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.
One day delay for rejiggering the whosie whatsits.
SpaceX has announced a one-day delay in the next Falcon 9 launch from the Kennedy Space Center. Liftoff of the Falcon 9 rocket is now targeted for Thursday at 8 p.m. EST (0100 GMT Friday) with the top secret Zuma payload for the U.S. government. https://t.co/dDunIA6GOZpic.twitter.com/Q7Yg7t7y5X
SpaceX has again delayed its next Falcon 9 launch until at least Friday evening. A U.S. Air Force spokesperson confirmed the delay to Spaceflight Now.
Friday's launch window opens at 8 p.m. EST (0100 GMT Saturday).
The 229-foot-tall (70-meter) rocket is standing at pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. It will haul the U.S. government's secretive Zuma payload into low Earth orbit [Reply]
FWIW, the rumblings are that media has been told not to show up tonight, so they're almost certainly not going to try and launch today. From what I can gather, there was a test for a DIFFERENT (future) launch that may have revealed a potential issue with the payload fairing, so they're being extra cautious and making sure it's not an issue with this launch.
I'm gonna take down the countdown clock, but in theory this could go any evening in the next week or whatever at 8pm EST. I'll try and bump when something seems more solid, but I'm not gonna keep bumping it back by one day at a time until is seems like things are solid again. [Reply]
Lots of things happening lately - I just haven't been keeping up. A few notable things:
-Zuma appears to be indefinitely on hold until they figure out their fairing issue (whatever it is).
-CRS-13 is on the clock for a week from now. This will be the first launch back at the repaired SLC-40 site that was damaged last year. Also, this will be the first time an ISS mission is launched on a previously-flown booster.
-Iridium-4 is coming up in about 3 weeks off the west coast.
-Falcon Heavy is pushed back to early January (but not a set date yet)
And on that note...
Falcon Heavy to launch next month from Apollo 11 pad at the Cape. Will have double thrust of next largest rocket. Guaranteed to be exciting, one way or another.
Payload will be my midnight cherry Tesla Roadster playing Space Oddity. Destination is Mars orbit. Will be in deep space for a billion years or so if it doesn’t blow up on ascent.
A couple questions maybe y'all can answer that crossed my mind watching this:
Around 3:30 the guy announces that they are switching from one guy at the stick to the other. Why is it necessary to change who's steering it halfway through?
It might just be camera angles, but are they pretty much vertical at some points in that descent? Talk about coming in hot...
When the landing gear deployed, it seemed like the compartment doors were much thicker than standard wheel well door. Are they pressurized to keep the wheels from exploding in 0 pressure? Or are they solid rubber? Or are they inflated during the descent? [Reply]
Originally Posted by Cornstock:
A couple questions maybe y'all can answer that crossed my mind watching this:
Around 3:30 the guy announces that they are switching from one guy at the stick to the other. Why is it necessary to change who's steering it halfway through?
It might just be camera angles, but are they pretty much vertical at some points in that descent? Talk about coming in hot...
When the landing gear deployed, it seemed like the compartment doors were much thicker than standard wheel well door. Are they pressurized to keep the wheels from exploding in 0 pressure? Or are they solid rubber? Or are they inflated during the descent?
Not sure on any of this, but I'd love to speculate! I'd imagine it's thicker b/c of the heat shield required too ensure it doesn't burn up in re-entry.
Also, I'd imagine the wheels weren't inflated on descent, as too many things could go wrong. Solid sounds most likely, but a pressurized space could work too. If you lost pressure though, could be bad news for any hopes out coming home. I'm going with solid rubber.
