SpaceX META Thread

They just did a short static fire test with SN4 which resulted in several small fires at the bottom of the vehicle. Sorta looks like they have valves venting fuel which caught fire.
The fire still isn't fully contained with excess fuel still burning off in small quantities, but the vehicle still stands.

twitter.com...

live feed
www.youtube.com...

Crew Dragon arrived at 39A Friday night.

www.space.com...

We should be using a next generation shuttle.
Not a 1950s style capsule.

I found it ludicrous and offensive that people think this is the correct way or a better way to go into space…

I still don’t believe SpaceX is capable of successfully launching men into space without a steep death curve…
I hope they prove me wrong..
But they will fail despite doing [relatively] ancient capsule style reentries...

No way they launch on time...but if they do I hope I’m wrong on their safety...or lack thereof

-Chris

a reply to: Christosterone

A shuttle is great for a truck, but it's not getting you to the moon, or beyond.

a reply to: Zaphod58

We should have never stopped going to the moon....and beyond
Wernor Von Braun would be insulted by the current state of our space program.
Thankfully we have an arm of the military dedicated to space travel/defense now...that means funding and multiple scaled operations...from next gen shuttles to interplanetary capable vehicles.

I hope my impression of spacex is wrong...but I doubt it...

-Chris

a reply to: Christosterone

Your impression based on what? SpaceX has successfully launched the current Falcon 9 iteration dozens of times.
Yes, they're currently breaking lots of stuff by welding tanks on the beach in tents, but they've been successfully running the world's largest launch program.

a reply to: mightmight

They’ve been around since 2001.
Do u have any idea how many launches NASA was capable of prior to Obama gutting it?

-Chris

a reply to: Christosterone

22 STS after the loss of Columbia.

While i would not defend Obamas utter lack of interest in space exploration, moving space policy in the commercial direction was the right call.

originally posted by: Christosterone
a reply to: Zaphod58

We should have never stopped going to the moon....and beyond
Wernor Von Braun would be insulted by the current state of our space program.
Thankfully we have an arm of the military dedicated to space travel/defense now...that means funding and multiple scaled operations...from next gen shuttles to interplanetary capable vehicles.

I hope my impression of spacex is wrong...but I doubt it...

-Chris

Actually think it’s a good idea, you could launch 2 or 3 capsules and store them in orbit. You will eventually have your shuttle parked in orbit. Why put all that energy into putting a heavy shuttle up there every time?

Use that energy to put fuel and equipment up there, use your shuttle to go to the moon and back, jump in a capsule and come back to earth.

Makes much more sense.

a reply to: cooperton

The Apollo command module, or any other space craft returning to Earth like the Soyuz capsules returning from the ISS, are specifically designed to manage the heat generated by re-entry. Ablative heat shields are the key, dissipating heat by boiling away as they pass through the atmosphere. Entering blunt end first creates an envelope of hot gas that passes around the craft rather than be constantly in contact with it.

Meteors have no such proyection and can also have pockets of gas that expand rapidly, contributing to their destruction.

I've seen a scorched Soyuz capsule, it did not pass through the atmosphere unscathed!

SpaceX is amateur hour compare to NASAS FORMER GLORY...

Here’s a nasa short list...I’m not even going to include the 135 shuttle missions...or the ancillary/supplemental launches

Suborbital[edit]
Anomalous Transport Rocket Experiment (ATREX) – five consecutive launches, 80 seconds apart on March 27, 2012, studied the high-altitude jet stream .[19][20]
NASA Sounding Rocket Program
Earth satellites[edit]
Main category: NASA satellites orbiting Earth
Biosatellite 1, 2 and 3
Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE)
- Earth Observing System[21]
Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE)
NPOESS Preparatory Project (NPP) – National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS)[22]
Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS)
Echo 1 and 2
- Great Observatories
Chandra X-ray Observatory
Compton Gamma Ray Observatory
Hubble Space Telescope – ESA partnership
Spitzer Space Telescope (formerly known as the Space Infrared Telescope Facility, SIRTF)
- High Energy Astronomy Observatory program
High Energy Astronomy Observatory 1 (HEAO 1)
Einstein Observatory (HEAO 2) first fully imaging X-ray telescope
High Energy Astronomy Observatory 3 (HEAO 3)
Imager for Magnetopause-to-Aurora Global Exploration (IMAGE)
Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS)
Jason-1[23]
OSTM/Jason-2[24]
Jason-3[25]
Landsat program[26]
Landsat 1
Landsat 2
Landsat 3
Landsat 4
Landsat 5
Landsat 6
Landsat 7
Landsat Data Continuity Mission
- Living With a Star
Van Allen Probes – Twin probes studying the Van Allen radiation belt [27][28]
Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS)
Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR)
- New Millennium Program (NMP)
Earth Observing-1 (EO-1)
Space Technology 5 (ST5)
Space Technology 6 (ST6)
NanoSail-D and NanoSail-D2
Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO)
- Origins program
Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE)
Kepler searching for Earth-sized exoplanets in the habitable zone
Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms (THEMIS)
- Small Explorer program (SMEX)[29]
Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere (AIM)
Fast Auroral Snapshot Explorer (FAST)
Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX)
Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX)
Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) – X-ray telescope orbiting Earth[30][31]
Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (RHESSI) – Sun observing, Earth satellite
Solar Anomalous and Magnetospheric Particle Explorer (SAMPEX)
Submillimeter Wave Astronomy Satellite (SWAS)
Transition Region and Coronal Explorer (TRACE) – Sun observing, Earth satellite
Wide Field Infrared Explorer (WIRE)
- Solar Terrestrial Probes program
Hinode (Solar-B)
Thermosphere Ionosphere Mesosphere Energetics and Dynamics (TIMED)
Two Wide-angle Imaging Neutral-atom Spectrometers (TWINS)
Uhuru
Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP)
Lunar[edit]
See also: Exploration of the Moon
Clementine
Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) [32]
-Lunar Orbiter program
Lunar Orbiter 1
Lunar Orbiter 2
Lunar Orbiter 3
Lunar Orbiter 4
Lunar Orbiter 5
- Lunar Precursor Robotic Program (LPRP)
Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS)
Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO)
Lunar Prospector
Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) – instrument for ISRO's Chandraayan-1
-Pioneer program
Pioneer 0
Pioneer 1
Pioneer 2
Pioneer P-1
Pioneer P-3
Pioneer P-30
Pioneer P-31
Pioneer 3
Pioneer 4
- Ranger program
Ranger 1
Ranger 2
Ranger 3
Ranger 4
Ranger 5
Ranger 6
Ranger 7
Ranger 8
Ranger 9
- Surveyor program
Surveyor 1
Surveyor 2
Surveyor 3
Surveyor 4
Surveyor 5
Surveyor 6
Surveyor 7

Martian[edit]
See also: Exploration of Mars
- Mariner program
Mariner 4
Mariner 6 and 7
Mariner 8
Mariner 9
- Mars Exploration Rovers
Spirit rover
Opportunity rover
Mars Global Surveyor
Mars Odyssey
- Mars Pathfinder
Sojourner rover
- Mars Polar Lander
Deep Space 2 (DS2) – (sub-surface probes)
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
- Mars Science Laboratory (MSL)
Curiosity rover
- Mars Scout program
Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN)
Phoenix
- Viking program
Viking 1
Viking 2
Asteroidal/cometary[edit]
- Discovery Program
Deep Impact (primary) – EPOXI (extended)
- New Millennium Program (NMP)
Deep Space 1 (DS1) – first spacecraft propelled by an Ion thruster
Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous - Shoemaker (NEAR Shoemaker) – close study of 433 Eros
- New Frontiers program
Origins Spectral Interpretation Resource Identification Security Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) – launched September 2016[33][34]
Stardust – follow-up for Deep Impact's primary mission to 9P/Tempel
Other planets[edit]
Cassini–Huygens – Saturn and its moons
Dawn – Vesta in 2011-2012, and Ceres in 2015-2018
Galileo – Jupiter and its moons
Juno – Jupiter
Magellan (Venus Radar Mapper)
- Mariner program – Venus
Mariner 1
Mariner 2
Mariner 5
Mariner 10 – first to Mercury
MESSENGER – first to orbit Mercury
- New Frontiers program
Juno Spacecraft Mission – Jupiter-bound for polar orbit in 2016[35]
New Horizons – Pluto and its moons in 2015
- Pioneer program
Pioneer 5 – interplanetary space between Earth and Venus
Pioneer 6, 7, 8, and 9 – Solar wind, solar magnetic field and cosmic rays
Pioneer 10 – first to the asteroid belt and Jupiter
Pioneer 11 – asteroid belt and Jupiter, first to Saturn
Pioneer Venus project
- Voyager program
Voyager 1 – Jupiter, Saturn
Voyager 2 – Jupiter, Saturn, first to Uranus and Neptune
Solar[edit]
Genesis – returned sample of solar wind
- Living With a Star
Balloon Array for RBSP Relativistic Electron Losses (BARREL) – two campaigns of 20 balloons each, studying the Van Allen radiation belts, 2012 to 2014[36] This mission is complement to the Van Allen Probes (RBSP).[37]
Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO)
Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) – ESA partnership
Solar Maximum Mission (SolarMax)
- Solar Terrestrial Probes program
Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission (MMS) – launch readiness date was October 2014,[38] launched on 13 March 2015 at 02:44 UTC.[39]
Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory (STEREO)
Ulysses (spacecraft) – ESA partnership
Parker Solar Probe – the first mission into the Sun's corona, successfully launched on 12 August 2018.[40][41]
Planned missions[edit]
- Origins Program
James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) – ESA partnership – launch scheduled for 2021[42][43]
Europa Clipper; launch ~2023
- New Frontiers program
Dragonfly (spacecraft); launch ~2026
Cancelled or undeveloped missions[edit]
Main article: List of NASA cancellations
Comet Rendezvous Asteroid Flyby (CRAF)
Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter (JIMO)
Mars Astrobiology Explorer-Cacher (MAX-C)
Mars Telecommunications Orbiter (MTO)
- Origins program
Space Interferometry Mission (SIM)
Terrestrial Planet Finder (TPF)
Pluto Kuiper Express (PLUTOKE) – replaced by New Horizons
Old proposals[edit]
- Mars Scout program
Aerial Regional-scale Environmental Survey (ARES) (2000-10 concept)
TAU (spacecraft)- probe to 1000 AU (1980s concept)

And I hope I’m wrong but I don’t believe SpaceX will successfully get men into space...

We will see but I have almost zero confidence the launch will go as planned...I hope I’m wrong

I will eat crow if they do launch their 2 astronauts to the iss...

-Chris

originally posted by: Christosterone
SpaceX is amateur hour compare to NASAS FORMER GLORY...

I don't get your point. NASA is a government agency. It is simply not comparable to a space industry startup.

Never mind the vast majority of those NASA missions involve contracts for many different launch suppliers, including SpaceX.

originally posted by: Christosterone
And I hope I’m wrong but I don’t believe SpaceX will successfully get men into space...We will see but I have almost zero confidence the launch will go as planned...I hope I’m wrong

still waiting for an argument to support this

originally posted by: mightmight

originally posted by: Christosterone
SpaceX is amateur hour compare to NASAS FORMER GLORY...

I don't get your point. NASA is a government agency. It is simply not comparable to a space industry startup.

Never mind the vast majority of those NASA missions involve contracts for many different launch suppliers, including SpaceX.

originally posted by: Christosterone
And I hope I’m wrong but I don’t believe SpaceX will successfully get men into space...We will see but I have almost zero confidence the launch will go as planned...I hope I’m wrong

still waiting for an argument to support this

We will see if they successfully launch men into space...
My argument is not for an Internet forum but presented as an opinion...
Only an opinion...

We will see if SpaceX is capable of equaling what America achieved in the late 1950s...
I may be wrong and SpaceX may have the staffing and manufacturing capabilities to launch men...
But until they do, I think they are incapable of replicating pre-obama nasas accomplishments...
They certainly will never approach Von Braun’s nasa...again, that’s my opinion and perhaps I will proven wrong..
But I doubt it

-chris

a reply to: Christosterone

Ok sure, your opinion. But based on what?

SpaceX already flew the exact mission profile last year and the vehicle performed flawlessly during the flight.
Dragon 2 is derived from the original Dragon spacecraft which has 21 successful missions under its belt. You could even argue Dragon is by far the most flight-proven spacecraft before anyone tried to put humans on board.

Anyway, you seem totally oblivious to the potential SpaceX and the commercial space industry in general represents. If Musk gets Starship into orbit, SpaceX will not even approach von Braun's NASA, they will far surpass it within years.
In fact, if you think about it, future generations may not compare Musk to someone like Wernher von Braun, but to someone like Christopher Columbus or Leonardo da Vinci.
Not a certainty, of course, he may go wacko tomorrow for all we know, but there is definitely the possibility of us witnessing the defining moments of the century.

a reply to: mightmight

Musk is an entrepreneur and has seen 0 men put into space...
I’m not going to compare him to Von Braun until he does anything other than tests and orbital satellites...
Again, he is still not on par with NASA circa mercury era...
This is inarguable...

It’s astonishing to me the faith y’all have in a fledgling company run by a semi-stable car salesman whose company has proven NOTHING regarding man-rated space travel..
Von Braun was an intellectual behemoth of unparalleled brilliance in regard to the rocket sciences...

Perhaps SpaceX will get men into space and catch up to NASA circa 1962 or so...
But comparing Musk to Columbus is so spectacularly shortsighted it’s astonishing....

Again, I doubt they will be successful or launch on time...
I could be wrong but we will know in a few days

-chris

I don't put my faith in people. I think there is a non-trivial chance he loses it at some point. I do however also recognize the potential of what he is trying to achieve.
He may very be the kind of person that comes along once, maybe in a generation. If one-tenth of his plans work out, he'll be one of the most influential people of the decade. If he comes anywhere close to what he's trying to achieve, he may go down in history as one of the most important people to have ever lived. Will it work out like that? Probably not, life is not a fairy tale. But so far he's right on track.

You don't seem to grasp what is happening at the moment. For the first time in history, we are actually bending metal with the expressed purpose of settling another planet. Yes, this goal is still ridiculously far off and SpaceX may very well fail, but also for the first time, there's an emerging business plan in the shape of Starlink to back the enterprise. A business plan that fully implemented, will change the world all on its own.
And this is not some lofty idea on some engineers drawing board. It's being deployed as we speak and will achieve an initial operational capability within the year.
Yes, on one hand, Mars and beyond is still incredibly far off. One the other hand it has never been closer.

As for the 'intellectual behemoth of unparalleled brilliance' - don't know about you but I'd pick the semi-stable cars salesmen turned rocket engineer over the Nazi who got a break. Not that I would even want to compare them. Pointless exercise.

a reply to: mightmight

You don't seem to grasp what is happening at the moment. For the first time in history, we are actually bending metal with the expressed purpose of settling another planet.

Do you know anything about Von Braun’s goals?
You are a walking embodiment of the internet: knowing absolutely nothing of history yet spouting off [outrageously] stupid statements with the confidence of someone who is an expert in the field.
It’s alarming how little you know compared with how much you think you know...
But this is the world and I chose to express an opinion on a website...so maybe I’m the obtuse one...no, it’s you

-Chris

originally posted by: Christosterone
We should be using a next generation shuttle.
Not a 1950s style capsule.

I found it ludicrous and offensive that people think this is the correct way or a better way to go into space…

I still don’t believe SpaceX is capable of successfully launching men into space without a steep death curve…
I hope they prove me wrong..
But they will fail despite doing [relatively] ancient capsule style reentries...

No way they launch on time...but if they do I hope I’m wrong on their safety...or lack thereof

-Chris

Um, no.

The space shuttle was not really reusable, it was half way rebuilt for every mission. The space x rockets are almost totally reusable. Also there is no atmosphere on the moon or mars to use wings for, you need to use rockets for descent which is what the space x module is built to do.

Why on earth are you expecting deaths from space X launches? They have a very good launch record overall, and this is just a swap of one kind of capsule for another. As long as it is engineered properly to keep it's environment safe for humans there is no reason to be particularly worried about their safety.

Space X now has by far the most advanced space tech that has ever been created by man on this planet - unless you believe we have actually reverse engineered alien tech.

a reply to: Christosterone

SpaceX to date has had one partial failure and one total failure of a Falcon 9 on launch. As for comparisons with NASA, their safety record in the early years wasn't the greatest. A lot of people said they'd never get people to space, until they did. There's no logical reason to think SpaceX won't, other than "they aren't NASA".