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.
This went from "can we" to "pretty routine" in an amazingly, stunningly, awesomely, wonderfully short period of time. I'm sure each mission has people working tirelessly and endlessly, but they sure have made it look routine.
Originally Posted by DaFace:
This image was leaked a year ago. It was thought to just be a preliminary idea, but it's clear that it was pretty damn close!
What about for those of us with big dicks? My junk will certainly be bulging in a suit like that. [Reply]
Just a heads up that the next launch is still on schedule. However, it seems like they're being even more secretive than usual about this one. We don't even have a time for the launch.
In theory, it'll still be webcast as usual sometime Thursday morning, but who knows at this point? I'll post more if I hear more. [Reply]
Originally Posted by DaFace:
Just a heads up that the next launch is still on schedule. However, it seems like they're being even more secretive than usual about this one. We don't even have a time for the launch.
In theory, it'll still be webcast as usual sometime Thursday morning, but who knows at this point? I'll post more if I hear more.
Where's the launch from and what about Irma? [Reply]
Originally Posted by eDave:
Where's the launch from and what about Irma?
Irma isn't scheduled to hit Florida until the weekend, so this launch should be off by then. It might impact recovery efforts, though, or obviously could get in the way if there's a scrub.
EDIT: This one is RTLS, so at least they won't have a barge out in the middle of the ocean in a Cat 5 hurricane. They're gonna have to get it down after landing in a real hurry, though. [Reply]
Finally got a time. 9:50am EST tomorrow morning, though even that's not technically official. They're definitely being secretive about this thing.
Weather's pretty iffy, and if there's a scrub, it's almost certainly going to delay things a week or more due to Irma.
EDIT: Now it's apparently 9:50am (not 9:20 as I originally posted). Damn secretive missions. It's a 5-hour window, though, so they may try and wait for the right opening in the weather to get it off. [Reply]
Originally Posted by DaFace:
Finally got a time. 9:50am EST tomorrow morning, though even that's not technically official. They're definitely being secretive about this thing.
Weather's pretty iffy, and if there's a scrub, it's almost certainly going to delay things a week or more due to Irma.
EDIT: Now it's apparently 9:50am (not 9:20 as I originally posted). Damn secretive missions. It's a 5-hour window, though, so they may try and wait for the right opening in the weather to get it off.
Was there going to be a landing I this one? Cargo sure is cool this time.
the sad thing about space travel is we're boxing ourselves in to not being able to go to space anymore. We need to do something about the debris that is just floating around out there. [Reply]
