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.
A real Fairchild 𝑢A741 opamp date code 6920A (May, 1969). These were used on the Apollo 11 mission. Note the large metallization area which is the 30 pF internal compensation capacitor. This device was designed by Dave Fullagar and was probably released in 1968.
EchoStar 24 (Jupiter 3) will be the heaviest geostationary satellite ever launched, at just over 9 metric tons.
Hopefully EchoStar's payload doesn't prove to be a waste of hundreds of millions of dollars, as ViaSat's was after their own recent Falcon Heavy Launch.
Northrup Grumman effed up big time on that ViaSat-3 satellite reflector:
Originally Posted by :
A rendering of a ViaSat-3 satellite, the first of which launched April 30, 2023 on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy and suffered an "unexpected event" post launch that has prevented the deployment of the broadband satellite's large reflector antenna. Credit: Viasat
ViaSat and EchoStar relying on SpaceX to launch their previous gen alternatives to Starlink is pretty funny though. Cost for a Falcon Heavy launch is about $100MM. ViaSat-3 was a fully expendable Falcon Heavy launch, while the upcoming EchoStar 24/Jupiter-3 launch will expend the booster only (the side boosters are set to be reused). [Reply]
Originally Posted by GeorgeZimZam:
Hopefully EchoStar's payload doesn't prove to be a waste of hundreds of millions of dollars, as ViaSat's was after their own recent Falcon Heavy Launch.
Northrup Grumman effed up big time on that ViaSat-3 satellite reflector:
ViaSat and EchoStar relying on SpaceX to launch their previous gen alternatives to Starlink is pretty funny though. Cost for a Falcon Heavy launch is about $100MM. ViaSat-3 was a fully expendable Falcon Heavy launch, while the upcoming EchoStar 24/Jupiter-3 launch will expend the booster only (the side boosters are set to be reused).
"God help us. We're in the hands of engineers." [Reply]
Originally Posted by DaFace:
Jealous. I may make a trip down there just to see the rockets standing there, let alone flying.
Originally Posted by Donger:
Envious!! I've got a trip coming up to San Luis Obispo. Trying to schedule it to see a VSF launch.
With the current breakneck rate of progress (S25 and B9 testing, and implementation of the new deluge system for the Orbital Launch Mount) it feels like Orbital Flight Test #2 is probably right around the corner. i.e. Within 30-60 days perhaps. The one wild card is probably the FAA/environmental lawsuit situation. But I suspect Elon Musk has all his bases covered there, too.
I'd like to catch one of these Starship launches from Rocket Ranch's observation site, which is about as close as you can get...
...aside from a questionable-at-best viewing location on the Mexican side of the Rio Grande:
Approximately eight minutes after launch, Falcon Heavy's side boosters will return to Earth and land on Landing Zones 1 and 2 pic.twitter.com/rI1Cv9EBzy
Jupiter 3 | SpaceX | July 27 | 0304 UTC@SpaceX to launch the with 9.2 tons heaviest geo stationary com🛰️#EchoStar24 aka #Jupiter3 on its #FalconHeavy🚀 from LC-39A, Cape Canaveral. It is the 7th flight of a Falcon Heavy🚀 from LC-39A and… pic.twitter.com/yHJrTCoosN
