Will be fun to watch the plans/construction advance @ 39A:

New MST (Mobile Space Tower for vertical integration for F9's:



Layout (invariably to change a lot) for Starship launch tower/CH4/Water etc.;

Quote:

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A deal in 2014 between SpaceX and Space Florida the State's aerospace economic development agency injected new life into 39A.

Effectively handing over 39A to SpaceX under a multi-decade lease, the company added a Horizontal Integration Facility (HIF) at the bottom of the launch ramp.

This occurred alongside the conversion of the Fixed Service Structure (FSS) under a staged development that eventually saw the addition of crew launch elements, such as the Crew Access Arm (CAA) for the Dragon spacecraft.

---

Quote:

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Some lessons may have been learned during the construction of what's set to be two launch towers at Starbase, aiding the planning of 39A's Tower.

It is still likely 39A's Tower will include its own Mechazilla system, with catching arms (chopsticks) for the stacking and catching of the Booster and Ship.

However, this would also be an update from the EA report, which was created around the time Starship was still planning to return to a nearby landing pad.

The pace of construction will also be closely followed, given Starbase's known priority. It is likely that Starbase will push through the test program and enable Starship to become operational, flying many Starlink missions to demonstrate its reliability before debuting from Florida.

Numerous questions remain outstanding.

These range from where the vehicles will be constructed, be it Starbase and then shipped to KSC akin to the path the Saturn V stages and Shuttle External Tanks took a barge trip into the Turn Basin at KSC, or if a new facility will be built at one of SpaceX's Florida sites such as Roberts Road, which has room for expansion.

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So, is this kinda accurate? @elonmusk pic.twitter.com/CRtK3swpKt

— FkGamingFX 🚀 (@RealFkGaming) December 4, 2021

So, by my reading, a second tower @ BC, and 1 (for now ) @ 39A are going to be getting built over the next year. Should be exciting to follow.

will25u said:

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NASA exposes first ever footage of a blue sunset on #Mars pic.twitter.com/EE8abNnnS6

— Space Porn (@redditSpacePorn) December 3, 2021

and...

Liftoff! pic.twitter.com/7ZlakB8pSk

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) December 2, 2021

and...

Falcon 9’s first stage has landed on the A Shortfall of Gravitas droneship pic.twitter.com/mvnvL25hrf

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) December 2, 2021

---

I was at Kennedy Space Center for that launch. Really awesome!!!

Ag with kids said:

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will25u said:

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NASA exposes first ever footage of a blue sunset on #Mars pic.twitter.com/EE8abNnnS6

— Space Porn (@redditSpacePorn) December 3, 2021

and...

Liftoff! pic.twitter.com/7ZlakB8pSk

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) December 2, 2021

and...

Falcon 9’s first stage has landed on the A Shortfall of Gravitas droneship pic.twitter.com/mvnvL25hrf

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) December 2, 2021

---

I was at Kennedy Space Center for that launch. Really awesome!!!

---

Very jealous. Hoping to make it to the cape for one.

SpaceX is finally dragging us into the 21st century we were promised as kids.



Now bring on the hoverboards.

Decay said:

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Ag with kids said:

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will25u said:

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NASA exposes first ever footage of a blue sunset on #Mars pic.twitter.com/EE8abNnnS6

— Space Porn (@redditSpacePorn) December 3, 2021

and...

Liftoff! pic.twitter.com/7ZlakB8pSk

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) December 2, 2021

and...

Falcon 9’s first stage has landed on the A Shortfall of Gravitas droneship pic.twitter.com/mvnvL25hrf

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) December 2, 2021

---

I was at Kennedy Space Center for that launch. Really awesome!!!

---

Very jealous. Hoping to make it to the cape for one.

---

I lucked out. We were at a conference last week and found out about the launch so we drove out there that afternoon. Looked like a bomb going off when the engine lit.

First time I've seen a launch. Going to have to go down to SPI to see a SpaceX launch from Boca Chica soon. I live in Corpus and have a free condo I can stay in on SPI so at this point I'm just being lazy.

When is the next big launch in Boca if I wanted to see a huge launch?

Premium said:

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When is the next big launch in Boca if I wanted to see a huge launch?

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No telling at this point, 1Q 2022, probably late Feb/early March

Ag with kids said:

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Decay said:

---

Ag with kids said:

---

will25u said:

---

NASA exposes first ever footage of a blue sunset on #Mars pic.twitter.com/EE8abNnnS6

— Space Porn (@redditSpacePorn) December 3, 2021

and...

