SpaceX and other space news updates

1,313,010 Views | 15024 Replies | Last: 7 min ago by Decay
TexAgs91
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
Here's a video packed with info on SpaceX Starship and Super Heavy rockets. Liquid nitrogen tank testing to destruction. Boca Chica aerial views. Info on the Crew 1 Dragon launch to the ISS on 10/23/20. Super Heavy rocket parts coming in. Also info on Starlink's upcoming launch and NASA's Artemis moon program. And also info on Relativity Space, which is a company that 3D prints rockets.



I took the time to find times in the video for each of these and other topics. Then I clicked on the OP title to change something and lost the entire post for some reason, so this is what you get.
Goose83
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
Everything old is new again:

lb3
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
Ag_of_08
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
Marcus is awesome! He's not always the first, but he's extremely enjoyable to listen to. I like the brit commentators...they tend not to yell and be as goofy.

Neutral buoyancy training, even though I think they'll be riding a spacex rocket when they use it.




The sn8 pressure test rollout.... because more video of big honking rockets is good?


Ag_of_08
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
lb3 said:

The relativity space technology is interesting.


They're going to be a neat one to watch, especially the 10ton heavy variant filling a really odd niche that electron isn't.
fishjones79
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
That was a great show... Saturday morning...a bowl of cereal...and Fireball XL5.
CondensedFogAggie
How long do you want to ignore this user?
This is really interesting and I'm proud of SpaceX, but why on F16?
Ag_of_08
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
Two fold

Space flight has huge internal and geo political implications. SpaceX and the private companies are standing the old model that fueled international rivalry for decades on it's head, and may potentially reshape the future. Aside from that, they keep the Russians constantly having the red ass ;-)

There are also a lot of us interested in space flight here. There are some current/former NASA employees that post, and I have some suspicions that there are at least a couple SpaceX and ULA folks trying to avoid posting. It's even possible there's an astronaut lurking, I know one made an aggies only post from ISS years ago.

I know I make my posts here because they fit for the politics, the majority of the board seem really enthusiastic about it, and it's a high traffic area that gets the news out, and people excited. The OP may not have the same opinions, but I want everyone I can get hooked in to watching to get excited.
TexAgs91
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
CondensedFoggyAggie said:

This is really interesting and I'm proud of SpaceX, but why on F16?
I'd like to put it on the space flight board but I can't seem to locate it

I've asked the mods a few times to add it but never get even a reply. But NASA receives government spending to do many cool things and SpaceX has become a major part of what NASA does now and will be even more so in the future. They seem to be where most of the innovation is now, so until there's a better place space postings have been showing up on F16.
BlitzBrother
How long do you want to ignore this user?
Was just looking at this evening , down in South Padre Island .
aTmAg
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
CondensedFoggyAggie said:

This is really interesting and I'm proud of SpaceX, but why on F16?
Where else we going to put it? General? All you would get there is mama jokes.
rodan85
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
I am one of those ex-NASA type guys. This is the only board I really see space being discussed.
aTmAg
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
Ag_of_08 said:

Marcus is awesome! He's not always the first, but he's extremely enjoyable to listen to. I like the brit commentators...they tend not to yell and be as goofy.

Neutral buoyancy training, even though I think they'll be riding a spacex rocket when they use it.




The sn8 pressure test rollout.... because more video of big honking rockets is good?



I think that first video is eye-roll inducing, the 2nd video is not. NASA seems like they are always in promotion mode rather than achievement mode. They don't excite anybody because people can see through it. What really excites people is actual achievement like the falcon heavy and crew dragon launches. People will watch the SLS launch if it ever happens, but until then making grand announcements on the gender and race of the next moon bound astronauts or answering twitter questions while wearing a space suit under water does nothing for anybody.
TRADUCTOR
How long do you want to ignore this user?
Political because a Biden economy will kill space x

MaroonStain
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
They played the Aggie War Hymn as a wakeup song on ISS.
Save pets. Vote Trump 2024.
Picard
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
MaroonStain said:

They played the Aggie War Hymn as a wakeup song on ISS.


