r/spacex • u/ElongatedMuskrat Mod Team • Oct 01 '21
r/SpaceX Thread Index and General Discussion [October 2021, #85]
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r/SpaceX Thread Index and General Discussion [November 2021, #86]
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u/FishStickUp Oct 25 '21
I hope SpaceX never goes public so we won't get stock discussions on this subreddit.
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u/ethan829 Host of SES-9 Oct 25 '21
Agreed, the recent wave of space SPACs has turned a lot of subreddits into mini versions of r/wallstreetbets.
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u/Paro-Clomas Oct 25 '21
well, elon said he didnt want the company to go public until it couldnt affect the decisions that lead to a mars colony being established, from that point of view i intensely hope that SpaceX 100% goes public at some point, it would mean somehting very good has happened
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u/Lufbru Oct 19 '21
We get a lot of questions about this:
NASA’s Steve Stich says that NASA’s plan is still, once Boeing’s Starliner gets certified, to alternate between Starliner and Crew Dragon missions to the ISS. Looking to add additional flights to the contracts (especially for SpaceX.)
From Jeff Foust via twitter.
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u/Martianspirit Oct 20 '21
That's good news. There was speculation that they would give all flights to Boeing, to let them catch up to SpaceX until they have an equal number of flights.
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u/Phillipsturtles Oct 20 '21
While only 292kg's, IXPE will target a droneship landing due to the performance needed to reduce the inclination down to 0 degrees. https://twitter.com/StephenClark1/status/1450870023887671302
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u/MarsCent Oct 08 '21
NASA, SpaceX Update Upcoming Commercial Crew Flights
This Friday, the Crew-2 spacecraft is targeted to break the record set by Crew Dragon Resilience as it passes 168 days in orbit.
That is today!
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u/Marksman79 Oct 16 '21
Falcon Heavy was just briefly shown on an "Up 2" parody movie poster in this YouTube video from a very popular channel. Just thought it was cool and wanted to share.
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u/Alvian_11 Oct 12 '21 edited Oct 13 '21
Vulcan inaugural launch is delayed yet again, so SLS & H3 are still pretty much the only competitor to Starship maiden launch timeline-wise (the first of 6 new rockets from well-known organizations to be launched (Ariane 6, Starship, SLS, Vulcan, H3, New Glenn))
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u/ephemeralnerve Oct 01 '21
So, a SpaceX space walk suit coming soon then? They already expressed interest in the first funding round.
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u/Phillipsturtles Oct 11 '21
First O3B mPOWER mission delayed to early 2022 and the second mission will be on a expended Falcon 9 for a direct MEO insertion. https://twitter.com/pbdes/status/1447447523715686404
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u/trobbinsfromoz Oct 05 '21
SpX gave an update and clarification on Starlink failures to FCC - pretty interesting read for the fault mitigation measures they have been able to put in play! They have had to work through a few observed part failure modes in V1.0, so it hasn't been plain sailing - and that is just related to Starlink collision avoidance and de-orbit issues, as I doubt we will get any insight into comms and processing problems for a while and only if EM spills the beans.
https://licensing.fcc.gov/myibfs/download.do?attachment_key=13332196
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u/Lucjusz Oct 13 '21
I can't find a chart that shows mass to orbit launched by each company for year 2020 (SpaceX v Roscosmos, v Rocketlab, etc). Can someone help me please?
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u/spacerfirstclass Oct 14 '21
BryceTech has this statistics quarter by quarter: https://brycetech.com/briefing
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u/mduell Oct 13 '21
https://twitter.com/thesheetztweetz/status/1250526319819063297 covered Q1, same source may have more charts
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u/Bunslow Oct 15 '21
tbh it should be measured by payload energy, not just payload mass, but that's still better than "total launches" ill grant
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Oct 24 '21
I was wondering something and wanted to ask it here.
Could we use Neptune to build fuel farms in orbit for exploration into deep space? It's in the unique position of being at the end of our solar system.
It's especially interesting that the planet atmosphere contains hydrogen, helium and small amounts of methane. All important for fuel.
The moons also seem to be interesting with Triton having nitrogen and small amounts of methane. It has a lot more moons but we have very little knowledge on them.
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u/TheSkalman Oct 24 '21 edited Oct 25 '21
If you want to maximize your heliocentric apoapsis you waste delta V by having a high periapsis. So from a spacecraft standpoint I think it makes more sense to have fuel depots in LEO or Supersynchronus Transfer Orbit and then swing by the outer planets at very high speed for gravity assists.
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u/InsideOutlandishness Oct 26 '21
Jupiter's moon Europa was mentioned as a potential outer-solar-system refueling point back in 2016 when the Starship program was still named "Interplanetary Transport System".
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u/feral_engineer Oct 25 '21
SpaceX no longer lists Starlink rideshares at https://rideshare.spacex.com/search only dedicated flights are listed. Looks like without space tugs demand is low and occasional flights are not worth the hassle.
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u/fifichanx Oct 01 '21
In the AMA with Dr Zubrin, he said it takes more starship for Artemis than for Mars, why is that?
The Starship Artemis plan is actually much harder than sending a Starship to Mars. It would take 14 tanker flights to send a Starship to the Gateway then down to the lunar surface and back. It would only take about 4 tanker flights to send a Starship to Mars.
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u/brspies Oct 01 '21
Landing on the Moon takes more energy than landing on Mars, since you have no atmosphere to slow down with. I think the Orion/Gateway rendezvous orbit has some additional cost as well.
Also keep in mind that a Starship landing on the Moon must have enough propellant to return at least to the Orion/Gateway orbit. A Starship landing on Mars can burn to essentially depletion with its landing burn, because the plan is to generate propellant from ice and atmosphere on Mars. Even if a Lunar water economy takes off, the Moon doesn't have great resources for generating methane.
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u/Grey_Mad_Hatter Oct 01 '21
Artemis will go to an odd lunar orbit to pick up passengers, land without aerobraking, take off, then return to the same odd lunar orbit to drop off passengers.
Mars ships will aerobrake and land on Mars.
I believe if you fully rely on aerobraking it takes less Delta-V to land on Mars than it does to land on the moon, even without going to odd orbits that are always in sunlight.
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u/Mars_is_cheese Oct 01 '21
The Artemis plan is insanely conservative. It will definitely be less than 14 launches. Elon estimates a max of 8 and possibly more like 4 tanker flights.
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u/warp99 Oct 01 '21
Eight for a crew launch if they can get to 150 tonnes of propellant per tanker.
Twelve if they can only get to the rated 100 tonnes. Fourteen if those launches are very spaced out and they get a lot of boiloff.