Liftoff! pic.twitter.com/7ZlakB8pSk

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) December 2, 2021

and...

Falcon 9’s first stage has landed on the A Shortfall of Gravitas droneship pic.twitter.com/mvnvL25hrf

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) December 2, 2021

---

I was at Kennedy Space Center for that launch. Really awesome!!!

---

Very jealous. Hoping to make it to the cape for one.

---

I lucked out. We were at a conference last week and found out about the launch so we drove out there that afternoon. Looked like a bomb going off when the engine lit.

First time I've seen a launch. Going to have to go down to SPI to see a SpaceX launch from Boca Chica soon. I live in Corpus and have a free condo I can stay in on SPI so at this point I'm just being lazy.

---

If you're looking for folks to pay you a considerable amount of money to stay at your 'free condo,' please begin with people in this thread!

Premium said:

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When is the next big launch in Boca if I wanted to see a huge launch?

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I'll defer to Johnny

TexAgs91 said:

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Premium said:

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When is the next big launch in Boca if I wanted to see a huge launch?

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I'll defer to Johnny

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Envelope: Sis boom bah

The Great Carnack: What is the sound a sheep makes in a microwave?

Malachi Constant said:

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Ag with kids said:

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Decay said:

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Ag with kids said:

---

will25u said:

---

NASA exposes first ever footage of a blue sunset on #Mars pic.twitter.com/EE8abNnnS6

— Space Porn (@redditSpacePorn) December 3, 2021

and...

Liftoff! pic.twitter.com/7ZlakB8pSk

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) December 2, 2021

and...

---

I was at Kennedy Space Center for that launch. Really awesome!!!

---

Very jealous. Hoping to make it to the cape for one.

---

I lucked out. We were at a conference last week and found out about the launch so we drove out there that afternoon. Looked like a bomb going off when the engine lit.

First time I've seen a launch. Going to have to go down to SPI to see a SpaceX launch from Boca Chica soon. I live in Corpus and have a free condo I can stay in on SPI so at this point I'm just being lazy.

---

If you're looking for folks to pay you a considerable amount of money to stay at your 'free condo,' please begin with people in this thread!

---

Well, the one on SPI is my cousin's and he doesn't rent it out - I just have a key.

But, I have one on NPI that we do rent out - a little to far to see the launches at Boca Chica though...

The Shuttle simulator is dying a slow death. https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/12/saving-the-shuttle-simulator-it-was-an-artifact-that-needed-to-be-preserved/

I got to fly in that simulator twice and it's a shame that it's just going to a museum where it will do no more than have a few lights illuminated.

I'm also a bit POed because I contributed $1500 to A&M's efforts to assemble it on campus.

lb3 said:

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The Shuttle simulator is dying a slow death. https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/12/saving-the-shuttle-simulator-it-was-an-artifact-that-needed-to-be-preserved/

I got to fly in that simulator twice and it's a shame that it's just going to a museum where it will do no more than have a few lights illuminated.

I'm also a bit POed because I contributed $1500 to A&M's efforts to assemble it on campus.

---

I'd take a different perspective on this one, respectfully. The Shuttle program should be pointed at and mocked, incessantly, by space exploration fans, forever. It was emblematic of all that went wrong with our politics around space exploration post-Apollo (including the death of apollo). Absurd design compromises for fictitious/absurd DoD requirements and ludicrous contractors.

The cockpit itself looks strangely like...other North American cockpits of the era including the XB-70 and B-1. The simulator deserves to be tossed into the ash heap of history, not funded with some 6 or 7 figure budget to let youngsters marvel at how ludicrous the shuttle was.

That we are throwing billions of dollars per launch at the remnants of this national disgrace is frustrating today, and will be the case at least through the mid-2030's. If people/geeks really want to experience a shuttle launch/landing etc., I bet for a lot less money a VR simulator could be programmed today to work with a basic $1K set of goggles etc.

nortex97 said:

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lb3 said:

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The Shuttle simulator is dying a slow death. https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/12/saving-the-shuttle-simulator-it-was-an-artifact-that-needed-to-be-preserved/

I got to fly in that simulator twice and it's a shame that it's just going to a museum where it will do no more than have a few lights illuminated.

I'm also a bit POed because I contributed $1500 to A&M's efforts to assemble it on campus.

