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.
While RainMan pretends the Shuttle program is something other than defunct, the rest of us can appreciate some remarkable milestones from this flight. Both Booster and Ship have splashed down.
Not so crazy to think a Booster catch just may happen in the next flight test or two. [Reply]
Almost as important as the test itself: that shouldn't trigger a mishap investigation, so hopefully FAA approval won't be a holdup for the next one. [Reply]
Originally Posted by DaFace:
Almost as important as the test itself: that shouldn't trigger a mishap investigation, so hopefully FAA approval won't be a holdup for the next one.
At this point the licensing is increasingly streamlined. They’ll probably soon have approvals that cover multiple flight tests. [Reply]
Congratulations and a huge thank you to our extraordinary @SpaceX team!
Successful Super Heavy launch and landing, “orbital” ship (that’s one tough cookie!) entry, engine relight and splashdown. I hope you enjoyed the views, the music and see you back soon for our next flight!
Originally Posted by DaFace:
That's not really accurate. You're aware NASA is paying for a lot of this, right? Starship will hopefully be a moon lander and, theoretically, Mars some day.
And NASA is excited, as expected.
Congratulations @SpaceX on Starship's successful test flight this morning! We are another step closer to returning humanity to the Moon through #Artemis—then looking onward to Mars. https://t.co/0NAouIpbxq
Originally Posted by DaFace:
That's not really accurate. You're aware NASA is paying for a lot of this, right? Starship will hopefully be a moon lander and, theoretically, Mars some day.
They''re experimenting. They're not exploring, at least not in a physical context. I'm not saying it's not valuable, but the designers of the Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria weren't explorers. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Rain Man:
They''re experimenting. They're not exploring, at least not in a physical context. I'm not saying it's not valuable, but the designers of the Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria weren't explorers.
Are people on ISS explorers? How about space probes? [Reply]
Originally Posted by Rain Man:
They''re experimenting. They're not exploring, at least not in a physical context. I'm not saying it's not valuable, but the designers of the Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria weren't explorers.
Rain Man being autistic. The only part of this back and forth that adds up.
Originally Posted by Rain Man:
Probes are explorers. People on the ISS are workers.
That seems extremely myopic to me. At worst, these kinds of tests are aimed at ENABLING exploration even if you want to be pedantic about what "exploration" entails. [Reply]
