Science Space Exploration megathread - Page 162

**DaFace** · 03:36 PM

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.

Lists of Upcoming Missions

Spoiler!

How to Watch a Live Launch

Spoiler!

Where to Learn More

Spoiler!

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.

**DaFace** · 12-16-2019, 06:19 PM

(yawn)

**DaFace** · 12-16-2019, 06:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Donger

47 consecutive successful landings? What about that one that landed in the water?

Did they say consecutive? I thought it was just overall number of successes.

ChiliConCarnage · 12-16-2019, 06:20 PM

Stage 1 booster landed ok.

**Donger** · 12-16-2019, 06:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaFace

Did they say consecutive? I thought it was just overall number of successes.

I think so. Could be wrong.

**Donger** · 12-16-2019, 06:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaFace

(yawn)

It's great, isn't it?

A private company just launched a satellite into orbit, and landed the first stage back on a ****ing barge...

**DaFace** · 12-16-2019, 06:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Donger

It's great, isn't it?

A private company just launched a satellite into orbit, and landed the first stage back on a ****ing barge...

What? That's unusual?

Naptown Chief · 12-16-2019, 07:42 PM

Can you imagine how crazy it'll be for the first man to stick his dick in an alien? Leap of faith, for sure.

**BigRedChief** · 12-16-2019, 10:26 PM

Space X launch tonight from my neighborhood

GloryDayz · 12-17-2019, 08:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BigRedChief

Space X launch tonight from my neighborhood

How many have you gone to the Cape to see up close?

**DaFace** · 12-19-2019, 07:42 PM

Don't think I'm willing to get up at 4am (Mountain) to watch, but the Starliner test flight is slated to lift off at 6:36am Eastern tomorrow morning.

Scooter LaCanforno · 12-20-2019, 08:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GloryDayz

How many have you gone to the Cape to see up close?

I live at the Space Coast. There are lots of good locations to view the launches. My son has a friend who is a fireman at the Cape, and he has watched launches in a fire truck right near the pad. They have to put out the brush fires caused by the launch.

treeguy27 · 12-20-2019, 08:26 AM

Apparently the Starliner didn't get into the right orbit. ooops..
Boeing is having a bad year after all the 737 Max issues and now this.

https://www.theverge.com/2019/12/20/...-failure-orbit

**DaFace** · 12-20-2019, 08:44 AM

Doesn't sound like it would have been a loss of life situation, so that's mildly reassuring I guess. Not sure why it's so damn hard to get a functioning vehicle that can beat a 50-year-old Russian one, though. Grr.

GloryDayz · 12-20-2019, 08:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scooter LaCanforno

I live at the Space Coast. There are lots of good locations to view the launches. My son has a friend who is a fireman at the Cape, and he has watched launches in a fire truck right near the pad. They have to put out the brush fires caused by the launch.

That is AWESOME!

**Donger** · 12-20-2019, 10:10 AM

Software bug.

06-01-2014, 09:40 AM
DaFace Kind of a mod Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Donkey Land Casino cash: $1756899	Space Exploration megathread 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. Lists of Upcoming Missions Spoiler! General lists: https://nextspaceflight.com/ http://spaceflightnow.com/launch-schedule/ SpaceX specific list: https://spacexnow.com/upcoming.php How to Watch a Live Launch Spoiler! SpaceX: https://www.youtube.com/user/spacexchannel ULA: https://www.youtube.com/user/UnitedLaunchAlliance RocketLab: https://www.youtube.com/user/RocketLabNZ NASATV will also cover some launches (primarily ISS resupply missions): https://www.youtube.com/user/NASAtelevision Where to Learn More Spoiler! Some cool pics... https://www.flickr.com/photos/spacex/ https://www.instagram.com/spacex/?hl=en Twitter feed is usually interesing... https://twitter.com/SpaceX https://twitter.com/elonmusk The SpaceX sub is a great source of info... https://www.reddit.com/r/spacex https://www.reddit.com/r/spacex/wiki/index And for a more forum-style discussion board... http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php#c17 And there are plenty of YouTube channels with great content... Joe Scott - Lost of "future" discussion. Some about rockets and space. Much that goes beyond. Scott Manley - Super smart dude (engineer) who reviews a lot of major events in space exploration. Frazer Cain (Universe Today) - Podcast-style videos that go in-depth into space topics. 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. Last edited by DaFace; 12-10-2020 at 03:36 PM..
Posts: 51,964

12-16-2019, 06:19 PM	#2416
DaFace Kind of a mod Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Donkey Land Casino cash: $1756899	(yawn)
Posts: 51,964

12-16-2019, 06:20 PM	#2418
ChiliConCarnage TACO SALAD Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: yes Casino cash: $1528468	Stage 1 booster landed ok.
Posts: 5,903

12-16-2019, 07:42 PM	#2422
Naptown Chief Banned Join Date: Apr 2018 Location: Annapolis, MD Casino cash: $10002400	Can you imagine how crazy it'll be for the first man to stick his dick in an alien? Leap of faith, for sure.
Posts: 6,583

12-16-2019, 10:26 PM	#2423
BigRedChief Has a particular set of skills Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: On the water Casino cash: $2869627 VARSITY	Space X launch tonight from my neighborhood Attached Thumbnails __________________ Time is worth more than money.
Posts: 79,209	3 0

12-19-2019, 07:42 PM	#2425
DaFace Kind of a mod Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Donkey Land Casino cash: $1756899	Don't think I'm willing to get up at 4am (Mountain) to watch, but the Starliner test flight is slated to lift off at 6:36am Eastern tomorrow morning.
Posts: 51,964

12-20-2019, 08:26 AM	#2427
treeguy27 Starter Join Date: Dec 2018 Casino cash: $3170400	Apparently the Starliner didn't get into the right orbit. ooops.. Boeing is having a bad year after all the 737 Max issues and now this. https://www.theverge.com/2019/12/20/...-failure-orbit
Posts: 383

12-20-2019, 08:44 AM	#2428
DaFace Kind of a mod Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Donkey Land Casino cash: $1756899	Doesn't sound like it would have been a loss of life situation, so that's mildly reassuring I guess. Not sure why it's so damn hard to get a functioning vehicle that can beat a 50-year-old Russian one, though. Grr.
Posts: 51,964

12-20-2019, 10:10 AM	#2430
Donger "Think BOOM!" Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: 33.675° N 106.475° W Casino cash: $10099900 VARSITY	Software bug. __________________ I think the young people enjoy it when I "get down," verbally, don't you?
Posts: 181,332