a lot redundant and silly. "If I stowaway......?" :-) [Reply]
Yeah, they have no idea. This is just all based on activity seen during prior tests. Keeping in a small corner of one screen and checking the "check list" occasionally. I keep the feed muted and ignore the chat. I mostly can't stand the people narrating these things.
