After the recent Artemis Orion mission and it's thread I've been watching lots of YouTube and reading articles on all the space and rocketry goings on. There's loads currently! It helps that my 2 yo is currently space and rocket obsessed and we can watch all the launches together but he does lack the ability for in-depth discussion of the final details. In fact his discussion is largely ' 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1....woooooshhh!'. His counting is good for a 2yo 🤣
Is there interest in a general space chat thread? I'm currently super excited by Artemis although with, I think, a year until launch 2 there is not much news there. However Chief twit's space X is also very exciting! Just announced 11 march for starship orbital launch! The 31 raptor engine test for the booster was quite a sight. Starship plus booster should make SLS look daft!
Also interesting times with the ISS, and a second leaky Soyuz. Dragon to the rescue I guess.
I've been watching a lot of Matt Lowne YouTube, he seems to do great, easy to follow summaries of the weekly activity. I was even fascinated by one of his Kerbal Space Program videos.
So what has the rest of you excited?
After a mention elsewhere I've been reading "Ignition!: An Informal History of Liquid Rocket Propellants" by John D Clark.
Brilliant.
So what has the rest of you excited?
My son is in his second year of an Aerospace Engineering degree, so I can’t wait to see what he gets involved with, further down the line.
Good for him! I hope he does well. 👍
Thanks. So far so good.
We were fortunate enough to witness a Space X launch a few years back, at KSC, which inspired him.
We saw SpaceX at KSC too (night). Daughter doing GCSEs with an eye on aeronautical engineering. Me, I loved the Webb thread we had on here last year including ‘second-hand’ reports directly from the front line!!!!
I suspect like many who end up posting on here, I own most of the Lego NASA stuff…
I'm lucky to have moved jobs and am now working for one of the home grown space firms. Absolutely fascinating and I often have to pinch myself when sat in meetings 😁
Artemis leaves me cold TBH, but Starship is just bonkers and will be extremely watchable over the next 12 months or so.
Swavis, cool! MEng here but the career has been project management largely. good too know there are homegrown space companies at work though!
Starship appears to have got FAA clearance for a launch from March onwards (I'd reckon late April/May with no major issues) so a very exciting year ahead. A successful Starship launch means that the manned mission to the moon is likely within 5 years and the manned mission to Mars might even be feasible with the next decade.
Really interesting manned launches later this year: The First Axiom space (ie fully private) mission to the ISS and the Polaris Dawn mission featuring the first commercial spacewalk for a privately funded manned space mission. Axiom are planning to add privately-funded modules (to be rented out to businesses/governments) to the ISS with a view to building a new space station later in the decade.
Scott Manly's YouTube channel is well worth a look, always interesting weekly-ish space news roundups, very knowledgable even if I still don't understand anything that mentions Kerbal Space programme.
Another good channel is Everyday Astronaut which is bonkers cool/nerdy insights into historical and current Rocket engineering. His series. of interviews with Elon Musk are very good indeed with great insights into Starship and the Boca Chica launch site and absolutely none of the Twitter etc. stupidity. The guy that does that channel is going on the Dear Moon mission too which adds to his generally high level of nerdy engineering cool
I'm a machinist and actually worked for a supplier to my current firm before applying for the job, thankfully they liked my work 🤣
Hopefully we'll get to see a vertical launch from UK soil soon.
My son is in his second year of an Aerospace Engineering degree, so I can’t wait to see what he gets involved with, further down the line.
If he's anything like me he'll end up as an IT drone building apps for banks 😀
I'm not complaining - I love programming, and to get a decent wage for something I do in my free time anyway... But it's a long way from the Aeronautics & Astronautics degree I did, even if my final year project was all about programming. In Fortran. But good for him, it's a great degree and a fascinating subject.
Has anyone here been to a rocket launch? Obvs not in the control room (although IIRC someone's sister (maybe?) was involved in one), but from a nearby road/viewpoint? That's definitely something on my bucket list!
Stoke doing some interesting stuff, I like the guys take on rapid development in the recent everyday astronaut interview.
I took 11 march from this.. . It's a guess really
Scott Manley, thanks I've added him to the list.
Kerbal is a game, but by the look it's an incredibly detailed rocket/astro physics/exploration sim. I watched Matt Lowne do a ksp exploration in order to work out what it was as he kept mentioning it, and I couldn't believe how interesting it was to watch him play a game for 20 minutes!
