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 Megatron96:
It looked like a good launch until it started doing the pirouettes and losing altitude; If they never planned on recovering the equipment, then it looked like a good launch right up to 1st stage sep (which obviously didn't occur).
I expected it to blow up at Max Q, honestly. And fact that it didn't break apart during those unanticipated flips is amazing. I can't even begin to imagine the stress that put both vehicles under. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Donger:
I expected it to blow up at Max Q, honestly. And fact that it didn't break apart during those unanticipated flips is amazing. I can't even begin to imagine the stress that put both vehicles under.
I actually thought it would explode as it was doing its first 'spin.' Not sure how it survived that, or the second one. They aren't designed to survive that type of centripetal stress. [Reply]
I kind of love that Starhopper is going to just sit there and take all of this abuse. It'll be a great reminder someday of all the work that went into getting the real thing done. [Reply]
What could not be immediately discerned from the ground is that a handful of the Super Heavy first stage's 33 Raptor engines failed in the early moments of the flight. After about two minutes, more engines failed. Before the end, when the rocket reached a peak altitude just short of 40 km, as many as eight engines appeared to have gone out.
As you said DaFace, that's not a good number. [Reply]
What it’s like to feel the world’s most powerful rocket, #Starship, from only 8km [5 miles] away!!! It shook our studio like crazy! Watch the door �� It wasn’t horribly loud, but it was thunderous & earth rattling. It. Was. Amazing! Congrats @spacex / @elonmusk! Slow mo coming! pic.twitter.com/cSZVKltdDN
How about the James Web Space Telescope causing all of our best scientists to question the theory of the Big Bang; it seems that, again, what the consensus believed about a popular theory is going to require some rethinking.
The science is not, and by the definition of science, ever settled. [Reply]
Originally Posted by crayzkirk:
How about the James Web Space Telescope causing all of our best scientists to question the theory of the Big Bang; it seems that, again, what the consensus believed about a popular theory is going to require some rethinking.
The science is not, and by the definition of science, ever settled.
Sounds interesting, do you have a link to an article or something about it? [Reply]
