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.
BREAKING: Elon Musk talks about Starship during his gaming stream on 𝕏
-Flight 5 in about a month, after replacing the heatshield on the ship with a new tile twice as strong. -Ablative protection underneath will act as secondary heatshield layer. -Starship to Mars in 3 years. pic.twitter.com/hw16ycvzSI
It will be bonkers down here for the inaugural Mechazilla catch of a Starship Booster stage. Fingers crossed for Flight 5/Booster 12.
Sometime in the very near future, the Mechazilla launch pad will catch Starship’s Super Heavy booster — 230 feet tall and 440,000lbs — with mechanical arms. The arms are called “chopsticks” and it’s going to glorious. https://t.co/ahQSRf9hw3pic.twitter.com/mHyg0nVLly
BREAKING: Elon Musk talks about Starship during his gaming stream on ��
-Flight 5 in about a month, after replacing the heatshield on the ship with a new tile twice as strong. -Ablative protection underneath will act as secondary heatshield layer. -Starship to Mars in 3 years. pic.twitter.com/hw16ycvzSI
It will be bonkers down here for the inaugural Mechazilla catch of a Starship Booster stage. Fingers crossed for Flight 5/Booster 12.
Sometime in the very near future, the Mechazilla launch pad will catch Starship’s Super Heavy booster — 230 feet tall and 440,000lbs — with mechanical arms. The arms are called “chopsticks” and it’s going to glorious. https://t.co/ahQSRf9hw3pic.twitter.com/mHyg0nVLly
Hadn't heard this until today:
Next would come a ship engine cutoff and a nominal Suborbital insertion, Meaning Ship 29 hit the correct trajectory. Shortly after, Booster 11 would start up the inner 13 engines for an initial landing burn before switching to the inner three.
However, just after ignition, Engine 8 in the inner ring of 10 exploded, but the booster kept on going.
On one of the feeds, I saw a bunch of crap flying up from SH. Guess it was engine bits. [Reply]
Hadn't heard this until today:
Next would come a ship engine cutoff and a nominal Suborbital insertion, Meaning Ship 29 hit the correct trajectory. Shortly after, Booster 11 would start up the inner 13 engines for an initial landing burn before switching to the inner three.
However, just after ignition, Engine 8 in the inner ring of 10 exploded, but the booster kept on going.
On one of the feeds, I saw a bunch of crap flying up from SH. Guess it was engine bits.
Booster can't land, it doesn't have legs. It's either pretend land over the ocean (which it just did), or chopsticks. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Shiver Me Timbers: Boeing Starliner astronauts stuck at International Space Station as engineers on Earth race against time to fix multiple problems
“Boeing Starliner literally falling apart in space right now,” wrote Captain Coronado.
That's pretty over the top. They're working on understanding some issues, and it would be better if those issues weren't happening, but they've insisted that they could come home today if they had to. In theory at least, they're just taking this time to try and understand the issues now since the trunk would burn up on the way down.
Maybe it ends up being more than that, but they've been pretty firm that it's not. [Reply]
SpaceX is targeting Tuesday, June 25 for launch of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) GOES-U mission to a geostationary orbit from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The two-hour launch window opens at 5:16 p.m. ET. If needed, a backup opportunity is available on Wednesday, June 26 at the same time.
A live webcast of this mission will begin on NASA’s website about one hour prior to liftoff.
The GOES-U satellite will orbit above the Earth's equator at approximately 35,700 km (22,236 mi) observing weather patterns in the contiguous USA, Central and South America, and Atlantic Ocean. GOES-U is part of NOAA's most sophisticated Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES) series and will assist weather forecasters and climate researchers with real-time high-resolution imagery, earlier detection of severe weather that could save lives, and tropical cyclone forecasts. The weather satellite also carries a suite of space weather instruments that will be used to detect solar storms early and help predict their possible impacts.
Following booster separation, the two new side boosters supporting this mission will land on SpaceX’s Landing Zones 1 and 2 (LZ-1 and LZ-2) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. [Reply]
SpaceX is targeting Tuesday, June 25 for launch of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) GOES-U mission to a geostationary orbit from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The two-hour launch window opens at 5:16 p.m. ET. If needed, a backup opportunity is available on Wednesday, June 26 at the same time.
A live webcast of this mission will begin on NASA’s website about one hour prior to liftoff.
The GOES-U satellite will orbit above the Earth's equator at approximately 35,700 km (22,236 mi) observing weather patterns in the contiguous USA, Central and South America, and Atlantic Ocean. GOES-U is part of NOAA's most sophisticated Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES) series and will assist weather forecasters and climate researchers with real-time high-resolution imagery, earlier detection of severe weather that could save lives, and tropical cyclone forecasts. The weather satellite also carries a suite of space weather instruments that will be used to detect solar storms early and help predict their possible impacts.
Following booster separation, the two new side boosters supporting this mission will land on SpaceX’s Landing Zones 1 and 2 (LZ-1 and LZ-2) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
Hopefully weather permits.
Less than two hours until today’s Falcon Heavy launch of @NOAA’s GOES-U satellite from Launch Complex 39A in Florida. The two-hour launch window opens at 5:16 p.m. ET. Teams continue to monitor weather for liftoff, which is 30% favorable → https://t.co/bdfqFpPbAX