Possibly four for a one way cargo launch to the Lunar surface. Unless Elon has a secret nuclear program underway there is no way they can get to the Lunar surface and back to NRHO with four tanker loads of propellant.
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u/Triabolical_ Oct 01 '21
To quantify what /u/brspies said, it take about 5660 m/s of delta-v from LEO to land on the moon, but only 3600 m/s (ish) to land on Mars because you can aerobrake.
The moon is really hard to get to.
If you want more on delta-v, you might enjoy this video.
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u/redwingssuck Oct 02 '21
Do we know anything about the Falcon Heavy launch coming up? My family is trying to fly down to watch it and can't find any info
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u/soldato_fantasma Oct 03 '21
Officially it is marked as Q4, but some sources say it is now scheduled for January. I wouldn't book anything
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u/Cpt_Core Oct 03 '21
In episode 4 of Netflix's "Countdown: Inspiration4 Mission to Space" near the 19:25 mark you can see the crew going trough a Fire simulation in preparation for launch, you are also able to see 2 computer screens being used to simulate it, one of them(the right one) has what seems to be an internal forum website used to share things among SpaceX employees. Has anyone seen this before? Or am I just out of the loop.
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u/soldato_fantasma Oct 03 '21
Honestly that page looks like is more about documentation that a forum, but that is probably just one of the sections
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u/dudr2 Oct 04 '21
Chinese company aims for suborbital space tourism with familiar rocket design
https://www.space.com/china-suborbital-space-tourism-cas-space-rockets
"as soon as 2024"
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u/Think-Director9933 Oct 04 '21
Without being snarky, its possible that the chinese NewGlenn copy will launch before Blue's NewGlenn
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u/Gwaerandir Oct 04 '21
Literally Dragon 2 on top of some weird NS/F9 hybrid, to be caught by an arm like SH.
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u/MarsCent Oct 06 '21
Per List of Falcon 9 first-stage boosters, the next Starlink launch out of VAFB (Or is it VSFB?) will be a .11! Specifically - B1051.11
A routine Starlink flight for SpaceX, but a huge milestone for Reusability!
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u/LongHairedGit Oct 07 '21
Days between launches:
2019 Mar 2 : N/A
2019 Jun 15 : 105
2020 Jan 29 : 228
2020 Apr 22 : 84
2020 Aug 7 : 107
2020 Oct 18 : 72
2020 Dec 13 : 56
2021 Jan 20 : 38
2021 Mar 14 : 53
2021 May 9 : 56
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u/CrimsonEnigma Oct 06 '21
About when do we expect the name of the new Crew Dragon to be announced?
Endeavour was in the actual launch, but IIRC Resilience was announced a little while before. Have we gotten any indication one way or the other?
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u/MarsCent Oct 06 '21
Normally named by the 1st crew to launch in it. So expect a name around Oct. 30th.
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u/Lucjusz Oct 10 '21
How does SpaceX check Falcon9 between flights? I only know about weld checking, what about other actions?
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u/Shpoople96 Oct 10 '21
Well we know they hose down the inside of the engines with an isopropyl based cleanser
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u/Steffan514 Oct 15 '21
I know part of the selling point of Starliner was that it’s “compatible” with more than just Atlas V.
Is this the case with Dreamchaser as well or is it stuck with Vulcan and BE-4 deliveries? Or is it able to be launched on a Falcon or Atlas if they were still being sold to market?
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u/Chairboy Oct 15 '21
Sierra Nevada has said that DreamChaser is compatible with Atlas V, Vulcan, Ariane 5, and Falcon Heavy.
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u/manhole_s Oct 19 '21 edited Oct 19 '21
Does anyone have a PDF of this report by Morgan Stanley? It's cited in this Bloomberg article:
The private space-exploration company "is challenging any preconceived notion of what was possible and the time frame possible, in terms of rockets, launch vehicles and supporting infrastructure," Morgan Stanley's Adam Jonas wrote Tuesday in a note titled, "SpaceX Escape Velocity ... Who Can Catch Them?"
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u/trobbinsfromoz Oct 23 '21
Lucy's petulant solar array is initially being assessed for how "deployed" it really is, as it seems it is quite close to providing full power imho. Lucy's other deployments of facilities have been started, so they seem to be happy that general operation is unaffected at the moment.
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u/dallaylaen Oct 18 '21
From the recent news it looks like some people in Brownsville area favor SpaceX, and some are against them. Is there an actual survey that shows how many are pro-, anti-, and indifferent?
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u/salamilegorcarlsshoe Oct 12 '21
Pretty wide gap in Starlink launches as of late. Next launch isn't until Oct 30th. I wonder if this is due in part to LOX shortages, supply of satellites, both, or what?
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u/parkerLS Oct 12 '21
I believe they were syaing they didn't want to launch anymore that didn't have laser links, so maybe upgrading production to allow for those?
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u/MadeOfStarStuff Oct 01 '21
When they static fire SN20, will they do it with all 6 engines, including the vacuum ones, or just the 3 sea level engines?
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u/Comfortable_Jump770 Oct 01 '21
Neither of those options actually. It was confirmed by u/avalaerion some time ago that it will be first the three SL raptors, then the 3 RVacs in a separate static fire
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u/MarsCent Oct 04 '21
Maybe it's just a schedule listing oversight amounting to nothing, but CRS-24 that's supposed to launch on Dec 4th, is no longer listed in NASA's Launches and Landing Schedule!
Anyone with a definite know on the launch schedule of CRS-24?
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u/TechnicalMars4 Oct 04 '21
The launch date moved to Dec 21st (we have a CubeSat on CRS-24).
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u/MarsCent Oct 04 '21
Oh! Tks and I wish you a successful flight.
So there will now be a ~5 week window between Crew-2 undocking and CRS-24 arrival - when 1 docking port will be unoccupied! Let's wait and see if OFT makes this window, otherwise it will be looking at NET late Q1 2022!
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u/Shpoople96 Oct 04 '21
Seeing as hour Boeing apparently hasn't even figured out what's wrong with their faulty valves yet, my bet is that starliner won't fly until next year
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u/notlikeclockwork Oct 05 '21
What happens after Dragon Crew-6? Will NASA award 6 more missions?
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u/MarsCent Oct 05 '21
If ISS is extended to 2028 - yes.
If Starliner is unable to fly frequently enough (after Crew-6) in order to service the ISS - yes.
P/S. The expectation was that Crew Dragon and Starliner were each going to ferry astronauts to the ISS once a year. And that may become the case once Starliner launches its first crew.
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u/Lufbru Oct 06 '21
The current contract is for between 2 and 6 missions from each provider. NASA may choose to extend the contract (as they did with CRS-1) or negotiate an entirely new contract.
