An engineer who was involved from the start in NASA's efforts to launch the first astronauts into space and who later led Mission Control through some of its most challenging and triumphant hours, flight director Glynn S. Lunney has died at the age of 84.
Lunney's death on Friday (March 19) was confirmed by NASA. A family friend said that Lunney died after a long illness.
Re: SPACE - random thread about space stuff
Posted: Sat Mar 20, 2021 12:04 pm
by Daehawk
Seeing that reminds me we were all young once.
Re: SPACE - random thread about space stuff
Posted: Wed Mar 24, 2021 4:19 am
by stessier
Hey look - a SpaceX launch! T-10 minutes - good time to be awake!
Re: SPACE - random thread about space stuff
Posted: Wed Mar 24, 2021 4:38 am
by The Meal
Bummer we didn't get video of the Stage 1 landing.
Re: SPACE - random thread about space stuff
Posted: Wed Mar 24, 2021 4:40 am
by stessier
Yeah, but they still stuck it. Still impressive too! Watching the speed countdown at the same time as the altimeter, I just keep thinking there's no way they can slow down fast enough, and yet.
Re: SPACE - random thread about space stuff
Posted: Wed Mar 24, 2021 10:04 am
by Zaxxon
The Meal wrote: ↑Wed Mar 24, 2021 4:38 am
Bummer we didn't get video of the Stage 1 landing.
We should get a Starship SN11 test flight this week (hopefully) which should provide some 'fun' landing video. Or perhaps some fun 'landing' video.
Re: SPACE - random thread about space stuff
Posted: Wed Mar 24, 2021 10:18 am
by jztemple2
stessier wrote: ↑Wed Mar 24, 2021 4:19 am
Hey look - a SpaceX launch! T-10 minutes - good time to be awake!
These don't even wake me anymore
Re: SPACE - random thread about space stuff
Posted: Thu Mar 25, 2021 5:02 pm
by Ethan13
Will we have fundamental changes in the space industry in the near future? Nuclear engine? Plasma engine? Any devices for changing the trajectory of large asteroids/comets?
from the article wrote:
UPDATE: Jonathan McDowell, astrophysicist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, reports the display was caused by a SpaceX rocket burning up on reentry after it “failed to make a deorbit burn” and has been orbiting the earth since early March. Estimates put the cost of a Falcon 9 second stage at around $10 million so, if you like, you can find a little extra satisfaction in seeing those streaks of light as watching Elon Musk’s money burn.
from the article wrote:
UPDATE: Jonathan McDowell, astrophysicist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, reports the display was caused by a SpaceX rocket burning up on reentry after it “failed to make a deorbit burn” and has been orbiting the earth since early March. Estimates put the cost of a Falcon 9 second stage at around $10 million so, if you like, you can find a little extra satisfaction in seeing those streaks of light as watching Elon Musk’s money burn.
Pretty cool.
Oh, my kid is going to LOVE to hear that news. They -hate- Elon Musk.
Re: SPACE - random thread about space stuff
Posted: Fri Mar 26, 2021 10:30 am
by The Meal
We had one of those locally (around 2006?), though I remember the angle of incidence to be much shallower.
Re: SPACE - random thread about space stuff
Posted: Fri Mar 26, 2021 11:24 am
by Daehawk
Was going to say that looks like space debris not a meteor.
from the article wrote:
UPDATE: Jonathan McDowell, astrophysicist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, reports the display was caused by a SpaceX rocket burning up on reentry after it “failed to make a deorbit burn” and has been orbiting the earth since early March. Estimates put the cost of a Falcon 9 second stage at around $10 million so, if you like, you can find a little extra satisfaction in seeing those streaks of light as watching Elon Musk’s money burn.
Pretty cool.
Oh, my kid is going to LOVE to hear that news. They -hate- Elon Musk.
I have mixed feelings about the Musk man, but there is no denying he is a visionary. My son loves him and tries to make me watch Musk videos.
Re: SPACE - random thread about space stuff
Posted: Fri Mar 26, 2021 12:45 pm
by Ethan13
Daehawk wrote: ↑Fri Mar 26, 2021 11:24 am
Was going to say that looks like space debris not a meteor.
"According to the National Weather Service in Seattle, residents likely were seeing SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket debris."
