Space Exploration

Are NASA's future missions and budget justified?

  • It's worth the time and expenditures

    Votes: 221 66.0%

  • Complete waste of money

    Votes: 41 12.2%

  • We need to explore, but not at the current cost

    Votes: 73 21.8%
  • Total voters
    335
#4,852
#4,852
Predictions on when SpaceX will be ready for the next full Starship launch?
From a technical standpoint I am predicting four months. I fear FAA will get nit picky though and not let them fly again and his year ☹️
 
#4,854
#4,854
I think it will be next year, go ahead and say February. They did a lot of damage to the launch pad and threw a lot of debris around the area. Someone said it might be a year to get the launch pad squared away. A ton of flying debris (boulder sized) probably got the attention of the FAA and will have to be mitigated/controlled in the future.
 
#4,855
#4,855
Predictions on when SpaceX will be ready for the next full Starship launch?
From a technical standpoint I am predicting four months. I fear FAA will get nit picky though and not let them fly again and his year ☹️
 
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#4,856
#4,856
OrangeTsar said:
Predictions on when SpaceX will be ready for the next full Starship launch?
From a technical standpoint I am predicting four months. I fear FAA will get nit picky though and not let them fly again and his year ☹️
Click to expand...

Do they have another stack ready to go? I'd say the biggest thing(s) they'll need to figure out is why that many engines were out (though again, extremely impressive they made it that high under less than ideal conditions) and why the Starship didn't release as planned.

I'd guess there's hardware issues that need to be addressed, maybe some software too. Four months may be generous.
 
#4,857
#4,857
Grand Vol said:
Do they have another stack ready to go? I'd say the biggest thing(s) they'll need to figure out is why that many engines were out (though again, extremely impressive they made it that high under less than ideal conditions) and why the Starship didn't release as planned.

I'd guess there's hardware issues that need to be addressed, maybe some software too. Four months may be generous.
Click to expand...
Yes, they have Booster 9/Ship 26 all ready to go. Booster 9 uses electric thrust vector control instead of the hydraulic system that is believed to have failed on b7. Assuming that the engine losses were due to debris impacts (a pretty likely cause), then the flight articles shouldn’t need much work. The launch pad, tank farm, and associated infrastructure though will require extensive repair and modification. Thankfully though that is pretty well understood civil engineering instead of all new aeronautical engineering like with the ship
 
#4,858
#4,858
OrangeTsar said:
Yes, they have Booster 9/Ship 26 all ready to go. Booster 9 uses electric thrust vector control instead of the hydraulic system that is believed to have failed on b7. Assuming that the engine losses were due to debris impacts (a pretty likely cause), then the flight articles shouldn’t need much work. The launch pad, tank farm, and associated infrastructure though will require extensive repair and modification. Thankfully though that is pretty well understood civil engineering instead of all new aeronautical engineering like with the ship
Click to expand...

Yeah, they need that trough badly...
 
#4,859
#4,859
Grand Vol said:
Yeah, they need that trough badly...
Click to expand...
I don’t think they will do a „trough“ per se. They can’t dig below present grade due to high water table since they are right on the coast. The way NASA dealt with a similar problem at KSC with pads 39A and B for Apollo was to build a gigantic artificial hill with the 40 foot deep flame trough therefore above the water table. SpaceX can’t really do that without rebuilding the OLM and the tower which would now be 40 feet too short to match the new total vehicle height.
They sort of painted themselves into a corner here 😂
Sounds like they are going with a thick metal plate at ground level which should last better than concrete. I expect it will be slightly cone shaped to at least direct the exhaust outward and away from the tank farm.
 
#4,860
#4,860
First actual change at launch site since Thursday has just started. They are lowering the „chopsticks“ on the Orbital Launch Tower. Except for picking up debris in the road, everything at Starbase has been frozen in place since launch.
 
