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.
NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover took a selfie with the Ingenuity helicopter, seen here about 13 feet (3.9 meters) from the rover in this image taken April 6, 2021, the 46th Martian day, or sol, of the mission by the WATSON (Wide Angle Topographic Sensor for Operations and eNgineering) camera on the SHERLOC (Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman and Luminescence for Organics and Chemicals) instrument, located at the end of the rover's long robotic arm.
Perseverance’s selfie with Ingenuity is made up of 62 individual images stitched together once they are sent back to Earth; they were taken in sequence while the rover was looking at the helicopter, then again while it was looking at the WATSON camera. The Curiosity rover takes similar selfies using a camera on its robotic arm. Videos explaining how the rovers take their selfies can be found here. [Reply]
NASA engineers have decided to delay the Ingenuity helicopter’s debut flight on Mars to at least Wednesday, April 14th, after running into a minor computer glitch during a rotor spin test late Friday night, the agency said on Saturday. The tiny craft is healthy, but engineers need some more time to review telemetry data from the unexpected hiccup before proceeding.
Ingenuity, a mini four-pound helicopter that arrived on Mars February 18th attached to NASA’s Perseverance rover, was initially slated to carry out its first flight test late Sunday night (or, mid-day Mars time). The first bits of data on whether the flight attempt was successful was expected to come early Monday morning, around 4AM ET.
But data from a high-speed rotor test carried out on Friday showed the test sequence “ended early due to a ‘watchdog’ timer expiration,” NASA said. It happened as Ingenuity’s computer was trying to switch from pre-flight mode to flight mode.
Ingenuity’s “watchdog timer” is just that — a software-based watchdog that oversees the helicopter’s test sequences and alerts engineers if anything looks abnormal. “It helps the system stay safe by not proceeding if an issue is observed and worked as planned,” NASA said in a blog post.
NASA emphasized the craft is healthy, and Ingenuity is still in good contact with engineers at the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California.
Ingenuity was deployed by Perseverance on the Martian surface on April 4th, kicking off a 31-day clock in which five flight tests are planned. For its first flight demonstration, the helicopter will ascend 10 feet above the surface and hover for about 30 seconds, aiming to achieve the first-ever powered flight on another world. Depending how the first test goes, subsequent tests will involve Ingenuity soaring to higher altitudes and buzzing around within its running track-shaped flight zone at Mars’ Jezero Crater. [Reply]
#MarsHelicopter update: Ingenuity is healthy, but it needs a flight software update. While the development of the software is straightforward, validating and uplinking it will take time. We will set a new flight date next week. https://t.co/b0MzMIPGKzpic.twitter.com/R2wYKaCxqY
Awesome news, although I'm surprised they didn't throw some cash at Dynetics. While small, their solution was pretty cheap and simple. They could have done both. I like what they did with COTS and CCP. [Reply]
Originally Posted by unlurking:
Awesome news, although I'm surprised they didn't throw some cash at Dynetics. While small, their solution was pretty cheap and simple. They could have done both. I like what they did with COTS and CCP.
That's what I expected. And if they picked one, I really didn't think it would be SpaceX. But I guess they're getting a reputation for setting their sights high and delivering. [Reply]
Originally Posted by DaFace:
That's what I expected. And if they picked one, I really didn't think it would be SpaceX. But I guess they're getting a reputation for setting their sights high and delivering.
I'm thinking successfully launching astronauts was probably a huge mark in their favor. [Reply]
We're targeting as soon as Monday for the first controlled flight on Mars. Watch with the team as they receive data and find out if they were successful. Meet us in mission control April 19 at 6:15am ET (10:15am UTC): https://t.co/xAdT9tgYr1pic.twitter.com/8wJEr3CLJa
That's pretty fucking awesome. Anyone know the resolution on Ingenuity's camera offhand? Would love to see some 4k footage of the ground below as it soars over the rocks. [Reply]