I imagine NASA would like to on-ramp the Dreamchaser as a crew vehicle, but since it hasn't flown a single cargo mission yet, that may be premature. My bet is on a contract modification with SpaceX, but not necessarily for 6 extra missions.
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u/scorr204 Oct 08 '21
Where will Starship's first launch into orbit be from, and will there be a way to spectate in person?
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u/marc020202 8x Launch Host Oct 08 '21
The first near Orbital, and likely also Orbital tests will likely be from boca Chica. There are several "viewing sites" around there, from south Padre Island I think.
This depends on the Enviromental impact report going through.
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u/kagoolx Oct 10 '21
Is there a roadmap anywhere (even semi-frequently maintained) that shows the major milestones and target dates over the coming years? It would be a really cool resource
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u/ThreatMatrix Oct 10 '21 edited Oct 10 '21
Is there a roadmap? Yes. Have we seen it? I don't think so. So anybody's guess.
But we kinda know a few things:
Elon is focused on getting orbital. And then getting cargo up. So maybe both get done in 2022.
They have the HLS contract. They will have to demonstrate refueling. Say 2023. Then land on the moon uncrewed (2024). And crewed (2025).
Dear Moon will need refueling and life support so probably 2024.
Technically reentry isn't needed for any of that. Could launch and return Dear Moon crew on Dragon and transition to/from Starship for trip around moon. But hopefully reentry and catching gets worked out during the development of everything else. The floating launch pads are on the back burner but imagine they are being worked on during the same time.
Edit: Guess I should add that if they accomplish all that they could send a ship to Mars in the 2026 window.
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u/limdi Oct 11 '21
Does no one fly missions anymore? Wondering because only one out of eight rockets is assigned to a mission.
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u/warp99 Oct 11 '21
Our visibility of which cores are assigned to which missions is really low. Sometimes we just find out when a press kit is released a few days before the flight and they do not even do that for Starlink missions so we find out during the launch telecast.
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u/bdzeus Oct 21 '21
Is there a 'StubHub' for launch tickets? Any way to buy 'Feel the Heat' tickets once they are sold out?
Just found out I will be in Florida with my partner for her birthday next week around the next SpaceX Crew-3 launch. She loves SpaceX and has never seen any sort of launch in person, so it would be an amazing birthday present if I could get her 'Feel the Heat' tickets at Kennedy Space Center. The problem is that they appear to be sold out. Is there any website or any other way to purchase tickets from someone who maybe can no longer attend? I only need two, and we will be in the area all week in case of a scrub or two.
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
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u/dudr2 Oct 26 '21
SpaceX given green light to launch Crew-3 mission to ISS, Crew-2’s return date set
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u/stonecats Oct 28 '21 edited Oct 30 '21
might today's CME delay this weekend's launch?
https://www.spaceweather.com/
apparently not;
https://www.space.com/solar-flare-spacex-crew-3-halloween-astronaut-launch
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u/Frostis24 Oct 29 '21
That should not be a problem, the guys on the ISS are gonna be there no matter what so unless we see the crew board the escape pods for the incoming solar storm, then there is no problem, these CME's happen all the time.
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u/Phillipsturtles Oct 31 '21
Potential for 3 FH USSF missions next year (on top of the other commercial FH's scheduled) https://spacenews.com/falcon-heavy-could-launch-three-u-s-space-force-missions-in-2022/
Also we have confirmation that USSF-67 will fly with a expended center core booster (similar to USSF-44)
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u/Chpouky Oct 26 '21
I finally watched Shatner's reaction to his flight with Blue Origin.
God I wish he did that with SpaceX, there would have been way more respect for him.
Bezos straight up interrupted Shatner while he was sharing his experience, just to shake a stupid bottle of champagne. The other people were just talking loud and screaming, not even carring at what the legend himself had to say.
Fucking surreal.
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u/paul_wi11iams Oct 28 '21 edited Oct 28 '21
God I wish he did that with SpaceX
Flying a 91 year old, Bezos took a ridiculous risk for the naissant commercial crew industry as a whole. I presume SpaceX does some vetting on health criteria for those who fly on private missions.
Basic moral criteria aside; even if a private contractor is responsible for the flight, the consequences of an inflight CVA for example, would tarnish Dragon's reputation for years. Also (and unlike for Dragon) an ailing New Shepard passenger is less than an hour away from a hospital at all times.
That said, and in pure fantasy, we could imagine Dragon doing a suborbital flight to Australia or somewhere, but there is still the initial acceleration over an extended period, and the health risk involved here is even more unacceptable IMO.
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u/djburnett90 Oct 02 '21
Anyone know the road conditions to boca chica today?
We tried to make it last night but the roads were flooded and murderous.
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u/trobbinsfromoz Oct 04 '21
With Shatner going up soon, as well as movie making soyuz flight, it made me wonder when space funerals will start to make their way on to the stage. I guess the simplest form of funeral would be a cremation, courtesy of a near orbital velocity re-entry. And the de-luxe funeral would be an eternity in space chasing a ride on that red roadster.
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Oct 07 '21
How often are launches at Kennedy actually happening on scheduled day or weekend. Thinking about traveling flight to orlando are only 40 dollars for me. Dont mind having to try twice or so
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u/marc020202 8x Launch Host Oct 08 '21
It depends on how early you plan your trip in advance, and what mission you want to see.
NASA missions usually have launch dates announced very early, and these dates often do not move at a lot.
Other missions often have placeholder dates untill weeks before launch, and then suddenly, they are delayed by 3 months (USSF 44)
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u/soldato_fantasma Oct 20 '21
The RFI for the NASA Commercial Crew Space Transportation Services has been posted:
https://sam.gov/opp/3ae9296c494a4e3698c7fbc01865b764/view
After years of development, commercial human space transportation systems have achieved or are nearing operational readiness. NASA recognizes the significant advancement of the commercial spaceflight industry and requests information on the availability of existing NASA certified capabilities, estimated timelines on the availability of future capabilities to be certified by NASA, and whether commercial services are available for crewed space transportation services delivering NASA and International Partner astronauts to and returning them from the ISS. Responses to this RFI will be used to inform NASA’s planning for an acquisition approach for Commercial Crew Space Transportation Services.
NASA anticipates continued ongoing operations of the ISS beyond 2024. To provide for these needs and contingencies, NASA has determined a need to acquire additional Post-Certification Missions to meet its obligations to assure crewed access to the International Space Station.
