Space and Science BS Thread

Lifeboat delayed:
https://twitter.com/spacenews_inc/status/1625517762914275328?s=46&t=WCZ4O75kQP06V5fc-TgrBw

 

SpX has sold the oil rigs…
https://twitter.com/jeff_foust/status/1625292261830414337?s=46&t=WCZ4O75kQP06V5fc-TgrBw

 

Well now we know where the third tower isn’t going. I suspect that any floating platform would have enough movement to make launching problematic and I guess they are just going to pin their hopes on the towers.

 

Tremendous piece of engineering:
https://twitter.com/nasajpl/status/1626325950446329856?s=46&t=7u67ISY1XSmoPIqohCY4kw

 

It’s been awhile since one of these has been posted. Esp clear view of the droneship..
https://twitter.com/spacex/status/1626663252624285696?s=46&t=HQyLQEgRvH1MGyqBE7L5EA

 

It still blows me away that they are actually landing rockets like something from early sci-fi stories but never actually done in reality.

 

And they’re bigger than they look when landing:

 

Took the words right out of my mouth. Seems so surreal. And as @PzTank said: the scale isn't appreciable from the videos.

 

Same.
I'd watch the old 50's sify movies where they'd land vertically on Mars and think " this is so stupid, that will never happen that way"

 

Well… where do you think Elon got the idea from?

 

https://twitter.com/spacex/status/1627356339788996608?s=46&t=WUQYie7aAvuR-JI-DgafXA

 

The belly flop works great to get through the atmosphere but they’d need a whole nother set of engines to land that way. Or wings but either one cuts into payload. I suppose in low gravity landings it might be possible to decelerate with main engines then rotate 90 and land using ventral thrusters. That’s an old sci-fi thing too.

 

The day the tide started to turn:
https://twitter.com/airandspace/status/1627673201810587650?s=46&t=d79QKp9nYm9pJfyAIB2h6Q

 

https://twitter.com/fasc1nate/status/1627683130894065665?s=46&t=d79QKp9nYm9pJfyAIB2h6Q

 

https://twitter.com/rocketlab/status/1627393954990940160?s=46&t=50wT4xfJu80mK163D3uABQ

 

https://www.reddit.com/r/Damnthatsi...re_appeared_on_tuesday_21_at/?utm_name=iossmf

 

3. That’s alot of cabbage…
https://twitter.com/howardhunasa/status/1626262475761917952?s=46&t=FpUB6yUQ2_h0bSb1AAj-qg

 

https://twitter.com/sciguyspace/status/1628179241060732931?s=46&t=M5_D5s_R7dG5lQOtsr3r5g

 

I’m glad to see so much hardware being readied but I hope they also have the flight hardware and launch tower ready for those. And Spacex has a vehicle for them to rendezvous with. It’s mostly the mobile launch tower for Artemis 3 that has me skeptical though if they are going to use thrusters mounted high up on HLS at some point I’d like to see a hop test at 1/6 thrust/weight on a test vehicle to verify control and landing leg operation since it will probably be different than F9 legs to account for an unprepared surface. The engines might have to hover to allow the gear to “find” where solid ground is under each leg. Obviously site selection will attempt to choose the most level, solid zone but anything flat will be covered with loose regolith making it imperfect. I can’t imagine them not testing this. The Apollo landing modules didn’t have this CG issue.
2 years until Artemis 2 and then probably at least another before Artemis 3 so it’ll be interesting to see what Spacex prioritizes and what things are tested concurrently. Starlink has to be #1 but the different versions needed to get HLS operational will also need time and testing with prototypes. I see those competing needs requiring the use of one or both towers at KSC with Boca Chica serving as the test facility for development. If pad 40 gets a crew launch tower then it might also get the second mechazilla or they might opt to separate them entirely. Star liner is still a ways from full service and even after it’s available there may not be an Atlas 5(only 19 left all accounted for?)or Vulcan to stack it on and Dream Chaser is still at least a few years from a crewed version being certified. Are any Atlas 5’s set aside for the Star Liner crewed missions? I know the military has stopped using them.

 

Trying to follow what you’re saying here but for the first part I’ve bolded- I don’t think the Artemis III mobile launcher has anything to do with the HLS Starship. They’re two completely separate, but compatible systems.