#4,861
#4,861
Grand Vol said:
Do they have another stack ready to go? I'd say the biggest thing(s) they'll need to figure out is why that many engines were out (though again, extremely impressive they made it that high under less than ideal conditions) and why the Starship didn't release as planned.

I'd guess there's hardware issues that need to be addressed, maybe some software too. Four months may be generous.
Click to expand...
I haven't seen anything one way or the other, but I am thinking in all that digging something may have gotten kicked up and damaged those engines, taking them out.

for the launch pad I think they will need to look at some sort of composite system. some type of tile/ceramic on top to deal with heat, and direct pressure, and then plenty of mass beneath to support it. I don't think a steel plate would do very good as you would be potentially sending molten metal out every where, and it would have to be dummy thicc to hold up and survive. there could be a number of composites they could try too, but my first guess would be ceramic.
 
#4,862
#4,862
Don’t look now, but Biden’s FAA Just grounded Starship pending further reviews. Apparently the enviros are upset because some sand got dropped into a coastal beach nature reserve. Only in America 🙄
 
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#4,868
#4,868
OrangeTsar said:
Don’t look now, but Biden’s FAA Just grounded Starship pending further reviews. Apparently the enviros are upset because some sand got dropped into a coastal beach nature reserve. Only in America 🙄
Click to expand...
Not surprised as I said before the launch I was shocked they gave them the approval to begin with seeing as they hadn't been given approval for any test flight since this administration took office.

I wonder if Biden has finally been told that NASA is dependent on SpaceX to land on the moon?
 
#4,869
#4,869
I'd like to scale back a bit on the discussion in order for it to take on different possibilities.

Space is absolutely the biggest imaginable thing...
Let's discuss some options:

1) World Peace is finally reached. Human's harness all the power of Earth, and stay content just living in the paradise that it has become again. 45,000 CE Humans have not evolved hardly at all because they reached a balance with the planet. Population has leveled out to around 200,000,000,000 people for the past 1,000 years. People are living on every continent, living underground, and even in the ocean (underwater). The dead become one with the Earth Flame, and are directly recycled back into the magama. People take "release" potion when their old age begins to hurt their bodies. But for most of the 150 years they live (on average), they are extremely happy and have seen much of planet Earth, while having lived on every continent at least once for a short time. They admire the beautiful stars in the night skies everywhere, and believe letting go of the notion to travel to them was the key to their inner peace. (Because they are simply too far away).


2) The year is 83,451 A.S.E. (After Solar Explosion). Earth's sun exploded the year 3476 CE after a human generated event horizon destabilized the nuclear fusion process. Mankind at that point had colonized all of their solar system and had even mastered bending space time to travel beyond the barrier of "light speed". However, The Sun was the center focal point of their travel network and without it, humans no longer had a directional beacon to map their vast civilization or to return HOME.
83,000 years later only .001 % of the worlds that humans had colonized still have any memory of their true origin as a species.
On one world mankind has evolved to breathe in their planets' oceans. Another planet - humans have returned to a nomadic existence running to far off lands over and over again to escape the savage blood thirsty giants that seek to rip them apart every 10 years that they awake from their frozen slumber. In the Sirius constellation, humans died 60,000 years ago and their organic matter is now utilized to fuel "hot wavy light" for a primitive species trying to stay warm on the dark side of tidal locked world from the star Sirius B. Closer to home...Pluto is the only planet to have survived "SE" and now dwells where the gravitational pull of the Sun once was 83,451 years ago.
However, 545 years A.S.E.- a small group of human scientists blended with their hyper-evolution technology. This technology allowed humans to adapt to any worlds natural conditions and survive. It also allowed them to access any memory locked into the DNA code of humans. 82,000 years later these humans are no longer just flesh and blood. They are Immortal Super Beings that can see across time and space while wielding the power of the stars from their own hands. They now travel and seed life on millions of worlds. They are the centerpiece of various aliens beliefs of good and evil. Beginning and End. They are the only creatures that remember that Earth ever existed...