Piped it in did they? Must have been just like being at the game on Saturday.
CW Griswold
How long do you want to ignore this user?
It was piped in. The band wanted to make the trip, but it would have busted the travel budget for the season.
Ag$08
How long do you want to ignore this user?
aTmAg said:

Ag_of_08 said:

Marcus is awesome! He's not always the first, but he's extremely enjoyable to listen to. I like the brit commentators...they tend not to yell and be as goofy.

Neutral buoyancy training, even though I think they'll be riding a spacex rocket when they use it.




The sn8 pressure test rollout.... because more video of big honking rockets is good?



I think that first video is eye-roll inducing, the 2nd video is not. NASA seems like they are always in promotion mode rather than achievement mode. They don't excite anybody because people can see through it. What really excites people is actual achievement like the falcon heavy and crew dragon launches. People will watch the SLS launch if it ever happens, but until then making grand announcements on the gender and race of the next moon bound astronauts or answering twitter questions while wearing a space suit under water does nothing for anybody.


They just need some more time. Maybe they can train their astronauts in Greendale's simulator simulator.
Ag_of_08
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
I posted that to be facetious to a certain extent... the new suits are pretty cool, and it's interesting they're actually doing the training, but...

I really, really don't see Artemis continuing over the next 4 years. Biden will **** can the project as fast as they can as a Trump/Bush legacy( i realize it was initiated under Obama, but it's nothing but whats left of constellation). If what I'm betting happens, a second term Trump admin may gain enough political capital to just cancel it and go with other options.

Canceling it will be a good thing, I just worry about a Biden admin gutting funding....Musk is doing a lot, and with the space force contract coming online they're going to have a lot more funding, but a noon/mars shot is going to take some of the deep pockets to kick off.

Anybody want to take wagers on which makes orbit first, an SLS or a starship prototype? My money is on spacex...
mwp02ag
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
SN#8 is gonna be doing a 60k foot test soon correct? Is that why they are rolling her out?
nortex97
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
I think NASA is, and always has been, all about politics. Focusing just on the moon bits and pieces, Dianetics, Blue Origin, and of course SpaceX all have good bits, and the SRB's from the old shuttle (artemis) do give a lot of lift, but balancing out how to maximize efficiency/success is something I worry about no matter who wins in Nov (if Biden wins the whole thing goes to crap, imho).

Biased (but not really off) viewpoint below;



SpaceX progress on starship/super heavy/BFR (why can't they stick with a name?) is great, I hope their goal to go to Jupiter (first) is achieved asap. Thx for posting OP.
TexAgs91
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
mwp02ag said:

SN#8 is gonna be doing a 60k foot test soon correct? Is that why they are rolling her out?
Yeah it will be quite a flight. It will also test the belly flop landing technique

Ag_of_08
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
nortex97 said:

I think NASA is, and always has been, all about politics. Focusing just on the moon bits and pieces, Dianetics, Blue Origin, and of course SpaceX all have good bits, and the SRB's from the old shuttle (artemis) do give a lot of lift, but balancing out how to maximize efficiency/success is something I worry about no matter who wins in Nov (if Biden wins the whole thing goes to crap, imho).

Biased (but not really off) viewpoint below;



SpaceX progress on starship/super heavy/BFR (why can't they stick with a name?) is great, I hope their goal to go to Jupiter (first) is achieved asap. Thx for posting OP.




They dropped the BFR name because there was no way NASA was going to playball with that.

Starship and superheavy are the names for the upperstage and booster. The vehicle/upperstage is starship, superheavy is what they've dubbed the booster. They named the booster for pr reasons, and because Musk has been hinting at a version of the upperstage that had a semi expendable fairing to carry payload in a traditional way...Basically the nose lopped off a starship. That will probably be demand dictated. But it would be hard to build a stripped down expandable upperstage based on a starship to carry really massive payloads

Someone asked about the SN8 rollout, this roll is for cryo and testing of the thrust structure. Theyll pull it back in and put a nose and probably some level of heatshield on when they're sure it's not going to have an earth shattering kaboom of an anomaly under pressure
GarryowenAg
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
SpaceX just had an abort at T minus 0:02. Payload was a GPS satellite. Next window is tomorrow night at 9:39pm.
Oak Tree
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
Ag_of_08 said:





There are also a lot of us interested in space flight here. There are some current/former NASA employees that post, and I have some suspicions that there are at least a couple SpaceX and ULA folks trying to avoid posting. It's even possible there's an astronaut lurking, I know one made an aggies only post from ISS years ago.




https://texags.com/forums/27/topics/1874692/1#discussion

Quote:

Astronaut Mike Fossum and Ron Garan(who's kid goes to A&M) just called down to wish me luck since today is my last day in Mission Control. We currently have the Flight Director, Capcom, an Astronaut, and 4 Flight Controllers including myself that are all A&M grads working today's mission.


