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 unlurking:
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
"After seven and a half million years, the super computer Deep Thought finally reveals the ultimate answer to the Universe, the question of life and everything else."
Oh, well, that's embarrassing. I've never read it...
The really bad part is that two of my engineers got into a Teams chat about this last month, and I asked them WTF they were going on about. They told me, and I forgot...
Originally Posted by Donger:
Unless I'm missing something, SN8 didn't hit the pad on "landing." The video shows that it was way short. Not that it really matters, but...
Originally Posted by Molitoth:
Not sure how Tim gets on peoples nerves...
I think his work is Pro.
It's hard to discount his enthusiasm. His videos are top notch, albeit a bit in the weeds sometimes. I can't imagine people don't like him in general, but if you're looking for a NASA-style calm on launch, he ain't it.
I personally tend to watch him for mundane launches and for pre/post-game discussion when I'm in the mood, but for big events, I switch over to the official streams close to countdown. [Reply]
Originally Posted by DaFace:
It's hard to discount his enthusiasm. His videos are top notch, albeit a bit in the weeds sometimes. I can't imagine people don't like him in general, but if you're looking for a NASA-style calm on launch, he ain't it.
I personally tend to watch him for mundane launches and for pre/post-game discussion when I'm in the mood, but for big events, I switch over to the official streams close to countdown.
Originally Posted by DaFace:
It's hard to discount his enthusiasm. His videos are top notch, albeit a bit in the weeds sometimes. I can't imagine people don't like him in general, but if you're looking for a NASA-style calm on launch, he ain't it.
I personally tend to watch him for mundane launches and for pre/post-game discussion when I'm in the mood, but for big events, I switch over to the official streams close to countdown.
Originally Posted by DaFace:
It's hard to discount his enthusiasm. His videos are top notch, albeit a bit in the weeds sometimes. I can't imagine people don't like him in general, but if you're looking for a NASA-style calm on launch, he ain't it.
I personally tend to watch him for mundane launches and for pre/post-game discussion when I'm in the mood, but for big events, I switch over to the official streams close to countdown.
100% agree.
He's one of my few YouTube subcsriptions. Speaking of, maybe we should add a list of good space based YouTubers or Podcasts. I know there are slew of them, many just repackaged crap. So it'd be nice to have a list "vetted" by other users. In no particular order some of my faves are Scott Manley, Joe Scott, Frasier Cain, Tim Dodd, and USLaucnhReport. Love Isaac Arthur too, but he's more a "futurist / scifi" guy. [Reply]
He's one of my few YouTube subcsriptions. Speaking of, maybe we should add a list of good space based YouTubers or Podcasts. I know there are slew of them, many just repackaged crap. So it'd be nice to have a list "vetted" by other users. In no particular order some of my faves are Scott Manley, Joe Scott, Frasier Cain, Tim Dodd, and USLaucnhReport. Love Isaac Arthur too, but he's more a "futurist / scifi" guy.
Happy to add it to the OP if you want to provide links. (I'll do it tomorrow - on my phone tonight.) [Reply]
