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.
:-)000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;" target="_blank">Mars City Opposite of Earth. Dawn and dusk sky are blue on Mars and day sky is red.
:-)c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;">A post shared by Elon Musk (@elonmusk) on
Current codename for the vehicle is BFR. ITS has been dropped.
BFR will replace Falcon 9, Falcon Heavy, and Dragon. The vehicles will run concurrently for a while to ease customer onboarding.
BFR should be cheaper to operate than Falcon 1.
BFR has a reusable payload of 150 tons, and an expendable payload of 250 tons.
The upper stage will come in crew, LEO cargo, and LEO tanker variants.
The upper stage will have 4 vacuum Raptor engines and 2 sea level Raptor engines.
The upper stage will contain 40 cabins, along with common areas. Each cabin is expected to house 2 or 3 people for a total crew capacity of approximately 100 people.
On-orbit fuel transfer will be done from the rear of each BFR upper stage vehicle.
BFR's first stage will have 31 Raptor engines.
Raptor has achieved 1200 seconds of firing time over 42 test fires, the longest single firing being 40 seconds.
Last year's 12-meter carbon fiber tank failed catastrophically while being tested well above margins.
BFR will see application as a point-to-point travel method on Earth, with most terrestrial destinations within 30 minutes of each other. Launches from floating pads at sea.
The aim is for BFR construction to begin in 6-9 months, with flights within 5 years. 2x cargo flights to Mars in 2022, 2x cargo & 2x crew in 2024. [Reply]
Current codename for the vehicle is BFR. ITS has been dropped.
BFR will replace Falcon 9, Falcon Heavy, and Dragon. The vehicles will run concurrently for a while to ease customer onboarding.
BFR should be cheaper to operate than Falcon 1.
BFR has a reusable payload of 150 tons, and an expendable payload of 250 tons.
The upper stage will come in crew, LEO cargo, and LEO tanker variants.
The upper stage will have 4 vacuum Raptor engines and 2 sea level Raptor engines.
The upper stage will contain 40 cabins, along with common areas. Each cabin is expected to house 2 or 3 people for a total crew capacity of approximately 100 people.
On-orbit fuel transfer will be done from the rear of each BFR upper stage vehicle.
BFR's first stage will have 31 Raptor engines.
Raptor has achieved 1200 seconds of firing time over 42 test fires, the longest single firing being 40 seconds.
Last year's 12-meter carbon fiber tank failed catastrophically while being tested well above margins.
BFR will see application as a point-to-point travel method on Earth, with most terrestrial destinations within 30 minutes of each other. Launches from floating pads at sea.
The aim is for BFR construction to begin in 6-9 months, with flights within 5 years. 2x cargo flights to Mars in 2022, 2x cargo & 2x crew in 2024.
I assume BFR stands for Big Fucking Rocket? [Reply]
Includes a bunch of the presentation slides as well.
The question is, how does Elon Musk pay for this? BFR has a huge payload, but very few entities need that kind of payload. For the vast majority, Falcon 9 and the Falcon Heavy are more than capable of servicing their needs. [Reply]
Originally Posted by FlintHillsChiefs:
The question is, how does Elon Musk pay for this? BFR has a huge payload, but very few entities need that kind of payload. For the vast majority, Falcon 9 and the Falcon Heavy are more than capable of servicing their needs.
From the article...
Originally Posted by : Paying for it
It certainly remains an open question as to whether SpaceX can pull off the technological mastery behind the BFR system, but it at least has a start. That raises the question of whether the California company has the funding to pay for it.
Musk seems to think he has solved that problem, as he intends to consolidate the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets, and the Dragon spacecraft, into a single reusable architecture—the BFR system that can meet the needs of all its existing clients, and many more. "This way, we will be able to apply all of our resources to one system," he said.
That is, if SpaceX can use the BFR to launch commercial satellites and national security payloads, as well as delivering cargo and crew to the International Space Station, it will have enough of a funding wedge to design, develop, and fly the BFR system. This seems optimistic (a shocker with SpaceX, we know). But it does not seem entirely out of the realm of possibility if SpaceX can leverage NASA and military development contracts to build the BFR system.
