Space Exploration

Are NASA's future missions and budget justified?

  • It's worth the time and expenditures

    Votes: 223 66.0%

  • Complete waste of money

    Votes: 41 12.1%

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

    Votes: 74 21.9%
  • Total voters
    338
#1,801
#1,801
twoffo said:
A man that worked with my Dad at a sign company way too many years ago was asked if he felt more in danger with the new bucket truck they had acquired, since it could lift him higher in the air. He said no, and that it was safer because he had more time to think of what to do if he fell out.
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I wonder if he had one of those good life insurance policies. The one pays from the time he leaves the bucked instead of from the time he hits the ground.
 
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#1,810
#1,810
twoffo said:
It doesn’t have a third stage. What we see here is effectively the second stage, but only on Earth. It is meant to be able to take off from the Moon and from Mars without a first stage.

This is the first test vehicle (Starship Mk1), and it will only have 3 engines. It may only fly to 22km in its testing that is supposed to start in a month or so. The production version (and maybe later test versions) is supposed to have 6 engines. The first stage which currently is being called The Super Heavy will have around 31 engines.

Starship Mk2 is under construction in Florida currently, and seems to be getting close to completion as well. Not sure what, if any, the difference is with Mk1.

These Raptor engines are more powerful than the Merlin’s used by Falcon 9/Falcon Heavy. They are not as powerful as the Saturn V engines.

All this info is subject to revision Saturday night when Musk gives his Starship update. It will be live streamed. He can be an agonizing speaker to watch (he is not smooth) but they are usually fascinating.
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I believe the first stage Saturn V engines are still the most powerful liquid fuel rocket engines ever made going from memory. Speaking singular engine here not total combined thrust.
 
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#1,811
#1,811
NorthDallas40 said:
I believe the first stage Saturn V engines are still the most powerful liquid fuel rocket engines ever made going from memory. Speaking singular engine here not total combined thrust.
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Look at that graph I posted. I just noticed on the left the little 5'9" guy for scale and he is just a dot. These things are massive.
 
#1,815
#1,815
NorthDallas40 said:
Yep! Been there too! When we go to Redstone for business we stay in the Marriott or Hilton Garden there right by the museum and try to sneak in some nerd porn in the down time.
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I used to go on Redstone quite a bit.

I lived in Madison and then Athens for 7 years. That ride they have that shoots you up uses compressed air. I was there one time while our tech was working on it and there was this busload of kids waiting to ride it. The chaperon comes up to me begging how long it was going to be to get the ride back up for his munchkins. He was desperate and they were getting antsy. Told him I did not work for the center..lol
 
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#1,816
#1,816
Orangeburst65 said:
I used to live in Hunstville and the Space Center was one of our customers. They have an erect Saturn V replica.
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Speaking of Huntsville, my wife and I loved that place when my kid was playing on a traveling soccer team & we'd go there maybe twice a year. One time on vacation, we stopped at the Space Center to see things there. We went to a place that was like a movie theater where you go in and sit down to look up at the ceiling for a movie on how the Hubble Telescope was repaired for the mix-up on the lens that were 1st installed.....I walked out after about an hour of that & feeling like I had been in space. I had to collect myself just to be able to walk right....good times.
 
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#1,817
#1,817
Orangeburst65 said:
Would SLS (United Alliance?) be redundant if they are successful?
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SLS provides something Starship won’t replace, thousands of jobs in certain congressional districts.

All cynicism aside, if the cost projections are even remotely close to accurate you would have to be a fool to buy a ride on SLS if Starship is available. The simple fact it is meant to be completely reusable is a game changer.

Still a lot of unknowns yet on how the Starship as currently planned will handle various missions, but we may find out more tonight.
 
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#1,821
#1,821
NorthDallas40 said:
He’s wearing a safety belt and a tether. Still no way in damn hell I’d ever do that. And I think the hard hat is a nice touch! 😂
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I hated wearing hard hats.......especially when you're out in the wide open spaces.
It's not like an asteroid from outer-space will hit & kill you on the spot.
 
#1,822
#1,822
Welcome to the future: A freelance educator who regularly exchanges tweets with Elon Musk live-streaming in a remote field in south Texas with the Falcon 1 held aloft beside the Starship Mk1 shortly before an internet presentation by the eccentric Billionaire founder of SpaceX with the latest on his plan to get humans to Mars.
EB007680-84B9-4ECF-830D-D451C8143511.jpeg
 
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#1,825
#1,825
twoffo said:
Welcome to the future: A freelance educator who regularly exchanges tweets with Elon Musk live-streaming in a remote field in south Texas with the Falcon 1 held aloft beside the Starship Mk1 shortly before an internet presentation by the eccentric Billionaire founder of SpaceX with the latest on his plan to get humans to Mars.
View attachment 228114
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Everyday Astronaut's YouTube channel is awesome. He has great content.
 
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