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.
That's the assumption for this flight. Most of the original design shares from Elon show some form of a rotating arm on the tower to lift and stack. Tons of stuff being built around the OLT now that people are speculating might be that arm or possible mechanisms to catch the SH as it returns. I'm assuming they won't be able to transport a fully stacked Starship from the build site to the launch site.
They are also starting on a new "Wide Bay" that's supposed to be slightly taller than the High Bay but much wider. Assuming for the concurrent production of multiple SS and SH, but still only stacking at the OLT. [Reply]
Originally Posted by unlurking:
That's the assumption for this flight. Most of the original design shares from Elon show some form of a rotating arm on the tower to lift and stack. Tons of stuff being built around the OLT now that people are speculating might be that arm or possible mechanisms to catch the SH as it returns. I'm assuming they won't be able to transport a fully stacked Starship from the build site to the launch site.
They are also starting on a new "Wide Bay" that's supposed to be slightly taller than the High Bay but much wider. Assuming for the concurrent production of multiple SS and SH, but still only stacking at the OLT.
It's kind of amazing that you can move it upright like that. I mean, I know the physics of it (vast majority of the weight is at the bottom), but still...it just looks...wrong. [Reply]
Yeah, that's part of what I was getting at earlier. It seems HIGHLY unlikely to me that SpaceX actually thinks they'll be launching this thing in the next couple of weeks. In fact, if the FAA comes back and says that they've got some environmental violations, it could be months before it's all worked out.
However, the optics of the most innovative space company in the world, with contracts for both NASA and the DOD that are relying on this thing, having to sit there with this monstrosity of a rocket on the pad "ready to go" as soon as the FAA approves it...
Yeah, you have to imagine the FAA is going to try and speed things up a bit. [Reply]
