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.
Originally Posted by GloryDayz:
Have you seen the price of paint?!?! Heck I'm buying automotive paint to paint my son's hockey goalie mask, and it's like $90, so this space-grade stuff might sink the program!
They probably hired some high school kid to pressure wash it, who spent the whole time on his phone watching PornHub and didn't get it done.
Not that I'd have any experience with this caliber of employee. Nope. No way. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Molitoth:
I've been hiding under a rock apparently.
Last night I accidentally came across a documentary of Elon Musk on Bloomberg and the story of this guy kinda blew my mind. I had heard his name frequently but never had done any research into who he was.
This dude rules, and now I'm closely watching SpaceX, Tesla, and SolarCity.
GoGo Gadget Sustainable Technology.
Yeah, he's about as close to Tony Stark as we'll likely have in our lifetimes. My main hope is that he's done enough to inspire other bright minds out there that the innovation will continue after he's gone. [Reply]
Originally Posted by DaFace:
Yeah, he's about as close to Tony Stark as we'll likely have in our lifetimes. My main hope is that he's done enough to inspire other bright minds out there that the innovation will continue after he's gone.
I cannot believe all of the negativity and anti-belief in Musk even after what he has done. I understand that his timeline goals are VERY aggressive... but my goodness, some of these people online want to hate him and every idea he has so much.
I hope he can continue to prove everyone wrong. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Molitoth:
I cannot believe all of the negativity and anti-belief in Musk even after what he has done. I understand that his timeline goals are VERY aggressive... but my goodness, some of these people online want to hate him and every idea he has so much.
I hope he can continue to prove everyone wrong.
To some extent, he's won regardless. NASA now is aiming for Mars. All of the big auto manufacturers are making EV's. And solar power is cheaper than ever.
I don't think he'd care in the least if SpaceX, Tesla, and SolarCity are all out of business in 50 years because someone else beat him to setting up a base on Mars, another car company built electric cars that are way better than Tesla, and all of our houses are solar powered by some other company that did it better than Solar City.
He's not in it to make money. If he changes the world by getting other companies to start innovating to keep up with him, that's just as good as him succeeding with his own companies. [Reply]
Originally Posted by DaFace:
To some extent, he's won regardless. NASA now is aiming for Mars. All of the big auto manufacturers are making EV's. And solar power is cheaper than ever.
I don't think he'd care in the least if SpaceX, Tesla, and SolarCity are all out of business in 50 years because someone else beat him to setting up a base on Mars, another car company built electric cars that are way better than Tesla, and all of our houses are solar powered by some other company that did it better than Solar City.
He's not in it to make money. If he changes the world by getting other companies to start innovating to keep up with him, that's just as good as him succeeding with his own companies.
Yup. He gives his patents away for others to work and build upon. [Reply]
Originally Posted by DaFace:
To some extent, he's won regardless. NASA now is aiming for Mars. All of the big auto manufacturers are making EV's. And solar power is cheaper than ever.
I don't think he'd care in the least if SpaceX, Tesla, and SolarCity are all out of business in 50 years because someone else beat him to setting up a base on Mars, another car company built electric cars that are way better than Tesla, and all of our houses are solar powered by some other company that did it better than Solar City.
He's not in it to make money. If he changes the world by getting other companies to start innovating to keep up with him, that's just as good as him succeeding with his own companies.
I agree. Man, I've watched like 10-12 hours of Elon Musk youtube videos today. It's been fascinating. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Molitoth:
I've been hiding under a rock apparently.
Last night I accidentally came across a documentary of Elon Musk on Bloomberg and the story of this guy kinda blew my mind. I had heard his name frequently but never had done any research into who he was.
This dude rules, and now I'm closely watching SpaceX, Tesla, and SolarCity.
GoGo Gadget Sustainable Technology.
I saw that documentary and it is epic.
Most people don’t realize he made his money early but then lost almost everything. We he talks about waking up crying because he had basically made some stupid mistakes with his money you realize how close the world came to never seeing any of his vision realized.
Originally Posted by RINGLEADER:
I saw that documentary and it is epic.
Most people don’t realize he made his money early but then lost almost everything. We he talks about waking up crying because he had basically made some stupid mistakes with his money you realize how close the world came to never seeing any of his vision realized.