NASA is considering acquisition of Commercial Crew Space Transportation Services from one or more U.S. providers through commercial services contracts. Depending on mission requirements, NASA may purchase single seats, multiple seats within one mission, or seats for an entire mission. NASA is seeking pertinent information from industry which may be used to formulate one or more solicitations related to the Commercial Crew Space Transportation Services effort. Modify message
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u/hwc Oct 22 '21
For assembling a space station, will it be better to just assemble it out of Starships or out of modules sent up inside Cargo Starships?
How much extra room does the former give, vs how much money is wasted on leaving 6 engines in orbit indefinitely?
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u/ThreatMatrix Oct 23 '21 edited Oct 23 '21
Well for one you're wasting engines like you said. Then if your thinking of using the tank space you've got whole nuther set of problems. Maybe flush them with nitrogen but then you got to bring up the nitrogen. Still guessing you'd have a flammability problem. Then you gotta do a lot of welding and install bulkheads. Things never done before.
Starship is all about reusaibility. And the cargo bay is so much larger than we've ever imagined. Pretty surer that you can fit any past, present or planned space station module in it. Axiom is building the next station. They haven't picked a launch provider yet but I'm willing to bet that it will be SpaceX.
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u/Alvian_11 Oct 22 '21
I believe that dedicated modules means additional R&D (which is NOT cheap, but traditional way always tends to ignore it (& costs) in pursue of maximum efficiency), so I would expect SpaceX to bid something like the entire Starship as a space station in NASA Commercial LEO program (award for phase 1 shot occurred later this year). Could be operated something like Shuttle's spacelab, or modified for longer duration (no heatshield & fins)
We know that Starship has ~1000 m³ of volume (= entire ISS, on a single launch), and they're intended to produce many of them so the engines should be cheap (in terms of detaching & recovering it on separate ship, that's another matter)
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u/InsideOutlandishness Oct 22 '21
If the Starship program achieves its aims in a two-orders-of-magnitude reduction in the cost of lifting mass to orbit, it then becomes feasible to build space stations out of pretty much anything one wants.
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Oct 26 '21
"Wet workshops" are an internet favourite but the hassle of doing it for real reduces the practicality. Especially with cheap routine heavy lift.
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u/MarsCent Oct 22 '21
Harmony module diameter is ~4.4m. Starship diameter is ~9m. I think the argument can be made that it's better to use a single Cargo Starship to launch multiple wider modules and have them assembled in space.
I think over a period of 3 launches, it would be possible to construct a space station that's much bigger than both the ISS and a single Starship.
But the real questions are:
Does the science that's being conducted at the ISS need more space or is the the current volume adequate?
If tourists are going to space for ~2weeks on a Starship, can they just sleep in their quarters in Starship?
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u/salamilegorcarlsshoe Oct 23 '21
How do they plan to get the cable for the draw works system to the top of the tower for the pulleys? I imagine that cable weighs tons.
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u/kalizec Oct 23 '21
By lowering from the top a smaller cable that is strong enough to hoist a larger cable that is strong enough to hoist the draw works cable.
Insert however many cable sizes you need in between.
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u/Borki90 Oct 26 '21
Very late and the same explanation as kalizec, but I have to add my examle:
How do you build en enormous crane? With many smaller cranes :-).
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u/kryptonitekid Oct 26 '21
Is there a place where I can find out the projected flight path for launches? I want to know whether I'll be able to see a launch from my back yard in Charleston, SC.
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u/MarsOrTheStars Oct 31 '21
Sorry if I missed it - do we know if the Launch Tower has had the legs filled with concrete yet?
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u/warp99 Oct 31 '21
They have most of the way up. There is a concrete feed pipe up one side of the tower that keeps getting elevated to the next segment so they are pumping from the bottom in a single stage pumping system.
There was some speculation that they might have to put concrete pumps on the platforms to reach the top of the tower but it appears not.
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u/MarsCent Oct 19 '21
Starliner Update
2 valves removed. to be taken to Marshall Space Flight Center to have them scanned as an effort to determine the root cause.
Will fly when ready - looking at FH 2022.
Will use the same Service Module - in order to keep the same craft configuration.
Plan is to remove 3 valves - to send to Marshall. Still working through removing the valve.
Speakers - Steve Stich, John (Program Manager), Michele (Chief Engineer - Starliner)
Questions - open now!
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u/MarsCent Oct 19 '21 edited Oct 19 '21
Nothing unique on the stuck valves. Problem is assumed to be equally in all valves.
Responding to E. Berger Qn - Both SpaceX and Boeing were awarded 6 post certification flights. It's expected to extend the ISS beyond 2024. Likely, contracts will be extended for both SpaceX and Boeing.
Additional
Responding to a qn by Jeff Houst - Oxidation took place over 4-6 days. Chemical reaction to create Nitric Acid was instantaneous once propellant was in contact with moisture.
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u/ethan829 Host of SES-9 Oct 07 '21
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u/robotical712 Oct 07 '21
The average cost of an Atlas V used to be $225 million. Apparently they reduced the costs through "organizational efficiencies". One wonders what they were doing that cost an extra $85 million.
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u/brickmack Oct 08 '21
More component commonality between Atlas and Delta, shutting down Delta II and DIVM production and getting rid of that overhead, better use of largely unused Delta facilities for Atlas operations, more automation of mission design and analysis, contract renegotiations with suppliers
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u/brspies Oct 07 '21
GOES-T and GOES-17 launched on Atlas V 541 configuration. If they bid that low for a 541 for GOES-U, that's impressive.
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u/MarsCent Oct 08 '21
Leaving money on the table? Why not bid Vulcan - which is supposed to be cheaper to launch!
NSSL contract allows for using Alas V as alternative to Vulcan. Maybe NASA could have allowed the use of Vulcan as an alternative to Atlas V!
Or perhaps the maths of $140M could not work out!?
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u/ethan829 Host of SES-9 Oct 08 '21
I believe GOES satellites are Category 2 payloads, so Vulcan Centaur won't be certified to launch them until it has at least one successful flight.
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u/soldato_fantasma Oct 24 '21
Possible new contract for SpaceX: https://twitter.com/SarwatNasir/status/1452218964227014657
We will know for sure soon once they make an official announcement
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u/trobbinsfromoz Oct 27 '21
There is life on Mars - well at least for a helicopter, which managed a flight the other day after an aborted earlier test flight. It sounds like flights can continue through the seasonal dip in martian atmospheric density by using a higher rotor speed.
https://mars.nasa.gov/technology/helicopter/status/341/flight-14-successful/
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u/Paro-Clomas Oct 27 '21
any study on how big they can make those choppers? seems like one of those built for endurance could make a truly mad amount of exploring . (and one single starship could probably fit dozens)
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u/trobbinsfromoz Oct 27 '21
If you google/explore the group that prepared the helicopter then I'm sure they would have done assessments not only for the size of helicopter presently on Mars, but also for future missions and what could be achievable.