Ag_of_08
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
I cant see it anymore, but I remember going "wait...what?"
HossAg
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
Mike Fossum gave a lecture in my engineering seminar course a few years ago. Super cool dude. Really hope NASA and SpaceX continue getting funding to keep pushing forward.
Ag_of_08
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
An Antares carrying a Cygnus launched tonight from wallops Island.

nortex97
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
Interesting/scary to discover problems with the heat shield;

https://www.businessinsider.com/spacex-nasa-crew-dragon-heat-shield-erosion-2020-9

The Antares, appropriately imho (because a lot of the rocket is Russian/Ukrainian in origin, and thus probably involves money to the Biden crime family), is carrying the very important new $23 million toilet to the ISS;

https://www.space.com/nasa-space-toilet-launches-on-antares-cygnus-ng-14
Ag_of_08
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
nortex97 said:

Interesting/scary to discover problems with the heat shield;




I had read a bit on this earlier, apparently the erosion was out of the expected range, but not out of the safe range, and they've tweaked the design to improve the situation. Tat article is a bit hyperbolic from what I remember, but a lot of the aerospace insiders are desperate for bad spacex press. Had it been a serious risk to the vehicle, they would have delayed crew one into November or December, and used the bonus seats they picked up in soyuz after the starliner "oops". Musk is pretty cavalier with a lot of things, but apparently he is quite serious about crew safety.... I truly don't think the man would risk lives, and his company, pushing an unsafe design.
nortex97
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
I don't disagree with that about him, and you're probably right. Still, heat shields are one of those things I'd think very little 'tight' tolerances would be acceptable...
Ag_of_08
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
nortex97 said:

I don't disagree with that about him, and you're probably right. Still, heat shields are one of those things I'd think very little 'tight' tolerances would be acceptable...


I haven't heard a ton on it, but my understanding was this was not a "well, the oring only fails at 75% erosion, and they're not making it past 65%, it'll be fine", more that it was a variance on the expected range that didn't approach safety margins. That's just what I've been told.... and I hope it is correct.

Real human loss of life is the big issues, but NASA also can't afford another accident. They're already being mocked for the Boeing debacle, and all the silly PR videos they keep releasing with artemis, an accident now would NED manned flight through NASA. Couple that with a new challenger documentary hitting Netflix, and yeah.... I have to hope they're not letting anything slide at this point, even if it sets us back. Kind of curious that article latched on to the word erosion..... that term was used a lot during challenger, and should still haunt the dreams of the twits responsible.
clw04
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
Ag_of_08 said:

nortex97 said:

Interesting/scary to discover problems with the heat shield;




I had read a bit on this earlier, apparently the erosion was out of the expected range, but not out of the safe range, and they've tweaked the design to improve the situation. Tat article is a bit hyperbolic from what I remember, but a lot of the aerospace insiders are desperate for bad spacex press. Had it been a serious risk to the vehicle, they would have delayed crew one into November or December, and used the bonus seats they picked up in soyuz after the starliner "oops". Musk is pretty cavalier with a lot of things, but apparently he is quite serious about crew safety.... I truly don't think the man would risk lives, and his company, pushing an unsafe design.
Of course Musk is not going to risk crew safety. Its possible that a crew accident could possibly end their NASA manned space flight work.
Ag_of_08
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG


I had not been following closely enough to see it, ISS is dealing with a leak in the Russian segment he discusses it at 17:30
badharambe
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
Does no one worry about Musk's/Tesla's ties to the CCP and how that could influence SpaceX?

Musk's primary net worth is tied up in Tesla. Without it his empire would collapse. Tesla's factory in China is financed through China banks and China has the ability in the contract to take over the factory at any point based on extenuating circumstances or if they are concerned.
Last Page
Page 1 of 430
 
×
subscribe Verify your student status
See Subscription Benefits
Trial only available to users who have never subscribed or participated in a previous trial.