---

I'd take a different perspective on this one, respectfully. The Shuttle program should be pointed at and mocked, incessantly, by space exploration fans, forever. It was emblematic of all that went wrong with our politics around space exploration post-Apollo (including the death of apollo). Absurd design compromises for fictitious/absurd DoD requirements and ludicrous contractors.

The cockpit itself looks strangely like...other North American cockpits of the era including the XB-70 and B-1. The simulator deserves to be tossed into the ash heap of history, not funded with some 6 or 7 figure budget to let youngsters marvel at how ludicrous the shuttle was.

That we are throwing billions of dollars per launch at the remnants of this national disgrace is frustrating today, and will be the case at least through the mid-2030's. If people/geeks really want to experience a shuttle launch/landing etc., I bet for a lot less money a VR simulator could be programmed today to work with a basic $1K set of goggles etc.

---

VR would absolutely suck for that, since a large part is all those switches that need to be toggled...

and you would still miss out on the full motion part.

Texas Air and Space Museum at the Amarillo airport has the NASA Gulfstream II used to train Shuttle pilots. Right seat has normal controls, left has the Shuttle joystick controls. Computer system in the cabin made it react like a shuttle on reentry

We'll disagree.

The Shuttle was the ******* child of a political shotgun wedding but it was the pinnacle of 60s technology and 70s engineering and should be celebrated for that alone.

The simulator should likewise be celebrated as an inspiration if not on it's technical merits, then for some of the world's greatest pilots (like John Young) that flew it.

That's cool. I recall reading that the shuttle on approach handled like a flying lug wrench. Pretty comical metaphor, imho. Dumbing a gulfstream down to handle like it must have…been kind of amusing, kind of like making an F-16 handle like a sopwith camel.

I've never read why we didn't just have had it auto-pilot it's way the whole way down/back, like the Russians later did with theirs. Ah well, I understand the romantic appreciation for the craft as an engineering accomplishment of it's time, even tho I still think so much less of it.

lb3 said:

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We'll disagree.

The Shuttle was the ******* child of a political shotgun wedding but it was the pinnacle of 60s technology and 70s engineering and should be celebrated for that alone.

The simulator should likewise be celebrated as an inspiration if not on it's technical merits, then for some of the world's greatest pilots (like John Young) that flew it.

---

I heard the shuttle used some IBM-AT / 8088 computer parts and there toward the end NASA hit up the used market for old replacement parts. No idea how accurate. I heard garage sales but find that hard to believe.

nortex97 said:

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That's cool. I recall reading that the shuttle on approach handled like a flying lug wrench. Pretty comical metaphor, imho. Dumbing a gulfstream down to handle like it must have…been kind of amusing, kind of like making an F-16 handle like a sopwith camel.

I've never read why we didn't just have had it auto-pilot it's way the whole way down/back, like the Russians later did with theirs. Ah well, I understand the romantic appreciation for the craft as an engineering accomplishment of it's time, even tho I still think so much less of it.

---

Alledgedly because the astronaut corps threw an absolute fit, especially the airforce contingent, and forces the issue. It COULD land under autopilot, and an umbilical was eventually developed to conflict the two consoles, but was never used to my knowledge.

Like most decisions on the shuttle, the politically favorable was chosen instead of the mostnsound engineering.

There was a group that wanted a joystick type controller in Crew Dragon.

They got this instead:
https://iss-sim.spacex.com/

lb3 said:

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There was a group that wanted a joystick type controller in Crew Dragon.

They got this instead:
https://iss-sim.spacex.com/

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That was pretty cool! Very Kerbal-esque. I failed the first one, thought 0.2 would be ok on some values, but it actually DOES need to be below 0.2. Second time succeeded no issue. Pretty bad*** little simulator there.

lb3 said:

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There was a group that wanted a joystick type controller in Crew Dragon.

They got this instead:
https://iss-sim.spacex.com/

---

Oh I remember the public parts of the *****ing, there's still a huge contingent of knuckle dragged convinced that the lack of analog looking buttons and controllers in crew dragon is going to kill us all.

Doesn't matter that every "analog" control in ...well everything since Apollo is just a trigger for a digital system.....

Astronauts actually train on that simulator.

The key is to get your roll zeroed out first so your yaw and pitch movements aren't cross coupled. Then zero out your pitch and yaw. This gets you pointed in the right direction and decouples the Z axis translations from X & Y translations.