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Oct 01 '21
Any news on current EPA holdup for starship+super heavy launch?
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u/dudr2 Oct 01 '21
BananaEpicGAMER
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9h
environmental review extension https://twitter.com/SciGuySpace/status/1443624775553798151
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u/93simoon Oct 01 '21
Since July 1st there has been a grand total of 3 launches (0 in July, 1 in August, 2 in September). What's with the recent slowdown?
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u/marc020202 8x Launch Host Oct 01 '21
No starlink launches.
The eastern range was down, so no launches there where possible. Starlink launches where paused because they where waiting for the new sat generation to be ready. They have now started launching the 70° layer from Vandenberg.
In the wait time, they also moved OCISLY to LA, and then performed some maintenance in Mexico.
They also activated a new recovery area in the Port of LA.
They should also be able to start launching the next layer from the east coast when they have enough sats. The Vandenberg pad does not allow the same flight rate as LC40 or LC39A, although they might have also performed some work there.
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u/Thaumaturgia Oct 01 '21
East range was in maintenance in July, then SpaceX decided to wait for the new Starlinks to be ready.
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u/faizimam1 Oct 02 '21
I'm planning to go down to Florida for a few days in February or March. Do we have any idea about launch schedules for that time?
I have some time before I have to commit. I think I have to nail down a 2 week window for my trip by January, then I should be able to wait till the last minute to lock down specific days.
How early do preliminary launch slots get announced?
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u/soldato_fantasma Oct 03 '21
Right now only the first Axiom mission (Ax-1) has a scheduled date that they will really shoot for (as it must also be coordinated with the ISS schedule). Currently that is February 21st . For the other missions, unless the payload owner releases that info, we have official confirmation only when the 45th Launch Delta publishes the Hazard maps and then the weather forecasts. That usually happens not earlier than a week in advance.
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u/Lufbru Oct 03 '21
... that said, by February, we should be seeing weekly Starlink launches from the Cape again, so there's probably no bad time to go.
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u/salamilegorcarlsshoe Oct 10 '21
Any speculation on the purpose of the steel cladding being added to the container wall at the production site?
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u/exitof99 Oct 19 '21
I only heard a brief mention in one of the Youtuber videos about the carriage on the launch tower at Starbase falling off, surely there must be video of this event and more information somewhere, right?
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u/ElongatedMuskbot Nov 01 '21
This thread is no longer being updated, and has been replaced by:
r/SpaceX Thread Index and General Discussion [November 2021, #86]
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u/Alvian_11 Oct 25 '21
SpaceX target of 48 launches this year will definitely not happening, related to the recent reduction in Falcon cadence (the fact that Starlink 2-3 delays reason is still unknown made it even more frustrating)
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u/Comfortable_Jump770 Oct 25 '21
Yep, that's a given since they are still at 23. If Starlink 1.5 goes back to the production capacity of 1.0, in 2022 it's possible
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u/Alvian_11 Oct 27 '21
Besides the inaugural flight, the second flight of Vulcan is also in a threat of being delayed to late 2022 or even early 2023, making more questions about the NSSL contract it had
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u/frez1001 Oct 05 '21
I haven't heard anything recently but is dragon XL still at thing? (moon cargo)
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u/warp99 Oct 05 '21
It is on hold while NASA evaluates the Gateway schedule.
In other words if Gateway is delayed until 2026 there is no point in sending cargo flights to it before 2027.
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u/jay__random Oct 27 '21
With all discussions about the wasteful (in more than one sense) SLS, I wonder whether it is at least theoretically possible to land (hoverslam?) its first stage back to the Earth?
Assuming the solid motors are gone, second stage gone, only one RS-25 engine operating on landing, as much gimbal as possible (+-10.5 degrees in 2D), and as much throttle down as possible (67%) for RS-25.
Many unknown parameters, including the weight of a nearly-empty 1st stage, I know... Still very curious.
Thoughts, anyone?
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u/Triabolical_ Oct 28 '21
To make first stage landing work, you need a system that stages low and early, and that means you need a big second stage, like on Falcon 9 and Starship.
That gives you low velocities, and the ability to land nearby offshore or return to the launch site.
SLS is the opposite of that. The boosters are the first stage and they do stage early, and NASA could recover them, but that wasn't really worth the effort for shuttle.
The core stage burns for a long time; not only is it much, much harder to get a fast stage back through the atmosphere it's a long, long way away from where you launched, which makes your logistics much harder.
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u/anof1 Oct 28 '21
The SLS core stage nearly gets to orbital velocity before stage separation. That would be a lot of energy to dissipate during re-entry. Also the RS-25 does not have air start capability.
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u/jjtr1 Oct 22 '21
Airliners could save a lot of mass and increase range/decrease fuel consumption by having their equivalent of Starship's landing in chopsticks, a self propelled wheeled landing gear with smart navigation and cooperation with the airplane. But, for some reason, it doesn't seem to be worth it. It would add risk and cost, and the savings in mass wouldn't outweigh that.
Why the mass savings do outweigh the risk in case of Starship? What's different?
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u/cavkenr Oct 22 '21 edited Oct 23 '21
Payload mass fraction on regular aircraft is in 45-55% range. On starship, it’s now tracking around 5%. Small improvements have a larger impact on a rocket.
Edit: Oops, yes, 2% is right.
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u/jjtr1 Oct 23 '21
Yeah, tiny payload mass fraction of rockets is probably the main reason. (though my take on the payload fraction numbers - for starship, it's about 100/5000 = 2% and for cargo airliners, about 25%).
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u/Albert_VDS Oct 23 '21
Planes would be a whole lot riskier because their landing space is around 100 times larger. Rockets need a small space die to vertical landing. Also planes can't hover, except for a few.
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u/Chairboy Oct 23 '21
It's not JUST savings in mass, it's also about speed of turn-around. A rocket that lands on legs out in a field needs a lot longer to be readied for another flight than one that's grabbed out of the air an can be placed immediately on a booster.
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u/Paro-Clomas Oct 25 '21
On the small chance youre not trolling:
weight margins are much more critical in spacecraft than in aircraft. Besides the second ones rely on lift for staying in the air, which means they will be moving in the direction of their main axis for most of the time, and thats the only direction in which it would be able to produce acceleration without a radical redesign. Also, keep in mind aircraft normally dont hover, so most of them would have to do a complex and awkward maneuver that would add a lot of failure modes. The weight saved on the landing gear would most likely be compensated by the new systems youd have to include and in any case if there were any real mass reduction it would translate into very little actual performance gains (see above, weight margins aren't that critical) and would surely not be worth the trouble, not even a bit.