As a child of '73 I'm almost as old as possible without having lived when men walked on the moon, so I'm excited by all this moon and beyond stuff. Artemis seems to be about moon as a base to go onwards and mining the solar system seems to be a key driver, as far as I can deduce from lots of the science they are testing like the legrange points and water propellant.
On a smaller scale there's this:
and a second leaky Soyuz. Dragon to the rescue I guess.
Well, I’m sure the Russians will manage perfectly well on their own, after all they’re pretty hot on their rocketry…
Has anyone here been to a rocket launch?
Went to French Guiana twice for 2 months for 2 launch campaigns, but both ended up with a launch delay, so was working back in mainland Europe for those 2 actual launches.
Did watch one of the last Ariane 4 launches while I was there though.
Didn't manage to get to Plesetsk for the current mission.
Did have a mooch around the Soyuz rocket factory on a previous trip though.
Not that much in terms of rocket science (he does plenty of that in other videos) but think this is the best audio I’ve heard from a launch. Needs headphones though, and you can skip until he’s on top of the assembly building
and for a fascinating interview of some classic tech:
I get the distinct feeling the mega-rich are looking at options of leaving the planet 😆
On a smaller scale there’s this:
Spinlaunch is quite funky but the forces involved in spinning it up to launch speed must be bonkers - I wonder how that limits what satellites can actually be launched?
Obvs not in the control room
I have been in control rooms during launches (I was on the live feed during the philae lander touchdown), as an IT support bod. You have to remember for european space agency launches, the main control room is not at the launch site.
Dyna, musk has stated his aim with space X is to get to Mars, and I kind of feel like you, he's planning a one way trip!
My son is in his second year of an Aerospace Engineering degree, so I can’t wait to see what he gets involved with, further down the line.
If he’s anything like me he’ll end up as an IT drone building apps for banks
Conversely, my brother in law is now working for Northrop Grumman and was heavily involved with the James Webb project, as was his wife, who was one of the project leads for the sun-shield element (as I have discussed on STW in the past -we are all rather proud of them). So you are right to be excited about what may be. TBF, my brother in law had to move to LA to get a real opportunity, and then had to give up entirely his UK citizenship in order to progress (official secrets act limitations meant he could not hold dual-nationality).
Stoke doing some interesting stuff
Trying to develop a small, reusable second stage must be fairly disheartening when SpaceX are so advanced - especially if you don't have a first stage yet!!
The kids are already in charge! Note 2 of those 3 on the sofa are wearing the moniker ‘senior’ 😮
This a cracker too if you haven’t seen it
Spin launch is.... Surely bonkers. Maybe the virgin, use a plane to get to 30-40 000 feet had merit for small stuff but aspin launch? 😳
Spinlaunch isn't going to work tbh but they're probably going to do some interesting things along the way. And when we get our shit together and build that mass driver up an equatorial mountain probably some stuff they've demo'd will come in useful! Or, lobbing things out of moon gravity.
I like reading about the old stuff - Beyond is an absolute belter, maybe one of the best books I've ever read.
Spinlaunch isn’t going to work
They just need to develop a stronger playground bully to spin the launcher fast enough.
I'm seeing a few bits about Artemis now and it seems the heat shield performance wasn't as expected. Apparently it lost chunks of material. That's got to be a worry for any potential astronaut. There is lots of time to find a solution but is there opportunity to test it? The next Artemis mission is hoped to have crew.
Seems SLS left behind a bit of damage to the launch pad too. Space X have been beefing up their pad or 'stage zero' , it'll be interesting to see how they get on when starship goes to orbit. On that note, no date news yet. Visible starship activity has been quieter for the last few weeks.
In other news, japan tried to launch a rocket but had to blow it up as it failed. Reminded me just how hard space launches are!
If I understand the artemis thing correctly, the heat shield still performed more than well enough and none of what they've seen presents any danger itself- basically, charred bits that were supposed to stay on, fell off, but they'd already done their job and didn't hurt the performance at all or present a risk.
But, just the fact that it didn't perform as modelled is a worry for them because it undermines the model as a whole, so even a no-risk deviation raises some concerns about the possibility of other deviations. So now they've got to figure out why it deviated and basically update the model so that it exactly fits the reality, and then see if there's any other concerns. Which basically would leave the question, is there other stuff like this that we just haven't see yet.