Are you talking about this? And what will happen next? Now there are a lot of launches. And they all have the potential to leave debris that will not burn to the end.
Re: SPACE - random thread about space stuff
Posted: Fri Mar 26, 2021 1:07 pm
by jztemple2
Most Falcon 9 upper stages successfully deorbit at planned locations far away from land. This was a failed deorbit so it came down at a random location.
from the article wrote:
UPDATE: Jonathan McDowell, astrophysicist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, reports the display was caused by a SpaceX rocket burning up on reentry after it “failed to make a deorbit burn” and has been orbiting the earth since early March. Estimates put the cost of a Falcon 9 second stage at around $10 million so, if you like, you can find a little extra satisfaction in seeing those streaks of light as watching Elon Musk’s money burn.
Pretty cool.
Since it was a second stage it was the expendable part of an F9, so sadly Musk had already considered that $10 million gone and it didn't cost him anything extra.
jztemple2 wrote: ↑Fri Mar 26, 2021 1:07 pm
Most Falcon 9 upper stages successfully deorbit at planned locations far away from land. This was a failed deorbit so it came down at a random location.
Fortunately it put on a show without any reported debris reaching the ground.
Re: SPACE - random thread about space stuff
Posted: Sat Mar 27, 2021 1:00 am
by jztemple2
Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer and satellite tracker at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, also tweeted this:
Another fun debris fact: this is the 14th piece of space junk with a mass over one tonne that has reentered since Jan 1st this year.
Re: SPACE - random thread about space stuff
Posted: Mon Mar 29, 2021 8:26 am
by Ethan13
NASA is initiating the creation of a new space station at LEO. Many companies have responded to NASA's proposal. Do you think it is possible to create something that would be more efficient and cheaper than the ISS by private companies? Is it possible for companies to cooperate on this issue or again there will be one well-known company against all?
Re: SPACE - random thread about space stuff
Posted: Mon Mar 29, 2021 11:27 am
by Kraken
Depends on what the new station is for. Research? Manufacturing/construction? Tourism? A spaceport? If it's purpose-built, then I think private industry can get it done, and probably more than once.
Re: SPACE - random thread about space stuff
Posted: Tue Mar 30, 2021 5:51 pm
by Ethan13
Kraken wrote: ↑Mon Mar 29, 2021 11:27 am
Depends on what the new station is for. Research? Manufacturing/construction? Tourism? A spaceport? If it's purpose-built, then I think private industry can get it done, and probably more than once.
The private industry can do it anyway. The main thing is that it does not explode. I like that in the space sector, real competition can begin in all segments.
And the fact that many companies are concerned about safety in orbit is also good news.
Re: SPACE - random thread about space stuff
Posted: Tue Mar 30, 2021 6:05 pm
by Isgrimnur
Everything is contracted out already. Boeing, Lockheed Martin , Raytheon, etc.
Re: SPACE - random thread about space stuff
Posted: Tue Mar 30, 2021 6:08 pm
by Ethan13
I recently read that in 2025 they will start building a space hotel with artificial gravity. If this project is implemented, it will be high-profile news.
I wonder if space tourism will be in high demand in the next 20 years?
Kraken wrote: ↑Mon Mar 29, 2021 11:27 am
Depends on what the new station is for. Research? Manufacturing/construction? Tourism? A spaceport? If it's purpose-built, then I think private industry can get it done, and probably more than once.
The private industry can do it anyway. The main thing is that it does not explode. I like that in the space sector, real competition can begin in all segments.
And the fact that many companies are concerned about safety in orbit is also good news.
Private industry can do it. They only will do it if there's a profit in it. That's why it's takes an organization like NASA to get companies to commit to building the next space station. NASA is literally saying "here, take my money" to make companies submit proposals for building space station components or providing some service that's needed to build or operate the station. Otherwise, no prviate company to date would ever pony up the money to build a station, let alone tell other private companies "here, take my money" in order to get them to help.
Maybe in the future there will be a mega-corp rich enough to say "I am building a space station myself, and here is money I am putting up for it" in the hopes of making money off the station later, but currently a space station is such a capital investment that no private company wants to sink that cost.