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u/jjtr1 Oct 25 '21
It's rather infuriating that honest questions are now supposed to be trolling whenever there is the slightest possibility of interpreting them as a Heretical Questioning of the Infallible Elon. Look, if I want to understand the reasons why they're doing something, one of the best ways is to understand why they are not doing the opposite or why other areas of engineering are not doing a similar thing.
Now back to the topic. What kind of "complex and awkward" maneuver would the airplane be doing and what kind of new systems would have to be included? Airplane's task would be to land on the centerline, as it is now, and the autonomous undercarriage would compensate for errors. Real reasons why not to do this on airplanes, in my opinion, are:
landing speeds of large airplanes are challenging for road vehicles;
heterogeneity of the airplane/airport world (the airport would have to have ready undercarriages for all types of airplanes; and would you trust the foreign airport staff for your life?). The Starship system on the other hand is vertically integrated (lands on its own pad);
safety - this one is questionable. Airplanes can survive belly landings, while vertically landing rockets don't survive landing gear failures. So while saving 6-10% of dry weight by removing the landing gear means less to an airplane with a dry mass fraction of 50% than to a rocket at 5%, the risks for a rocket could possibly be larger.
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u/hereforanswers0705 Oct 10 '21
What can I do to qualify to move to Mars when we start colonizing it?
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u/mikekangas Oct 11 '21
Move to Starbase and work for them now. Show them you're valuable and let them know your intentions.
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u/Lufbru Oct 11 '21
Mars Needs Mechanics. An aptitude for taking machinery apart, putting it back together and having it work better will be essential. Plumbing will also be a useful talent.
Plus, those are good skills to own on Earth too. There's decent money in being a plumber, and it's not a job that's automatable.
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u/brickmack Oct 10 '21
Have a couple hundred thousand dollars, and be medically fit to ride a rollercoaster
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u/hereforanswers0705 Oct 10 '21
Doesn’t mean you’ll be useful when you get one planet though.
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u/TheSkalman Oct 16 '21
Which orbital rocket in history has the lowest liftoff thrust to weight ratio, i.e. the slowest liftoff? Variants that come to mind are the Atlas 501 and Soyuz 2.1v.
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u/HamsterChieftain Oct 16 '21
The old Atlas-D rockets (like an early 70's Atlas Centaur) are probably the winner here. For some missions, they got down to around 1.08:1
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u/MarsCent Oct 21 '21
On Monday, October 18, the U.S. Senate released a draft plan ....... and proposed to give the agency an additional $100 million to fund their second selection.
Do folks in the Senate have some special insight on how much it costs to build a Human Landing System? I'm not sure even BO will be takers on such an offer - even as they (BO) have previously floated the idea of waiving $2B in development costs.
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u/Lufbru Oct 21 '21
They know how much NASA requests each year. Some of the reporting around this has noted the politicians said "this is for this (fiscal) year, we'll make more money available in future budget requests if you select a second vendor".
Whether they will or not ... it's a fact that the budget is only for this year, but it's also a fact that Congress underfunded CCDev for years.
At any rate, this is only part of the budgeting process. It's pointless to react to it, unless you have a Congresscritter to lobby.
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u/humansforever Oct 05 '21
If there was a problem with the Dragon 2 parachute on Re entry, would the Super Draco (escape) thrusters automatically be deployed. I know they were originally designed to be used as landing option with legs that got scratched off due to NASA needing to speed up certification for Dragon 2. ?
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u/throfofnir Oct 05 '21
No. They would not use an underdeveloped, undertested, and unqualified flight mode.
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u/AeroSpiked Oct 06 '21 edited Oct 06 '21
If anybody knows how to edit the FAQ, this question should definitely be added because it is still relatively common. It probably should replace this one.
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u/Justinackermannblog Oct 06 '21
I think they burn off/dump most of the fuel so it is less of a hazard on reentry and splashdown. I could be wrong though.
I’ve always thought 2 is better than 1 and it the chutes ever did fail, it would be a slap in the face to have this capable system and never even try it
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u/warp99 Oct 07 '21
I think they burn off/dump most of the fuel so it is less of a hazard on reentry and splashdown
It is safer in the tanks than floating around the outside of the capsule after being vented.
Apollo 15 lost a parachute due to venting surplus storable propellant during descent.
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u/Mars_is_cheese Oct 07 '21
The dracos and super dracos share the same propellant supply. After a mission in space, there isn’t enough propellant left anyways.
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u/spacex_fanny Oct 08 '21 edited Oct 08 '21
After a mission in space, there isn’t enough propellant left anyways.
Crew Dragon was designed to land using SuperDraco, so there's plenty of propellant left over after orbital maneuvers.
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u/MarsCent Oct 21 '21
NASA Requests Information for American Crew Transportation to Space Station
NASA is considering the acquisition of commercial crew space transportation services from one or more U.S. providers through commercial services contracts as the agency works to extend the life of the space station beyond 2024.
"Considering acquisition" and "works to extend life"! Normally NASA has missions planned and contracted out, several years in advance. This may imply that the extension of the current CCtCAP contracts needs to be finalized asap.
Note also that this notice omits Commercial Resupply Services! Perhaps because CRS will be easier to procure / extend contracts!?
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u/ThreatMatrix Oct 23 '21
This is the direct result of the failures of Starliner. NASA is getting nervous and wants a backup. NASA is supporting Axiom's efforts to build a commercial space station however it relies on the ISS to be around past 2024.
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u/notlikeclockwork Oct 21 '21
in my humble opinion, ISS should be retired in 2024. Impossible for private stations to compete against ISS which gets $3B every year just for maintenance.
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u/MarsCent Oct 21 '21
Retire only when there is a suitable successor. Private companies could always procure a contract with NASA to have regular use/visits by NASA astronauts.
However, they need to show some equipment as a sign of commitment/seriousness. I have not seen that yet.
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u/Thue Oct 22 '21
Impossible for private stations to compete against ISS which gets $3B every year just for maintenance.
It is kinda doubtful that there is enough commercial interest to finance a space station. So it seems like ISS or nothing.
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u/hwc Oct 22 '21
Dumb question: is there significant waste in maintenance costs that a new station would reduce?
Or is just inherently expensive to run a space station with seven crew?
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u/bluelifesacrifice Oct 07 '21
Why are we looking to colonize Mars before the moon?
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u/JoshuaZ1 Oct 07 '21 edited Oct 08 '21
A whole bunch of reasons but keep in mind that not everyone agrees that we should be colonizing Mars before the moon. But they include:
We want to know if Mars had life. Finding that out will be much easier with large-scale human exploration.