It seems a bit like the Starship rocket test- the number of failed rockets was within the safety margin, but at the same time any sort of failure is a concern because the same thing could happen more, and equally any failure kind of goes to the overall trustworthiness of the vehicle, because while it's OK that rockets failed, they shouldn't have.
That could be oversimple though.
You mean 2 failed raptors? I believe the 31 remaining would be sufficient for orbit but yes I'm sure the engineers want to understand why 2 failed and execute a fix. It was only a very short test after all, 2 down in what, about 3 seconds, is a little concerning. I'm not sure musk really expects it to get to orbit first go, space X make stuff so fast they seem much happier to learn from failures than NASA.
I think I first saw this vid linked here, but can't see it in this thread, soz if I missed it. But a great video on how to land a space shuttle - funny, interesting, zips through way quicker than you think! 🙂
Yeah I think I saw the vid on here but worth reposting!
What do people think of space X trying to catch a returning starship on the pad with the 'chop sticks' or arms? It must be harder than landing on legs on a flat pad.
After checking all the links on here last night I watched this again (I can't get over how much it looks like a movie rather than a documentary. All that 70mm film is stunning).
https://youtube.com/shorts/lYpwN_IRok0?feature=share
This is the catch.
I guess it means the star ship doesn't need it's own legs and that saves cost, and weight. Or course less weight means a bigger payload. Impressive to see it. I wish we had a better sense of scale, I have to try and comprehend that booster is huge.
Blimey!
It was only a very short test after all, 2 down in what, about 3 seconds, is a little concerning.
[pedant] One engine was disabled by technicians before the firing so 1 failure is more accurate [/pedant]
[Even more pedant] the 'failure' was an engine that automaticly shut down, I'm not aware that the reason is public. It wouldn't surprise me at all if the software had different modes such that in flight more risks would be taken to keep an engine running if it meant the difference between sucsess and failure of the launch. IE, just because it shut down in a test doesn't definitly mean it wouldn't have functioned in a launch.
True. The word 'failure' implies a big bang whereas the [internal?] software probably saw data outside prescribed limits so shut the engine down - of course that doesn't mean it wouldn't have gone bang if it was allowed to carry on running.
Which bring me to an interesting question: I wonder if each engine runs it's own on-board software and do they then communicate with central flight computers on board, or are all the engines managed by a central on-board computer system
i.e. would the central computer shut down an engine if it wouldn't impact on the overall flight, but keep it running if shutting it down meant the flight would fail?
Hmmm.
Very true. It may have only lasted a few seconds but it was a very successful test.
Dumb question about launches - you're essentially firing a small fast moving object (your spacecraft) into and through an environment where there are lots of other small fast moving objects (every satellite and other object that's in orbit). Is there sone sort of global space control that you have to submit your flight path to so they can check you're not going to hit something (that they know about), or do they rely on the fact that space is actually pretty big so the chances of two relatively small things hitting each other is very low. Likewise if you want to park something in orbit do you have to book a slot or is it a free for all, with each control room looking out for itself?
Good question! NASA do track stuff, everything from satellite to debris I think, if it's big enough to see then they track it. I believe certain orbits are getting pretty congested, not afaik it's a free for all and there's no intentional space controlate that issues permits. I've got a lovely image of an astronaut inspector checking permits on satellites and issuing tickets now 🤣
I like reading about the old stuff – Beyond is an absolute belter,
Totally agree. Very well written book and a fascinating tale.
Ahha! The purist I found an answer by chance! 4 mins in, seems space X got a big fine for not providing the data to prove a falcon launch wouldn't hit something
Also send starship isn't going anywhere in march. Booooo!
Relativity rocket launch in 38 minutes https://www.youtube.com/live/9Tv6pbDCmLk?feature=share
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-64965767.amp
I'm sure I saw a 'How do they do that?'episode on this the other day
neilnevill
Free MemberWhat do people think of space X trying to catch a returning starship on the pad with the ‘chop sticks’ or arms? It must be harder than landing on legs on a flat pad.
Harder, yep but it's mass on the ground vs in the rocket so that makes a huge difference. Basically this is saying that landing and reusing is pretty much a solved problem, so they can stop trying to make it easy.
