Space and Science BS Thread

Birds aren't real, man.

 

They are drones. Their highly sensitive ear pick up every conversation and send all the data back to Xi.

 

FIFY

Yeah, that could be a game changer. One can imagine Starship performing at least as well as Flight 3 so if all future failures don’t interrupt launch cadence…
https://x.com/bccarcounters/status/1791611426991157438?s=46

 

Crazy, I4….
https://x.com/johnkrausphotos/status/1791634737838051619?s=46
Same launch:
https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1791636698318745634?s=46
Same launch:
https://x.com/jennyhphoto/status/1791640097122566289?s=46

 

It really was insane….
https://x.com/contactlight69/status/1791537603331620898?s=46
https://x.com/contactlight69/status/1791539622427652509?s=46
https://x.com/contactlight69/status/1791532439858250001?s=46

 

https://x.com/spaceflightnow/status/1791489046721482932?s=46

 

Wild….
https://x.com/spacex/status/1580014747516211202?s=46

 

I’m curious to find out whether Spacex is filling the time it takes to generate these reports with upgrades and they could actually launch sooner than they have or if they’re already getting to the launch pad as fast as they can and only file the reports after they are about ready to fly again. So far it hasn’t appeared to me that the FAA has been holding them back since it’s Spacex taking so long to complete its investigations. Since it’s an iterative process those investigations would be needed anyway along with the time it takes to implement whatever is found out. The FAA is involved sufficiently that they only need a couple weeks to verify the content and rubber stamp a modified license but even after getting those approvals Spacex has still needed those weeks to finish preparations. I think it will be a game changer when Spacex no longer needs 10-12 weeks to refurbish Stage 0 but besides that any increase in cadence will interrupt work on the new tower. I can live with that but it’s going to be difficult to build a second OLIT more quickly when they have to stop and evacuate the area and clear it of anything that could get blown away that much more often.

 

The incident report between Flight 1 and 2 was specific to the causes and response to these causes. I can’t see SpX whipping reports out just before a launch. Seems to me once they get a report to the FAA, the FAA takes a couple of weeks to turn it around. I highly doubt anything related to Starship is at a rubber stamp level of review considering it’s intended uses.

 

https://x.com/spacenews_inc/status/1792167109939646842?s=46

 

RTF for crewed New Shepard:
https://x.com/nasaspaceflight/status/1792204677918130413?s=46

It’s as if they didn’t have any other national security matters pending..

 

The first report was released many months after the flight, I think maybe August? And the license followed only a few weeks later. The timeline for OFT-2 was shorter but the FAA still approved the next launch license a few weeks after receiving the report. Same for OFT-3. I’m not at all implying that the reports are whipped up at the last second, quite the contrary, I think they are extremely serious about them since they are the heart of the iterative process. And since the FAA is involved already but not leading the investigation they will have known for months what is in it so the approval is straight forward (hence the tubber stamp). The reports are finalized and released when Spacex believes they’ve sufficiently uncovered and resolved what’s been learned and are very close to finishing that work. And from there the license modification and preparation for flight proceed quickly. My point is that it’s not taking any more time between launches than it has to already and they WON’T launch any quicker until they CAN launch quicker. After each flight they have a pretty good idea how long normal stage 0 repairs might take and as they work through the resolution of the previous flights issues they can estimate a timeline for that and come up with a ballpark of how much time they have to work on upgrades to the launch site and how to fit that work in with testing. There’s a ton of work related to future launches being wedged in with the work being done for the very next launch. I’m just suggesting that they’re using the (hard to call it) downtime inherent in the iterative process to fit in as much as possible.

 

https://x.com/sciguyspace/status/1792539487085445136?s=46

 

https://x.com/nasakennedy/status/1792644653361050064?s=46

 

I guess they found someone with the right kind of flexible arm to access the valve?

 

https://x.com/spaceflightnow/status/1792964760708981124?s=46

 

Good advice for everyone
https://x.com/mastronomers/status/1792422050818097321?s=46

 

I still refer to Pluto as the ninth planet orbiting the sun.