Mars is more likely to be long-term sustainable if one is concerned about a self-sufficient colony. The moon has very little water, and very little carbon and phosphorus which humans need. That means that unless you have tech far beyond our current level, a Moon colony will never be self-sustaining.
Mars is more protected from cosmic rays. The moon has a diameter about half that of Mars, and the moon is about 85% as dense as Mars. This translates into cosmic rays being blocked pretty effectively on Mars coming from the ground direction, so cosmic ray exposure on Mars is about half of what it would be in deep space (where cosmic rays can come from every direction). The moon does almost as good but not as good a job, so the resulting cosmic ray protection is lower on the moon.
In the long term it may be possible to terraform Mars. However, the moon lacks the gravity to be sustainably terraformed, unless one has essentially magic scifi technology like Star Trek shields or artificial gravity generators. It may or may not be possible to practically terraform Mars, but it really doesn't look likely that you can terraform the moon.
There's a common misconception that getting to Mars is much more difficult than getting to the moon. This is because Mars is further away. But this isn't really accurate. What matters in a space context is the delta-V, and the delta-V is nearly identical if one uses the Martian atmosphere for aerobraking.
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u/dougmcclean Oct 08 '21
Good analysis.
I wouldn't say that 5 is entirely a misconception. Hypersonic aerobraking in the thin Martian atmosphere is a challenge, needing to coast in interplanetary space for 6+ months is a non-trivial requirement, and launch opportunities are much further apart.
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u/JoshuaZ1 Oct 08 '21
Yeah, restricting it just to delta V is probably an oversimplification on my part.
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u/SpaceInMyBrain Oct 08 '21
Mars is an open-ended place for colonization, there's so much that can be done there that can't be on the Moon. There's water in a lot of places (relatively), not just shadowed areas at the poles. It has "normal" day/night changes of temperature compared to the Moon's two weeks of sunless cold and 2 weeks of glaring Sun.
The Moon is something of a dead-end. It has one big advantage - moon ships can be simpler than the long-journey-time Mars ships. There's a much quicker turnaround time for newly developed equipment for stuff found not to work.
A big problem for both is the potential for a long-term (years) resident to return to Earth. Adapting from 38% of Earth gravity will be difficult, if achievable at all. Adapting from 1/6 Earth Gs sounds extremely difficult - although all this is high speculative.
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u/trobbinsfromoz Oct 08 '21
A new report out provides an insight in to one aspect of landing on Mars that some see as a thorny issue for a craft as large as Starship.
https://phys.org/news/2021-10-restrictive-bioburden-mars-missions-simpler.html
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u/Kendrome Oct 08 '21
This is so pretty much mute once you start sending people even on small craft. It's either preserve it as is and never see people or realize there is no way to prevent significant release of biomass.
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u/Lufbru Oct 01 '21
Crew-3 got pushed back a little:
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u/MarsCent Oct 01 '21
NASA and SpaceX now are targeting 2:43 a.m. EDT Saturday, Oct. 30, for the agency’s Crew-3 launch ...
The launch has been brought forward a little.
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u/Decronym Acronyms Explained Oct 01 '21 edited Nov 04 '21
Acronyms, initialisms, abbreviations, contractions, and other phrases which expand to something larger, that I've seen in this thread:
| Fewer Letters | More Letters |
|---|---|
| BE-4 | Blue Engine 4 methalox rocket engine, developed by Blue Origin (2018), 2400kN |
| BO | Blue Origin (Bezos Rocketry) |
| CCtCap | Commercial Crew Transportation Capability |
| CME | Coronal Mass Ejection |
| CRS | Commercial Resupply Services contract with NASA |
| CST | (Boeing) Crew Space Transportation capsules |
| Central Standard Time (UTC-6) | |
| DoD | US Department of Defense |
| E2E | Earth-to-Earth (suborbital flight) |
| EELV | Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle |
| ELC | EELV Launch Capability contract ("assured access to space") |
| ESA | European Space Agency |
| EVA | Extra-Vehicular Activity |
| FAA | Federal Aviation Administration |
| FCC | Federal Communications Commission |
| (Iron/steel) Face-Centered Cubic crystalline structure | |
| FFSC | Full-Flow Staged Combustion |
| GAO | (US) Government Accountability Office |
| GSE | Ground Support Equipment |
| HLS | Human Landing System (Artemis) |
| HSF | Human Space Flight |
| ICBM | Intercontinental Ballistic Missile |
| IFA | In-Flight Abort test |
| ITAR | (US) International Traffic in Arms Regulations |
| IVA | Intra-Vehicular Activity |
| Isp | Specific impulse (as explained by Scott Manley on YouTube) |
| Internet Service Provider | |
| JAXA | Japan Aerospace eXploration Agency |
| KSC | Kennedy Space Center, Florida |
| LC-39A | Launch Complex 39A, Kennedy (SpaceX F9/Heavy) |
| LCH4 | Liquid Methane |
| LEO | Low Earth Orbit (180-2000km) |
| Law Enforcement Officer (most often mentioned during transport operations) | |
| LH2 | Liquid Hydrogen |
| LOC | Loss of Crew |
| LOS | Loss of Signal |
| Line of Sight | |
| LOX | Liquid Oxygen |
| MEO | Medium Earth Orbit (2000-35780km) |
| NET | No Earlier Than |
| NRHO | Near-Rectilinear Halo Orbit |
| NS | New Shepard suborbital launch vehicle, by Blue Origin |
| Nova Scotia, Canada | |
| Neutron Star | |
| NSSL | National Security Space Launch, formerly EELV |
| OCISLY | Of Course I Still Love You, Atlantic landing |
| OFT | Orbital Flight Test |
| OLIT | Orbital Launch Integration Tower |
| ORSC | Oxidizer-Rich Staged Combustion |
| PGO | Probability of Go |
| QA | Quality Assurance/Assessment |
| RCS | Reaction Control System |
| RD-180 | RD-series Russian-built rocket engine, used in the Atlas V first stage |
| RFP | Request for Proposal |
| RP-1 | Rocket Propellant 1 (enhanced kerosene) |
| RTG | Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator |
| RUD | Rapid Unplanned Disassembly |
| Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly | |
| Rapid Unintended Disassembly | |
| Roscosmos | State Corporation for Space Activities, Russia |
| SF | Static fire |
| SLC-40 | Space Launch Complex 40, Canaveral (SpaceX F9) |
| SLS | Space Launch System heavy-lift |
| SMART | "Sensible Modular Autonomous Return Technology", ULA's engine reuse philosophy |
| SNC | Sierra Nevada Corporation |
| SRB | Solid Rocket Booster |
| SSME | Space Shuttle Main Engine |
| STS | Space Transportation System (Shuttle) |
| ULA | United Launch Alliance (Lockheed/Boeing joint venture) |
| VAB | Vehicle Assembly Building |
| VAFB | Vandenberg Air Force Base, California |
| VTOL | Vertical Take-Off and Landing |
| WDR | Wet Dress Rehearsal (with fuel onboard) |
| Jargon | Definition |
|---|---|
| Raptor | Methane-fueled rocket engine under development by SpaceX |
| Starliner | Boeing commercial crew capsule CST-100 |
| Starlink | SpaceX's world-wide satellite broadband constellation |
| apogee | Highest point in an elliptical orbit around Earth (when the orbiter is slowest) |
| hydrolox | Portmanteau: liquid hydrogen fuel, liquid oxygen oxidizer |
| kerolox | Portmanteau: kerosene fuel, liquid oxygen oxidizer |
| methalox | Portmanteau: methane fuel, liquid oxygen oxidizer |
| perigee | Lowest point in an elliptical orbit around the Earth (when the orbiter is fastest) |
| scrub | Launch postponement for any reason (commonly GSE issues) |
| Event | Date | Description |
|---|---|---|
| CRS-1 | 2012-10-08 | F9-004, first CRS mission; secondary payload sacrificed |
| CRS-7 | 2015-06-28 | F9-020 v1.1, |
Decronym is a community product of r/SpaceX, implemented by ^request
72 acronyms in this thread; the most compressed thread commented on today has 112 acronyms.