Next you translate in the X & Y direction until those values are zeroed out as well. This also puts the station hatch in your crosshairs.

The only parameter left that isn't zero at this point is the Z position value. Give Dragon some gas and start advancing on ISS. The computer will try to maintain all the zeros so only really minor corrections will be needed from here on out.

It is possible to advance on the station hatch by adjusting all parameters simultaneously but you can quickly reach your personal task saturation limit flyo

lb3 said:

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Astronauts actually train on that simulator.

The key is to get your roll zeroed out first so your yaw and pitch movements aren't cross coupled. Then zero out your pitch and yaw. This gets you pointed in the right direction and decouples the Z axis translations from X & Y translations.

Next you translate in the X & Y direction until those values are zeroed out as well. This also puts the station hatch in your crosshairs.

The only parameter left that isn't zero at this point is the Z position value. Give Dragon some gas and start advancing on ISS. The computer will try to maintain all the zeros so only really minor corrections will be needed from here on out.

It is possible to advance on the station hatch by adjusting all parameters simultaneously but you can quickly reach your personal task saturation limit flyo

---

That's pretty much exactly what I did, got all rotational parameters correct, did z and y (they have x as the distance between you and the ISS in this sim), and then was able to translate once all that was stable.

I definitely didn't wait to get y and z exact before getting closer, only so much time in the day lol. Besides, gotta have a little fun! Tbh was expecting a scoreboard or something on amount of fuel, time, etc.

A ways back we had some debate about Webb vs. other space telescope projects, just wanted to add that I think the Nancy Grace Roman one is one of the two donated (from NRO) "Hubble like" telescopes that NASA has had basically for going on 2 decades (Boeing screwed up a huge $20 billion NRO project) that is as of now planned to go up in 2025.

Watched the BO launch this morning with Alan Shepherd's oldest daughter. Yes its a glorified vomit comet ride but it's still cool. And fitting that she took basically the same flight he did. But it looked like something at the end didn't function correctly. They use a last moment retro fire to cushion touchdown and it looked like that didn't happen. It looked like a pretty hard landing.

They have this part down. Now if only they could actually produce and deliver one single BE4. One.

Mathguy64 said:

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Watched the BO launch this morning with Alan Shepherd's oldest daughter. Yes its a glorified vomit comet ride but it's still cool. And fitting that she took basically the same flight he did. But it looked like something at the end didn't function correctly. They use a last moment retro fire to cushion touchdown and it looked like that didn't happen. It looked like a pretty hard landing.

They have this part down. Now if only they could actually produce and deliver one single BE4. One.

---

Huh? It fired just like it always does, you see the pulse right before touchdown. It wasn't quite as big of a dust ball, I'm assuming because it's not as dry as usual.

Elon Musk (@elonmusk) is TIME's 2021 Person of the Year #TIMEPOY https://t.co/8Y5BhIldNs pic.twitter.com/B6h6rndjIh

— TIME (@TIME) December 13, 2021

will25u said:

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Elon Musk (@elonmusk) is TIME's 2021 Person of the Year #TIMEPOY https://t.co/8Y5BhIldNs pic.twitter.com/B6h6rndjIh

— TIME (@TIME) December 13, 2021

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I bet it is because he hosted SNL.

I bet it is because he gets clicks and attention. If they'd have tried to make Kamala/Biden/Fauci or whatever leftist the person of the year no one would have paid for that issue/clicked on it this year. Time magazine can barely keep the servers running.

https://instagr.am/p/CXb41pfs5wl

Excited for the first chopsticks test to put the ship on it.

That's awesome.

This is a little silly, to me, but whatever, it is probably smart politics.

Here's a potential source of methane for Starship launches in South Texas. (They need ... a lot). This would also address the growing concern of climate impacts from rocket launches. Big test will be making it financially sustainable. https://t.co/3rBkXDYl2N

— Eric Berger (@SciGuySpace) December 13, 2021

I guess I shouldn't be surprised because Time Magazine has really been going down the tubes, but…

…they had a picture of the Inspiration 4 crew without the right people in the picture.

Oh, Snap! Was it all a dream?? @TIME @johnkrausphotos @inspiration4x pic.twitter.com/9zbIjiz9ip

— Chris “Hanks” Sembroski (@ChrisSembroski) December 13, 2021

That's not Chris Sembroski, that's some other guy. And this is in the PRINT version of the story.

/scottmanleyvideo