Space and Science BS Thread

Cool gif ‘o the ‘morn:
https://twitter.com/spacex/status/1664832049516097537?s=46

2nd coolest:
https://twitter.com/scienceworld224/status/1664980252177625093?s=46

 

We have an empty sandbox to play in on the moon to occupy us for a while until we learn the cheat codes for space travel.

 

Like instantaneous wormhole travel?

 

The content and timing of that kind of genius isn’t predictable. It could be that or something else entirely. When they say that what we can observe accounts for only 5% of all matter & energy and that dark matter & energy account for the rest but we can only infer their existence that implies quite a lot of unknown physics. Those unknowns are why I think of the “laws of physics” as “more like guidelines”. Cheat codes don’t break laws they just find ways to circumvent them. We still have a long way to go even understanding and being able to master the 5% we can observe.

 

https://twitter.com/scienceworld224/status/1666148842213986306?s=46

Uncropped:

 

I wonder if Dream Chaser will have a smoother path to crewed flight. On another note the Pridwen origami heat shield may get its first orbital test this year via F9. Developed by Space Forge it’s supposed to provide reusable soft recovery of products manufactured in leo. Be nice if that could include second stage recoveries.

 

Is that the inflatable raft looking thing they tested earlier this year?

 

No, that’s for the thrust section of Vulcan. This is different.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=9OqR7QlXTNI&pp=ygUec3RhciBmb3JnZSBvcmlnYW1pIGhlYXQgc2hpZWxk
I got the company name wrong, it’s Space Forge, not Star Forge.

 

First light
https://twitter.com/thesheetztweetz/status/1666613592492331010?s=46

 

That Boeing vs Wilson lawsuit is

Wilson is alleging a ton, but firstly that Boeing copied proprietary Wilson designs on tooling and passed it off to Nasa as theirs. Much to the malignment of Wilson, monetarily and otherwise.

Wow, lots to unpack there.

 

Interesting, we’ll have to see how this turns out given the sometimes gap between what is true and what can be proven but you’d think in house data and records would be pretty conclusive.
https://news.yahoo.com/lawsuit-accuses-boeing-swindling-partner-170000017.html

 

Cool gif ‘o the day:
https://twitter.com/scienceworld224/status/1667199876235419652?s=46

 

So cool to see the ISS still getting upgrades!
https://twitter.com/space_station/status/1667227092545830912?s=46

 

NASA is throwing SpX under the bus in missing the 2025 goal for landing on the moon.
https://twitter.com/spacedotcom/status/1667235625269862417?s=46

 

I thought exactly the same thing when I saw that story. To go from funded to landed in under 5 years was unlikely to begin with, even without the BO lawsuit delay. It’s got the feel of hiding Artemis behind Starship when it’s more than likely both will be struggling to meet a December 2025 launch date. Artemis 2 is already probably going to launch in early 2025 at best which pushes A3 into 2026. It could well be that Starship development slows the project overall though, there’s a lot to do. Even knowing that I’d be less than surprised to see Starship HLS picking up the slack for subsequent Artemis missions.

 

https://twitter.com/spacex/status/1666538012237520897?s=46
https://twitter.com/spacex/status/1666538260590641152?s=46
https://twitter.com/spacex/status/1666538477805248512?s=46
https://twitter.com/space_station/status/1666023004579704832?s=46

 

What's the Russian record/count for Soyuz?

 

I’m thinking they restart the count whenever there’s a new variant put into operation. See the Variant section half way down here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soyuz_(spacecraft)

 

They’ve called a lot of ships Soyuz. One first docked with an Apollo mission in ‘75 so I suppose a running count would be high if they did it by name alone.

 

Things are getting trippy. A Rocket Lab Photon on a SpaceX F9 Transporter mission.