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**DaFace** · 06-01-2014, 09:40 AM

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.

**PHOG** · 07-18-2024, 01:22 PM

Uh oh.

Canceled the lunar mission.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/techn...a3c9d4d8&ei=23

4th and Long · 07-18-2024, 08:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PHOG

Uh oh.

Canceled the lunar mission.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/techn...a3c9d4d8&ei=23

I think once they got conformation of caves on the moon, they changed their strategy.

https://science.nasa.gov/solar-syste...caves-on-moon/

**Donger** · 07-19-2024, 04:44 PM

Sorry if Q. Sulfur found on Mars:

https://studyfinds.org/nasa-curiosit...stals-on-mars/

Ran over it and broke it open. Highly scientific!!

**DaFace** · Yesterday, 04:55 PM

Cleared to fly again.

Thanks to the pace we’ve been able to launch, we’re able to gather unprecedented levels of flight data and are poised to rapidly return to flight as soon as Saturday, July 27 → https://t.co/DvO0z1NbUm
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) July 25, 2024

**Donger** · Today, 08:14 AM

SpaceX finds cause of Falcon 9 failure, eyes return to flight as soon as July 27

https://www.space.com/spacex-finds-c...rocket-failure

SpaceX says it has identified and fixed the problem that caused its Falcon 9 rocket to fail during a launch earlier this month.

That failure occurred on July 11, as a Falcon 9 carried 20 of SpaceX's Starlink broadband satellites toward low Earth orbit. The rocket's first stage performed normally that day, but its upper stage sprang a leak of liquid oxygen, which prevented it from conducting an orbit-raising burn as planned; the Starlink satellites were deployed too low as a result and came back down to Earth in relatively short order, burning up in our planet's thick atmosphere.

The cause of the leak is a mystery no longer. It resulted from "a crack in a sense line for a pressure sensor attached to the vehicle’s oxygen system," SpaceX announced in an update on Thursday afternoon (July 25). "This line cracked due to fatigue caused by high loading from engine vibration and looseness in the clamp that normally constrains the line."

06-01-2014, 09:40 AM
DaFace Kind of a mod DaFace's Avatar Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Donkey Land	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: 52,106

07-18-2024, 01:22 PM	#5536
PHOG Dazed and Confused PHOG's Avatar Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Somewhere Out There	Uh oh. Canceled the lunar mission. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/techn...a3c9d4d8&ei=23
Posts: 16,355

07-19-2024, 04:44 PM	#5538
Donger "Think BOOM!" Donger's Avatar Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: 33.675° N 106.475° W	Sorry if Q. Sulfur found on Mars: https://studyfinds.org/nasa-curiosit...stals-on-mars/ Ran over it and broke it open. Highly scientific!!
Posts: 183,593

Yesterday, 04:55 PM	#5539
DaFace Kind of a mod DaFace's Avatar Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Donkey Land	Cleared to fly again. Thanks to the pace we’ve been able to launch, we’re able to gather unprecedented levels of flight data and are poised to rapidly return to flight as soon as Saturday, July 27 → https://t.co/DvO0z1NbUm — SpaceX (@SpaceX) July 25, 2024
Posts: 52,106	1 0

Today, 08:14 AM	#5540
Donger "Think BOOM!" Donger's Avatar Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: 33.675° N 106.475° W	SpaceX finds cause of Falcon 9 failure, eyes return to flight as soon as July 27 https://www.space.com/spacex-finds-c...rocket-failure SpaceX says it has identified and fixed the problem that caused its Falcon 9 rocket to fail during a launch earlier this month. That failure occurred on July 11, as a Falcon 9 carried 20 of SpaceX's Starlink broadband satellites toward low Earth orbit. The rocket's first stage performed normally that day, but its upper stage sprang a leak of liquid oxygen, which prevented it from conducting an orbit-raising burn as planned; the Starlink satellites were deployed too low as a result and came back down to Earth in relatively short order, burning up in our planet's thick atmosphere. The cause of the leak is a mystery no longer. It resulted from "a crack in a sense line for a pressure sensor attached to the vehicle’s oxygen system," SpaceX announced in an update on Thursday afternoon (July 25). "This line cracked due to fatigue caused by high loading from engine vibration and looseness in the clamp that normally constrains the line."
Posts: 183,593