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.
Better than the first one, but still had two Raptors shut down before full duration:
Super Heavy Booster 9 static fire successfully lit all 33 Raptor engines, with all but two running for the full duration. Congratulations to the SpaceX team on this exciting milestone! pic.twitter.com/1hzs768vHg
Seems like the only loose end now is FAA approval. Hopefully test flight go for launch next week. Perhaps a wet dress rehearsal Monday, and flight on Wednesday/Thursday. [Reply]
FH launch scheduled for tomorrow but weather sounds iffy:
SpaceX and NASA are targeting Thursday, October 12 at 10:16 a.m. ET for Falcon Heavy’s launch of the Psyche mission to an interplanetary transfer orbit from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. If needed, a backup launch opportunity is available on Friday, October 13 at 10:19 a.m. ET.
The Psyche spacecraft will travel to a metal-rich asteroid of the same name orbiting the Sun between Jupiter and Mars in pursuit of studying the exposed nickel-iron core of an early planet, one of the building blocks of our solar system. The mission will also demonstrate NASA’s first deep space test of the Deep Space Optical Communications (DSOC) system – high-bandwidth optical communications through space and back to Earth – from distances far exceeding the Moon – using a near-infrared laser.
This will be the fourth launch for the side boosters, both of which previously supported USSF-44, USSF-67, and Hughes JUPTER 3. Following stage separation, Falcon Heavy’s two side boosters will land on SpaceX’s Landing Zones 1 and 2 (LZ-1 and LZ-2) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
A live webcast of this mission will begin on NASA TV about 45 minutes prior to liftoff. [Reply]
SpaceX is only streaming on TwiX these days because Elon is a man child. I missed the launch, but glad to see it went well. Looks like we'll have pretty regular FH launches in the next couple of years, which is exciting as well! [Reply]
Originally Posted by DaFace:
SpaceX is only streaming on TwiX these days because Elon is a man child. I missed the launch, but glad to see it went well. Looks like we'll have pretty regular FH launches in the next couple of years, which is exciting as well!
I watched one of the other YouTube streams and was surprised when they cut to the watching area that it looked like there were maybe 5 people there. That area used to be packed for launches. [Reply]
And a few weeks back, Cybertruck was around Starbase and the launchpad, hauling Raptor engines.
Here's a worthwhile watch from the International Astronautical Congress conference earlier this month, discussion with Elon Musk regarding Starship and Starbase development:
