So excited for attempt number 2!

It's time to start taking this stuff seriously. Glad to hear it's in the works.

Bill Nelson jump scare is so real lol. Can't wait.

https://spacenews.com/rfa-first-stage-destroyed-in-static-fire-test/

I LOVE that already there are enough commercial space missions happening that it's easy to get confused which one is which! The more the merrier imo :)

Thanks for sharing the video! I'm always interested in seeing mainstream coverage of this stuff. However, they really don't know what they're talking about. For example, the host says they're going to higher altitudes than the Apollo program, which is just utterly baloney. Really throws a wrench into the credibility of this news outlet, in my view at least.

As for whether this mission is risky, yes it absolutely is. However, all manned space missions are risky and this one doesn't really have anything that makes it fundamentally unsafe.

Look, NASA sets objectives to accomplish its missions to the ISS, and they work with the engineers at SpaceX to figure out how to accomplish them as safely as possible. These Polaris missions are fascinating in that the objectives are set jointly between the SpaceX team and a paying customer.

The customer is interested in a few things, but it probably comes down to fame for doing new things. SpaceX is interested in developing the technologies and raising funds to get to Mars. Where their goals overlap is how we get the Polaris missions. I think that's pretty cool!

Just kidding...

https://x.com/rfa_space/status/1825634436794245548

On Monday evening, RFA conducted a hot fire of its first stage at their launch site at SaxaVord Spaceport.

This resulted in an anomaly that led to the loss of the stage. No one was injured in the process. The launch pad has been saved and is secured, the situation is under control and any immediate danger has been mitigated. We are now working closely with SaxaVord Spaceport and the authorities to gather data and info to eventually resolve what happened.

We will take our time to analyze and assess the situation.

We develop iteratively with an emphasis on real testing. This is part of our philosophy and we were aware of the higher risks attached to this approach. Our goal is to return to regular operations as soon as possible.

While the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) is responsible for developing the satellite bus, Korea’s Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) is in charge of the payloads.

SpaceX is just launching the satellites.

https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2024/08/transporter-11/

https://spacenews.com/indian-solid-sslv-rocket-launches-earth-observation-satellite/

Think a booster will complete 25 flights by the end of the year? I think so. We're close!

Thanks! I've never modded(?) before but I'd be more than happy to give it a shot :)

Personally, I think it's a great thing that the US arguably has the best military surveillance and communication satellites. Certainly I prefer money going there than into literal bullets. In any case, doesn't this have nothing to do with space tourism?

Instant upvote. Well played, my friend, well played.

My dear friend, the report is factually false. I can't speak for others, but I personally find it to only be responsible to help dispel false news. And for what it's worth, Elon is an asshole in my view, but that is irrelevant in this context, wouldn't you agree?

As for the facts, you may check them yourself. Here is the actual application. Typo is on page 79, the actual figure is in the appendix on page 177.

https://www.tceq.texas.gov/downloads/permitting/wastewater/title-iv/tpdes/wq0005462000-spaceexplorationtechnologiescorp-starbaselaunchpadsite-cameron-tpdes-adminpackage.pdf

Maybe you're wondering why I am keen on sharing all this. I am a big fan of spaceflight, it's just something I like and find inspiring. False reports that lean heavily on "Elon Musk bad" make the spacefaring future I'm rooting for more difficult to achieve. Surely it's ok to correct misinformation?

This community is awesome!

I post kind of a crazy amount, so if anyone wants to request that I do less of that, please let me know! (I'm also going to try to be more on-topic in the future.)

Thanks everyone for being so cool and for having a great time cheering for and discussing spaceflight. Ad astra!

I agree completely! Life is so cool. I would also say that we are a very, very long way from sending tons of dirt to Mars, but current probes are essentially sterilized, which adds billions to their cost, and for what?

Here is the actual application. Typo is on page 79, the actual figure is in the appendix on page 177.

https://www.tceq.texas.gov/downloads/permitting/wastewater/title-iv/tpdes/wq0005462000-spaceexplorationtechnologiescorp-starbaselaunchpadsite-cameron-tpdes-adminpackage.pdf

https://x.com/SpaceX/status/1823378186836889699

CNBC updated its story yesterday with additional factually inaccurate information.

While there may be a typo in one table of the initial TCEQ's public version of the permit application, the rest of the application and the lab reports clearly states that levels of Mercury found in non-stormwater discharge associated with the water deluge system are well below state and federal water quality criteria (of no higher than 2.1 micrograms per liter for acute aquatic toxicity), and are, in most instances, non-detectable.

The initial application was updated within 30 days to correct the typo and TCEQ is updating the application to reflect the correction.

Planetary Protection is one of my absolute FAVORITE can of worms!! Obviously it is a good idea to be careful and mindful, but I personally believe that NASA's current policies are complete overkill.

Let's think this through. Why don't we want to bring earth life to another world?

Maybe because then we won't be able to tell whether it is indigenous or not? Baloney! Imagine you accidentally bring a lizard to an island that doesn't have them. If it is indigenous, there would be evidence of them being there in the past, through fossils or otherwise!

Maybe we don't want to infect any life that is on that other planet, that earth life could take over that ecosystem like an invasive species? Astronomically unlikely. All earth life is evolved to live in its specific environment and to interact with the species with which it has evolved alongside. As such, totally unrelated organisms form different planets would be so completely alien to each other that they would be unlikely to interact to begin with. Additionally Mars, for example, definitively has no macro-fauna or flora. As such, any possible microbes on Mars would be completely at a loss on how to interact with humans or indeed any earth life.

Finally, Earth and Mars, for example, exchange ~500 kilograms of material every year. Analysis shows that some of that material never exceeded a temperature high enough for sterilization. Thus, if there was any life on mars, it would have reached us by now, living in our biosphere along with us.

Anyways I'm a big nerd and I hope this stuff is interesting!

https://arstechnica.com/science/2017/06/mars-enthusiast-planetary-protection-a-racket-should-be-largely-ignored/

If a rocket gets to orbit, it most certainly hasn't blown up ;) Furthermore if it is reusable (which only SpaceX has) then it doesn't even crash into the ocean.

Let's be very clear on what rockets generally do. Last year, there were just over 200 launches worldwide (a world record, btw). ~10 of these sent professional astronauts to space stations. The rest deployed satellites that do all sorts of amazing things, including astronomy research, weather and earth observation, and communications. If 1 or 2 are a tourist flight, what's the big deal?

Good point! Truth is, it is basically space tourism. Now, because of the demand for science by humans in orbit, there will be science done and data gathered on the trip, but that isn't really its purpose. That being said, this kind of orbit brings some very interesting challenges re launch, radiation, and recovery, but I'm sure SpaceX can easily manage that.

On the tourism side, the orbit is actually quite noteworthy. We'll have to see what the actual figures are, but even at 450km, you're really quite close to the planet. As such, the sights they will see due to high inclination especially over the poles will be unlike anything any human has seen before, and that's exciting to me :)

1st paragraph:

NASA’s internal watchdog sharply criticized the work Boeing is doing on the next version of the Space Launch System, finding serious lapses in quality control.

They are reporting on an official report, not hating or spreading rumors/false information. Berger and Foust are two of the most respected space reporters in the world today.

Not just Eric Berger: https://spacenews.com/nasa-watchdog-finds-quality-control-problems-with-boeing-sls-work/

I'm pretty sure it's because increased solar activity causes Earth's atmosphere to expand and reach further into space, causing more drag higher up. I think we saw some newly-starlink satellites have to deal with this some time ago!

Possible Cygnus Issue

Cygnus NG-21: Mission control just alerted the ISS crew to a possible issue with the Cygnus cargo ship: "Just to let you guys know, good comm with Cygnus, we're going to have solar array deploy in about an hour. The first two burns were not performed by Cygnus, so they're re-assessing what's the current state of the burn plan. We're hoping to still keep Tuesday (for capture by ISS), but we'll re-assess once we figure out what went wrong with the first two burns."

Performance stats of previous versions:

Raptor 1 (sea level variant)

Thrust: 185tf

Specific impulse: 350s

Engine mass: 2080kg

Engine + vehicle-side commodities and hardware mass: 3630kg

Raptor 2 (sea level variant)

Thrust: 230tf

Specific impulse: 347s

Engine mass: 1630kg

Engine + vehicle-side commodities and hardware mass: 2875kg

Raptor 3 is designed for rapid reuse, eliminating the need for engine heatshields while continuing to increase performance and manufacturability

This is awesome! Can't wait to try it out. Over the years I've seen various tools, some of them paid, and of very different quality levels.

Usually I would revert to just manual data entry by making life easier for myself and just looking at every 5 seconds or so. Usually works well enough, but I am always left wanting to see the finer details.

Looking forward to testing this out :)