3) 2613 CE, Mars has become a breeding ground for humans used for free labor on the asteroid belt.
They grow weary and launch secret plan to destroy Earth via asteroid collision. It works! The Earth is decimated by asteroids and all complex life goes extinct. However, Mars also is destroyed in the process.

In Conclusion- If there's even a .001 % chance that mankind will harness the very Universe one day..then I'm all for it!
 
#4,871
#4,871
LittleVol said:
I'd like to scale back a bit on the discussion in order for it to take on different possibilities.

Space is absolutely the biggest imaginable thing...
Let's discuss some options:

1) World Peace is finally reached. Human's harness all the power of Earth, and stay content just living in the paradise that it has become again. 45,000 CE Humans have not evolved hardly at all because they reached a balance with the planet. Population has leveled out to around 200,000,000,000 people for the past 1,000 years. People are living on every continent, living underground, and even in the ocean (underwater). The dead become one with the Earth Flame, and are directly recycled back into the magama. People take "release" potion when their old age begins to hurt their bodies. But for most of the 150 years they live (on average), they are extremely happy and have seen much of planet Earth, while having lived on every continent at least once for a short time. They admire the beautiful stars in the night skies everywhere, and believe letting go of the notion to travel to them was the key to their inner peace. (Because they are simply too far away).


2) The year is 83,451 A.S.E. (After Solar Explosion). Earth's sun exploded the year 3476 CE after a human generated event horizon destabilized the nuclear fusion process. Mankind at that point had colonized all of their solar system and had even mastered bending space time to travel beyond the barrier of "light speed". However, The Sun was the center focal point of their travel network and without it, humans no longer had a directional beacon to map their vast civilization or to return HOME.
83,000 years later only .001 % of the worlds that humans had colonized still have any memory of their true origin as a species.
On one world mankind has evolved to breathe in their planets' oceans. Another planet - humans have returned to a nomadic existence running to far off lands over and over again to escape the savage blood thirsty giants that seek to rip them apart every 10 years that they awake from their frozen slumber. In the Sirius constellation, humans died 60,000 years ago and their organic matter is now utilized to fuel "hot wavy light" for a primitive species trying to stay warm on the dark side of tidal locked world from the star Sirius B. Closer to home...Pluto is the only planet to have survived "SE" and now dwells where the gravitational pull of the Sun once was 83,451 years ago.
However, 545 years A.S.E.- a small group of human scientists blended with their hyper-evolution technology. This technology allowed humans to adapt to any worlds natural conditions and survive. It also allowed them to access any memory locked into the DNA code of humans. 82,000 years later these humans are no longer just flesh and blood. They are Immortal Super Beings that can see across time and space while wielding the power of the stars from their own hands. They now travel and seed life on millions of worlds. They are the centerpiece of various aliens beliefs of good and evil. Beginning and End. They are the only creatures that remember that Earth ever existed...

3) 2613 CE, Mars has become a breeding ground for humans used for free labor on the asteroid belt.
They grow weary and launch secret plan to destroy Earth via asteroid collision. It works! The Earth is decimated by asteroids and all complex life goes extinct. However, Mars also is destroyed in the process.

In Conclusion- If there's even a .001 % chance that mankind will harness the very Universe one day..then I'm all for it!
Click to expand...
Possibly number 4….the United Civilized Worlds of the Galaxy decide to fumigate Earth to wipe out humanity before we spread and “infect” other planets. I would imagine we would appear like a pathogen to them.
 
#4,872
#4,872
SpaceX Starlink Launch from Vandenburg Just aborted and scrubbed 16 seconds before liftoff 😭
Hoping for better luck on the launch of Falcon Heavy from KFC this evening
 
#4,873
#4,873
OrangeTsar said:
Possibly number 4….the United Civilized Worlds of the Galaxy decide to fumigate Earth to wipe out humanity before we spread and “infect” other planets. I would imagine we would appear like a pathogen to them.
Click to expand...
We do that to ourselves in option 3....
 
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