Space and Science BS Thread

https://x.com/nasaspaceflight/status/1729900335328645606?s=46

 

Another Falcon Heavy launch to end the year!
https://x.com/spaceforcedod/status/1729965960696578338?s=46

 

Amazing piece of machinery:
https://x.com/nasahubble/status/1729977637961916738?s=46

 

Dragon gives us access but can’t match the capabilities of the shuttle. At best we have a driverless taxi when we used to have a truck we could launch in to a variety of orbits, haul with, live and work in with decent crew size, and land in. NASA has nothing with eva capability that is mobile.

 

However, there’s the Polaris 1 mission that’ll include testing out EVA capabilities in the Dragon and SpX has stated they would conduct, on their own dime, a feasible study re: servicing Hubble from the Dragon. I don’t know the status of either…

Also, it seems Starship could be an option once they work the bugs out

 

Hey @bagleboy , this tweet couldn’t be more timely
https://x.com/rookisaacman/status/1730011813658653042?s=46

 

Hard to imagine a multi-day mission in such cramped qtrs and no air lock but it’s possible. Maybe more so if the trunk were fitted out as additional hab space they could dock with. Starship would be great since it could house more in the way of drones, tugs, or servo-mech parasites. Many satellites could even be brought inside. In the long run these might be cheaper, safer, and more functional than custom fitted but still clumsy suits. A “hand” need not be attached to a human arm.

 

As long as I get a window seat I don’t care how long the flight is.
Edit- missed the silent comma after “in” so I thought he meant coach vs first class not coach the shot caller.

 

Huh, a news story with a jobs announcement… Don’t know it thats a good thing or not. Glad to see them RTF and up the cadance for next year, though..
https://x.com/rocketlab/status/1730041232007795177?s=46

 

Chris was close..
https://x.com/cnunezimages/status/1730049181123768583?s=46

 

https://x.com/physinhistory/status/1730090993813250061?s=46

 

Looks like he’s all in:
https://x.com/rookisaacman/status/1730086062075289748?s=46

 

Why wouldn’t it be?

 

It came over as a desperate move to me

 

Maybe. I don’t know their financial status but it seems reasonably prudent to hold off on expanding the workforce until you’ve returned to flight operations and are confident in the changes. Might be similar to the Sierra Space situation but at a different point in the timeline. Hopefully another expansion comes after Neutron gets proven.

 

Anyone hear of a reasonable explanation for the asymmetric smoke plume from B9? One side had a brown trailer that looked like incomplete combustion. Could it be boil off from the ship partially igniting as it passes the booster exhaust? Or flushed from the booster interspace with CO2 that limits the burn until it hits air?

 

https://x.com/dutchspace/status/1730114986519806372?s=46

 

Since rocket engines run fuel rich, I would imagine it was incomplete combustion. Not something that was wrong.

 

Not saying it was a problem, only noting the asymmetry and wondering why. I assume the ship boil off vents are separated and on the dorsal side which might cause it but there are other possibilities. Some views show it better than others.

 

This ought to be a good one! One of, if not the most publicly embarrassing moment only to be eclipse but one of the most successful fixes
https://x.com/nasahubble/status/1730647959920939196?s=46
https://x.com/nasahubble/status/1730647967982407810?s=46