Space and Science BS Thread

https://x.com/nasa_marshall/status/1763235027456864398?s=46

 

Cool that they put stuff like this out there:
https://x.com/jwstobserver/status/1763252848463131063?s=46

 

Wow…
https://x.com/_rykllan/status/1763513405564969280?s=46

 

https://x.com/spacepadreisle/status/1763699982740111376?s=46

 

Crew-8 underway. I heard they were working a small hairline crack by a seal - it was determined to be safe to launch nonetheless. Nothing on the SpX X feed.
https://x.com/spacex/status/1764503795965567106?s=46

 

Looks like they got through the WDR at BC. Won’t be long now.

That seems questionable.

 

See above.
https://x.com/spacex/status/1764697392128156144?s=46

 

“Won’t be long” for me means a few weeks now rather than pushing a month so plenty of time for destack, move back to bays for checks and FTS install, then move back to launch site and full stack for launch once the license is ready. It truly is remarkable how quickly and easily they can shuttle them around and LEGO them. “Seems questionable” referred to launching with the hairline crack considering what it goes through during launch, heat cycling in orbit, and reentry. I hope they are just as cautious as they were with the leaky Soyuz capsule and are willing to send another Dragon up if there’s even a chance at failure.

 

Apparently it’s a crack in a coating rather than anything structural and is both redundant and reapplied each flight so they believe it’s an application defect. Also, comparisons to similar defects on cargo dragon missions led them to conclude it is inconsequential both in size and location.

 

https://x.com/spacex/status/1764821414610420210?s=46

 

https://x.com/nasaspaceops/status/1765117846659461623?s=46
With Jeanette Epps from Group 20 and Matthew Dominick from Group 22 flying on Crew-8, the only US NASA astronauts without space flight experience are Zena Cardman from Group 22 (assigned to Crew-9) this new group, “The Flies”.

Edit- forgot about Jonny Kim - Group 22 no assigned flight…yikes…

 

Still making friends with the locals:
https://www.texastribune.org/2024/03/04/texas-spacex-boca-chica-park-land-swap/

 

I’m definitely on the side of conservation but an 11:1 exchange seems a pretty good deal and a win for both. The 43 acres Spacex is getting can’t really be used by those claiming a loss of use anyway. The way it reads those against it want to have their cake and eat it too.

 

https://x.com/nasawebb/status/1765398822732136835?s=46

 

I’m a lot more hopeful than this time last month. Yes, there are things they COULD do in the meantime but the list of things they have to do is down to flight prep rather than infrastructure repairs/upgrades. Once they do launch the question becomes how long to get stage 0 back to test readiness. To even get 5 this year they’ll need to cut the time in half at the very least since the OLM is still the only place they can SF boosters. I’m confident it will continue to improve since stage 0 developement is just as much an iterative process as the SH and factory. But it’s going to be several more months before they can dispense with the pad B and I’m guessing at least 18-24 months before OLM&T 2 are up along with all of the associated tanking and deluge plumbing. As far along as things are at KSC they really need to finish that tower before the second one here.

 

From the horse’s mouth:
https://x.com/spacex/status/1765437449717841991?s=46

 

Different flight profile for 3
https://x.com/spcplcyonline/status/1765469111725752829?s=46

 

Could bring a tear to your eye if you let it…