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:
That's pretty ****ing 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.
Originally Posted by DaFace:
It's almost flown under the radar that we have another manned launch coming up. Unfortunately it's super early in the morning, but still.
— NASA Commercial Crew (@Commercial_Crew) April 18, 2021
Side note, it looks like Boeing's Starliner not likely to fly crew until 2022. Not just because of their program setbacks, but due in part to a bit of a traffic jam at ISS. Kinda cool.
The Ingenuity Mars helicopter completed the first controlled, powered flight on Mars today.
It's fitting that the mission, an experimental companion to the Perseverance rover, carried a piece of history.
A postage stamp-size piece of muslin fabric that covered one of the wings from the Wright brothers' Flyer 1 is attached to a cable beneath the helicopter's solar panel.
A different piece of the wing's material, known as "Pride of the West" – along with a splinter of wood from the Flyer — was flown on Apollo 11 in 1969, traveling to the moon and back.
The first powered, controlled flight on Earth took place aboard the Flyer near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, when Orville and Wilbur Wright flew 120 feet for 12 seconds in December 1903. History was made when the Wright brothers conducted four separate flights on Dec. 17, 1903, and each one was a little longer than the previous one. [Reply]
#MarsHelicopter Flight #2 is in the books! I’ve captured its higher, bolder flight, and I’ll be sending back all my latest frames soon. Meanwhile, here's a quick preview, including takeoff and two turns. pic.twitter.com/MmNOuIQ8ly
— NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover (@NASAPersevere) April 22, 2021
Getting comfy with my cameras and bringing my subject into sharp focus. Of course, getting the shot is always easier when your subject nails their mark. Here are zoomed-in views of the #MarsHelicopter's takeoff and landing on flight #1. Getting set up for flight #2. pic.twitter.com/2lR0sU5hOO
— NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover (@NASAPersevere) April 22, 2021
(CNN)The Perseverance rover may be parked at an overlook to capture any flights by the Ingenuity helicopter over the next two weeks, but it's not wasting any of its time on Mars.
The rover on Tuesday successfully converted some of the plentiful carbon dioxide on Mars into oxygen as a first test of its MOXIE instrument. The name MOXIE is short for Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment.
After warming up for about two hours, MOXIE produced 5.4 grams of oxygen. This is enough to sustain an astronaut for about 10 minutes. [Reply]