There's some other benefits- you don't have a rocket firing at the landing pad from minimum range reducing damage and heat stress, and backwash onto the vehicle, which is going to be really useful for floating platforms since usually the solution is "just use a shit-ton of concrete" And once you can land a rocket at a precise speed on the X, that's not so very different from hovering it near to the grabber arm, especially since the arm could in later versions move, and be higher up. So things like gimballing the arm so that rather than needing calm seas or massive levels of stabilisation, you can have the platform move and the arm compensate.
Yes I agree northwind, it makes sense.
Virgin could be bust before they've got to orbit, hope not.
This is one of the best images I've seen of the sun. Stunning! I would love a print of it.
https://twitter.com/AJamesMcCarthy/status/1638648459002806272?s=20
Wow.
Spacex could be looking at a star ship orbital attempt April 20th, ish.
Very impressive CV, surely deserved a better Photoshop job than this.
It was I that originally posted the shuttle land vid. I've watched it a few times now and it still entertains.
For me I have a Saturn V obessesion. I don't think it'll even be beaten as just the Goat rocket taking into account the tech available to them at the time. The computers etc are just astonishing and the problems that they had to solve to get the whole thing together were not insignificant.
And then of course ask the launch footage is off the scale for what a rocket launch should look like 🙂
I am not nearly as excited by modern rockets as such but some of the payloads grab my attention.
It seems that the virgin rocket company is laying off most of its staff. Oh dear.
I'm still following various YouTube channels for spacex news. It seems they are busily working on the orbital launch mount and seeking FAA clearance for super heavy to try and reach orbit. A rocket of such magnitude, completely reusable, taking 150 tonnes to LEO, will be something to see!
I'm reading that starship is ready for an orbital launch now, once faa give approval. I'm looking forward to that.
Nasa announced the crew for artemis 2, but since that is still 18-19 months away I'm not so interested currently. It will be utterly awesome when it happens yes, but its just there's not much to see for a while!
It's sad about virgin, that was a promising idea I thought. People seem keen to shit on Branson over it though. It's always amazing how thin the margins between success and failure can be, spacex was literally saved from bankruptcy by a single succesful launch, virgin it seems could easily have been the same.
neilnevill
Free MemberNasa announced the crew for artemis 2, but since that is still 18-19 months away I’m not so interested currently.
Is it not 18 months to the first cancelled launch? I look forward to it flying in about 3 years
See my separate PSA...
Ooh you cynical northy! Let's hope not.
Starship is go! Faa approval granted! Launch could be as early as Monday!
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-55564448
Lots of details on what we hope will happen released by spacex and explained by Marcus House here
Someone referred to the Hubble Ultra-deep image, which took twenty days to gather the date to produce that image. JWST has just revisited that patch of sky, and taken a twenty hour scan…
https://bigthink.com/starts-with-a-bang/jwst-surpasses-hubbles-deepest-image/
New starship launch on Thursday 2.30 pm
Oh. 4/20 chief twit's favoured marajuna related date.
Well I'm looking forward to it anyway.
Bollocks.... I may be busy 😫
The launch will take place from southern Texas between 8.28am local time (2.28pm in the UK) and 9.30am (3.30pm in the UK), on Thursday.
The launch will take place from southern Texas between 8.28am local time (2.28pm in the UK) and 9.30am (3.30pm in the UK), on Thursday.
Live stream up and running: Linky
beamers
Live stream up and running: Linky
Thanks for the link, but what a couple of ****s those presenters are. "It's called superheavy because it's super and it's heavy"
Yep. Heatshield tiles. "Curved ones go on the curved bits of the rocket, flat ones on the flat bits."
It's not rocket science. Oh, hang on....
Hmmm, looks like it's lost a few engines
I have been loving various youtube vids of the mars rovers. I find that just incredible.
Lost a bit more!
So looks like it actually lost 6 engines, 1 possibly relit though.
Some of the debris videos are quite impressive/alarming 😮
holy cow!
I wonder what the other side of that Dodge Grand Caravan looks like?
**** a duck! Christ, you’d have thought they might give the area a once-over with a broom before they lit the blue touch-paper!
Pretty much trashed all the kit in the foreground, I wonder what the camera filming was in, to survive that? Didn’t suffer a rapid unexpected disassembly, at any rate… 🤣
