685 replies to this topic

[Victoria Watcher]

On Monday, the first group of astronauts to head back to the moon since 1972 will be announced. 

 

The astronauts will be part of the Artemis II mission, where they will orbit the moon. The mission will include three people from NASA and one from the Canadian Space Agency (CSA).

 

While NASA has a roster of 41 active astronauts, there are only four active Canadian astronauts: Jeremy Hansen, Jennifer Sidey-Gibbons, Joshua Kutryk and David Saint-Jacques.

 

The announcement will be made at 11 a.m. ET.

 

 

https://www.cbc.ca/n...medium=sharebar

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 03 April 2023 - 03:27 AM.

[Victoria Watcher]

SpaceX moved the most flight-ready of its Starship rockets, Ship 24, to a launch site in South Texas on Saturday. While a launch is not imminent this week, it could take place as early as April 10, sources said.

 

Earlier this week, the company lifted the massive "Super Heavy" first stage of its launch system onto a launch mount at the pad. The next step will involve lifting the Starship upper stage into place, atop the first stage. While these vehicles have been previously stacked for testing, this should be the final time they are positioned on the launch pad before lifting off.

 

In recent weeks technicians have added shielding to protect the launch mount and tower from the extreme heating from the launch of Super Heavy, which is powered by 33 Raptor engines. The launch vehicle will have about double the thrust of the two most powerful rockets ever to reach orbit, NASA's Saturn V and Space Launch System rockets.

 

 

https://arstechnica....just-days-away/

 

 

[Victoria Watcher]

[Victoria Watcher]

SpaceX stacks huge Starship vehicle ahead of orbital test flight (video)

 

 

Starship could lift off as soon as next week.

 

https://www.space.co...ideo-april-2023

 

 

 

 

 

Just to give you some idea what they are going to (try to) put into orbit:

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 07 April 2023 - 04:47 AM.

[Victoria Watcher]

[Victoria Watcher]

^^^ 

 

[Victoria Watcher]

They have the FAA clearance. 

 

As early as Monday, they might fire it off, the largest thing to ever (try) to go to orbit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Friday, after years of review, the Federal Aviation Administration granted SpaceX a license to launch the 40-story-tall rocket from the company's facilities in Boca Chica, Texas.

 

Once Starship is stacked atop its Super Heavy booster at the new launchpad there, the black-and-silver vehicle will be poised to prove itself as the biggest, most powerful rocket ever built.

 

Shortly after the FAA granted its license, SpaceX announced it would attempt a launch as soon as Monday, with a launch window from 7 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. Central Time. Musk has estimated a 50% chance of success, hinting that the rocket may explode like many of its prototype predecessors.

 

"I'm not saying it will get to orbit, but I am guaranteeing excitement," Musk said in an interview at the Morgan Stanley Conference on March 7, adding: "Won't be boring!"

 

 

https://www.business...ow/99504949.cms

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 15 April 2023 - 02:06 AM.

[Victoria Watcher]

While those tests returned Starship to SpaceX's Starbase facility in Boca Chica, Texas, for this test, the first stage will make a landing in the Atlantic Ocean, while the Starship will make splash down in the Pacific Ocean, off the coast of Hawaii.

 

The booster for this launch is called Booster 7, and the Starship is SN24.

 

The Super Heavy rocket has the most engines of any rocket at 33. On Feb. 9, it did a test of the engines, but only 31 ignited.

 

Starship is unlike any other vehicle ever launched. 

 

It launches vertically, in two stages, and then the booster stage — like the first stage of SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket — returns to the launch pad and is caught by arms dubbed "chopsticks." And, eventually, when the spaceship's job is done, it, too, returns to the pad. But instead of coming in vertically as the boosters do, the ship will do a "belly flop" throughout most of the atmosphere, before manoeuvring to land in a upright position.

 

 

 

https://www.cbc.ca/n...light-1.6810728

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 16 April 2023 - 02:38 AM.

[Victoria Watcher]

[Victoria Watcher]

[Victoria Watcher]

Just a few months after NASA introduced the world to the most powerful rocket ever flown to orbit, Elon Musk’s SpaceX is prepared to set off its own creation — which could pack nearly twice the power of anything flown before.

 

"I guess I'd like to just set expectations low," SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said during a Twitter "Spaces" event for his subscribers Sunday evening.

If we get far enough away from the launch pad before something goes wrong, then I think I would consider that to be a success. Just don't blow up the pad.

Starship's ultimate success or failure is immensely consequential. Not only is it crucial to SpaceX's future as a company, it also underpins the United States government's ambitions for human exploration. 

 

NASA has awarded SpaceX contracts and options worth several billions of dollars to use Starship to ferry government astronauts to the surface of the moon under the space agency’s Artemis program.

 

 

https://www.cnn.com/...7-23/index.html

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 17 April 2023 - 05:08 AM.

[Victoria Watcher]

9 minutes to go.

 

EDIT:  scrub.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 17 April 2023 - 05:12 AM.

[todd]

Where would dr. evil's ship sit on the list?

Edited by todd, 17 April 2023 - 08:24 AM.

[Victoria Watcher]

[Matt R.]

“Northern lights enthusiasts got a surprise mixed in with the green bands of light dancing in the Alaska skies: A light baby blue spiral resembling a galaxy appeared amid the aurora for a few minutes.”

https://apnews.com/a...slfo3qdiGQiBN_c

[Nparker]

..."Trust me, at first, I was totally bewildered,” he said. “I now know it can be explained with rocket science, but during and immediately after the experience, I thoroughly enjoyed the mysterious feeling of the unknown...."

So sometimes it IS rocket science. 

https://apnews.com/a...slfo3qdiGQiBN_c

[Victoria Watcher]

[LJ]

Is the heavy going tomorrow?

[Victoria Watcher]

28 minutes ago Musk said it looks good.

[Victoria Watcher]