In major international tests, the physics-defying EmDrive has failed to produce the amount of thrust proponents were expecting. In fact, in one test at Germany’s Dresden University, it didn’t produce any thrust at all. Is this the end of the line for EmDrive?
...
Now, however, physicists at the Dresden University of Technology (TU Dresden) are saying those promising results showing thrust were all false positives that are explained by outside forces. The scientists recently presented their findings in three papers at Space Propulsion Conference 2020 +1, with titles like “High-Accuracy Thrust Measurements of the EmDrive and Elimination of False-Positive Effects.”
...
Using a new measuring scale and different suspension points of the same engine, the TU Dresden scientists “were able to reproduce apparent thrust forces similar to those measured by the NASA team, but also to make them disappear by means of a point suspension,” researcher Martin Tajmar told the German site GreWi.
The verdict:
“When power flows into the EmDrive, the engine warms up. This also causes the fastening elements on the scale to warp, causing the scale to move to a new zero point. We were able to prevent that in an improved structure. Our measurements refute all EmDrive claims by at least 3 orders of magnitude.”
Daehawk wrote: ↑Fri Mar 26, 2021 11:24 am
Was going to say that looks like space debris not a meteor.
"According to the National Weather Service in Seattle, residents likely were seeing SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket debris."
Are you talking about this? And what will happen next? Now there are a lot of launches. And they all have the potential to leave debris that will not burn to the end.
A piece of debris from a SpaceX launch has turned up on someone's farm in central Washington, local authorities reported Friday (April 2) — about one week after the falling rocket debris sparked reports of "shooting stars" the U.S. Pacific Northwest.
According to the Grant County Sheriff's Office, the recovered object appears to be a composite overwrapped pressure vessel, or COPV, belonging to the second stage of the Falcon 9 rocket that launched March 4 from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, on a mission dubbed Starlink 17.
"SpaceX recovered a Composite-Overwrapped Pressure Vessel from last week’s Falcon 9 re-entry. It was found on private property in southwest Grant County this week," the Grant County Sheriff's Office wrote in a statement on Twitter, adding that they would not provide the exact location or the name of the man whose property it fell on.
Re: SPACE - random thread about space stuff
Posted: Sat Apr 03, 2021 10:56 pm
by Daehawk
The ahole just throws his garbage everywhere. When it kills someone it will cost him.
Re: SPACE - random thread about space stuff
Posted: Sat Apr 03, 2021 11:00 pm
by jztemple2
Daehawk wrote: ↑Sat Apr 03, 2021 10:56 pm
The ahole just throws his garbage everywhere. When it kills someone it will cost him.
Building and testing SpaceX’s next generation launch system, Starship, has primarily been conducted at the village of Boca Chica, Texas. But just a couple years ago, Starship hardware was also being built at a SpaceX facility on Cidco Road in Cocoa, Florida, near America’s most active spaceport at Cape Canaveral.
Today, only a single Starship nosecone section remains at the site, but new permits have been filed showing that the facilities at both Cidco and Roberts Road in Florida still hold very active roles in the Starship program.
Both those sites are just a few miles from me, so I'll have to take a little road trip to them soon.
Re: SPACE - random thread about space stuff
Posted: Fri Apr 09, 2021 1:03 pm
by Daehawk
Rocket launch and stage reentry as seen from space.
Re: SPACE - random thread about space stuff
Posted: Sat Apr 10, 2021 10:43 am
by The Meal
That's a super cool video!
Re: SPACE - random thread about space stuff
Posted: Mon Apr 12, 2021 6:18 pm
by jztemple2
I've been at the beach today so I expected that someone else would post about these two significant anniversaries, but I guess not.So here goes.
Today is the sixtieth anniversary of the flight of Yuri Gagarin, first man into space. His flight aboard Vostok 1 was short, only 108 minutes, but being the first, it was very important.
Today is also the fortieth anniversary of the first Space Shuttle launch. The flight, STS-1, was originally supposed to be on April 10th, but a glitch pushed it back a couple of days, unknowingly turning into an "also today" story each year following a piece about Gagarin.
My wife and I wished each other "happy anniversary" this morning, since I was part of the Shuttle program for the entire duration (and then some) while she kept me health and sane and ran pretty much everything else in our lives so I could concentrate on work. We'll be having sandwiches for dinner to celebrate.
