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 :
This comes from @NexGenSpace , but his tweet thread isn't properly formatted , so can't link directly Here is a secret about Chris Sembroski, one of the Inspiration 4 crew. What most people don't know is that Chris earned his way to space. Or how. Chris Sembroski was one of about 50 private U.S. citizens who participated in the 1998 "March Storm" citizens space lobbying event. The #1 agenda item of the 1998 March Storm was passing the Commercial Space Act of 1998 (CSA98)...
I have to admit that the (lack of) coverage of Inspiration 4 in the past 12 hours has been a bit odd. There was SO MUCH hype leading up to the launch, and then the webcast ended and we've had nothing but a shot of the cupola.
I'm sure everything is fine, but I was kind of expecting to see video of them all having a great time. Some hypothesize on reddit that some of them might be puking their brains out, but still, an update would be nice. [Reply]
Originally Posted by DaFace:
I have to admit that the (lack of) coverage of Inspiration 4 in the past 12 hours has been a bit odd. There was SO MUCH hype leading up to the launch, and then the webcast ended and we've had nothing but a shot of the cupola.
I'm sure everything is fine, but I was kind of expecting to see video of them all having a great time. Some hypothesize on reddit that some of them might be puking their brains out, but still, an update would be nice.
I assumed most of the video was going to be locked down for the docuseries. I was hoping to at least get some coverage on Netflix's YouTube channel though. :-)
I do find it odd that some time last night they increased their orbit by 10KM. As of about 10PM they were at the 575KM stated in all the mission specs, this morning they were at 585KM.
Originally Posted by unlurking:
I assumed most of the video was going to be locked down for the docuseries. I was hoping to at least get some coverage on Netflix's YouTube channel though. :-)
I do find it odd that some time last night they increased their orbit by 10KM. As of about 10PM they were at the 575KM stated in all the mission specs, this morning they were at 585KM.
I can understand the lack of video if Netflix has it locked down. What I'm surprised by is a lack of tweets that just say "They're having a great time! Here's the schedule of when you can expect to hear from them." [Reply]