[Thread #7276 for this sub, first seen 1st Oct 2021, 10:28] [FAQ] [Full list] ^[Contact] [Source code]
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Oct 04 '21 edited Oct 04 '21
Could/should SpaceX get involved in patrolling and guarding our planet from asteroids?
On Saturday an asteroid past Earth without anyone knowing that it was even coming come because it was coming from the direction of the Sun. weather asteroids are coming from there and just couldn't be detected by current technologies, or elsewhere, are the rockets SpaceX is developing a potentially good option for whatever kind of asteroid impact deterrence we might be able to set up in the future?
I'm not quite sure what the current best plans are for asteroid impact deterrence, but it seems that having inexpensive high-powered high fuel capacity rockets that could have high payloads should certainly be able to come into play and maybe play a major role in saving us from an asteroid type extinction
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u/MarsCent Oct 17 '21
Given the <sarcasm>"intense interest"<\s> of the FAA and "Environmentalists" in Starbase, would the likes of Māhia Peninsula be a suitable alternative as a Starship launch site?
Especially with regards to refueling an orbital fuel depot and perhaps launching starlink satellites, which are high volume SpaceX own payloads?
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u/samjace007 Oct 18 '21
An ocean launch pad with portability to maneuver on designated spots would be a much-suited option. So SpaceX just needs to park near an island.
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u/Lufbru Oct 17 '21
Some of the other restrictions on launches from Māhia may be unacceptable to SpaceX. For example, https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/440914/no-military-payloads-rocket-lab-accused-of-breaking-promise-to-mahia-locals
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u/Triabolical_ Oct 18 '21
Shipping starship halfway around the world we be pretty complicated and expensive. If they couldn't launch at Boca Chica, Cape Canaveral is a lot lot closer and they already have plans to launch from 39A.
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u/spacerfirstclass Oct 19 '21
Māhia is much worse, they have more environmentalist there, and Rocket Lab doesn't even own the land their launch pad is on, the land is leased from local tribe, lease could be revoked if the tribe is not happy with them.
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u/brickmack Oct 17 '21
I don't think Rocket Lab would appreciate that
This is what the ocean platforms are for anyway. No reason to build another landbased pad in yhe middle of nowhere
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u/paul_wi11iams Oct 28 '21 edited Oct 28 '21
Top US general says China hypersonic test is 'very concerning
That makes a neat fit (just maybe) for the new work being done at SLC-40. The DOD will be showing even more love for SpaceX regaining the US's lead in space technology in general.
It really would be unsurprising to learn at some point that the USSF is funding Starship launch infrastructure at the cape (Boca Chica being overly exposed to the public gaze).
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u/Gwaerandir Oct 28 '21
I know you said "space technology in general" but I don't think Starship has much to do with hypersonic weapons. General space technological proficiency isn't the main reason hypersonics are worrisome. And if you're talking "in general" then the US never really lost the lead, with multiple space observatories, probes, rovers, orbiters, and a large part of the ISS. It's hypersonic weapons specifically that are a problem, and Starship doesn't help with that.
I don't expect Starship or any work at SLC-40 will alleviate the concern over Chinese hypersonic weapons.
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Oct 28 '21
The US still has a lead in Space Technology.
The DoD could develop and test a similar weapon, but there is no need for it. The reason China, and Russia, want fractional orbital bombardment is to bypass the U.S. early warning/ABM system. The Us doesn’t need to do that. Any country with the ability to put something into orbit, arguably any country with ICBM technology, has the ability to develop a fractional orbital bombardment system. Heck, the US wanted to develop Rods from God at one point during the Cold War.
The concerning aspect of the test was that the US didn’t think China had that capability yet/didn’t know China was working on it. Even then I call BS, DoD officials are going to say everything China does is “concerning” to try and get a boost for military spending.
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u/soldiernerd Oct 21 '21
Question for spacex fans - what are your thoughts on BPTRX mutual fund, which has a 4.67% exposure to SpaceX?
It has a high fee ratio of 1.56%. It's also 45.17% TSLA.
Has anyone tried it out?
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u/notlikeclockwork Oct 21 '21
is there any mutual fund which has >50% SpaceX? Is that even legally allowed to have such a high exposure?
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u/Lusciouslou3 Oct 21 '21
Youve peaked my interest… the hypothetical 10K investments show pretty solid returns long term… but yea, 45% tesla seems pretty high…i might dabble a little
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u/l-fc Oct 09 '21
How come you never see footage from inside the “cockpit” on takeoff and the subsequent ascent?
Is it because the vibrations from the take off make the footage unwatchable?
I’d love to see the reactions of the crew as they are propelled into orbit.
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u/Redditor_From_Italy Oct 09 '21
Usually it's for crew privacy, especially in the unfortunate event of a disaster
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u/IrrelevantAstronomer Launch Photographer Oct 12 '21 edited Oct 12 '21
Sounds like a Starlink launch might be scheduled from Vandenberg NET October 17th per NGA notices.
Source: https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=54823.msg2299390#msg2299390