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.
SpaceX is targeting Wednesday, June 29 for launch of SES-22 to a geosynchronous transfer orbit from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The two-hour launch window opens at 5:04 p.m. ET, 21:04 UTC. A backup launch opportunity is available on Thursday, June 30 with the same window.
The Falcon 9 first stage booster supporting this mission previously supported the launch of one Starlink mission. After stage separation, the first stage will land on the A Shortfall of Gravitas droneship, which will be stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.
A live webcast of this mission will begin about 10 minutes prior to liftoff.
SpaceX is targeting Thursday, July 7 for a Falcon 9 launch of 53 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The instantaneous launch window is at 9:11 a.m. ET (13:11 UTC), and a backup opportunity is available on Friday, July 8 at 8:49 a.m. ET (12:49 UTC).
The first stage booster supporting this mission previously launched Crew Demo-2, ANASIS-II, CRS-21, Transporter-1, Transporter-3, and seven Starlink missions. Following stage separation, Falcon 9’s first stage will return to Earth and land on the Just Read the Instructions droneship stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.
A live webcast of this mission will begin about five minutes prior to liftoff.
�� Sneak a peek at the deepest & sharpest infrared image of the early universe ever taken — all in a day’s work for the Webb telescope. (Literally, capturing it took less than a day!) This is Webb’s first image released as we begin to #UnfoldTheUniverse: https://t.co/tlougFWg8Bpic.twitter.com/Y7ebmQwT7j
They'll be doing a more formal announcement with other images tomorrow, but this is pretty stunning:
"This slice of the vast universe covers a patch of sky approximately the size of a grain of sand held at arm’s length by someone on the ground." [Reply]
Neil Degrasse Tyson explained that the things that look like...well...stars are stars in our own galaxy (and really aren't very interesting). Everything else in the image is a galaxy. [Reply]
More images! The one in the bottom left shows five galaxies interacting...
HUGE congrats @NASA / @northropgrumman and the entire #JWST team!!! They absolutely knocked it out of the park and JWST is already delivering unbelievable images!!! I can't wait to see what all it discovers in our universe. Today is a great day in history!!! pic.twitter.com/6x450odZ3Y
— Everyday Astronaut (@Erdayastronaut) July 12, 2022
Originally Posted by DaFace:
First image from JWST is in!
�� Sneak a peek at the deepest & sharpest infrared image of the early universe ever taken — all in a day’s work for the Webb telescope. (Literally, capturing it took less than a day!) This is Webb’s first image released as we begin to #UnfoldTheUniverse: https://t.co/tlougFWg8Bpic.twitter.com/Y7ebmQwT7j