SpaceX

[weatheriscool]

[wjfox]

Well, there's the kind of headline you don't see every day.

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Musk's SpaceX hired to destroy ISS space station

4 hours ago

Nasa has selected Elon Musk's SpaceX company to bring down the International Space Station at the end of its life.

The California-based company will build a vehicle capable of pushing the 430-tonne orbiting platform into the Pacific Ocean early in the next decade.

A contract for the work, valued at up to $843m (£668m), was announced on Wednesday.

The first elements of the space station were launched in 1998, with continuous crewed operations beginning in 2000.

The station circles the Earth every 90 minutes at an altitude just above 400km (250 miles) and has been home to thousands of scientific experiments, investigating all manner of phenomena from the aging process in humans to the formula for new types of materials.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cnl02jl5pzno



Credit: NASA

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SpaceX Falcon 9 Grounded Following Failed Starlink Launch
An oxygen leak led to a 'rapid unscheduled disassembly' of the second-stage engine.
By Ryan Whitwam July 12, 2024
https://www.extremetech.com/aerospace/s ... ink-launch

SpaceX has increased the cadence of Falcon 9 launches over the past several years to such a degree that we've started to take them for granted. However, space is still as dangerous and unpredictable as always. The latest Falcon 9 flight was supposed to deploy a new batch of Starlink internet satellites, but the second stage encountered an "anomaly" that probably doomed them. SpaceX and the FAA are investigating—a lot of engineers are probably canceling their weekend plans.

The Starlink Group 9-3 launch late on July 11 began just like every other deployment in recent years. The Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California with a payload of 20 satellites, 13 of which had direct-to-cell capability. The first stage separated and landed successfully on the droneship Of Course I Still Love You, but the second stage experienced something we haven't seen on a Falcon 9 flight before.

[weatheriscool]

Bigger and Better Version of the SpaceX Starship
July 16, 2024 by Brian Wang

https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2024/07/b ... rship.html
SpaceX has a new version of the SpaceX Starship and Super Heavy Booster. The version 2 has different heat shield and flap placement. The Starship and the Super Heavy booster have both been made longer.

[weatheriscool]

SpaceX Tests Super Heavy Engines Ahead of Fifth Starship Test Flight
The company has hinted it might try to catch the Super Heavy stage next time.
By Ryan Whitwam July 17, 2024
https://www.extremetech.com/aerospace/s ... est-flight

SpaceX isn't launching any Falcon 9s right now, but there's plenty to keep the engineers busy as we near the fifth Starship test flight. On Monday afternoon, SpaceX performed a static test fire of the Super Heavy booster that will soon hoist Starship into space once again. This test will be a key milestone for the company's efforts to reach the Moon and beyond.

As this was a static test, the Super Heavy first stage remained locked in place at the company's Starbase facility in South Texas. SpaceX fired all 33 of Super Heavy's Raptor engines for eight seconds, which is long enough to verify all systems were working correctly. The company later confirmed the methane-fueled rocket reached the full duration, clearing it to be mated to Starship.

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SpaceX Starship Flight Likely in September
July 29, 2024 by Brian Wang

SpaceX Starship will be ready for its fifth orbital flight in about 2-3 weeks but the FAA giving approval and having the actual flight will likely slip to September.

There is 60-80% chance that the new improved heat shield will fully work.

There is a 50% chance of a successful catch of the booster on this flight.

The challenge will be to successfully catch the Starship.

https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2024/07/s ... ember.html

[firestar464]

So 40% chance of everything going according to plan ig

[weatheriscool]

SpaceX Reveals Raptor 3 Engine and Specifications
August 3, 2024 by Brian Wang

SpaceX has unveiled the Raptor 3 engine, marking significant advancements in thrust, specific impulse, and mass efficiency compared to previous versions. The Raptor 3 boasts a thrust of 280 tf, a specific impulse of 350s, and an engine mass of 1525 kg. The SpaceX Raptor 3 engine has potential to exceed 300 tons of thrust in future iterations, emphasizing ongoing efforts to improve efficiency.

Raptor 3 is 36% lighter than Raptor 1. It has 51% more thrust at sea level versus raptor 1.
Raptor 3 is 7% lighter than Raptor 2. It has 21% more thrust at sea level versus raptor 2.
Elon Musk indicates that Raptor could get another 8-10% more thrust.

https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2024/08/s ... tions.html

[weatheriscool]

[Tadasuke]

In 2014 Elon said SpaceX would put people on Mars and establish a permanent settlement in 2024.

It's 2024 and "Starships" don't even successfully fly to Earth's orbit. Only Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy.

My current guess is, that usually, if you want to predict when some particular projects, developments, ventures or undertakings are finished (if at all), take the number of years the optimist behind leading such ambitious developments and multiple them by 3x. So 2044 for the SpaceX Mars settlement (using Starship 2, because Starship 1 will be for Earth's Moon). Moon settlement will come first and will be created by the joint effort of NASA, SpaceX and multiple other companies. Virgin Galactic may start flying commercially in 2026 in my opinion.

This post is meant to be realistic, not pessimistic or optimistic. Many people on this forum agree to the 2044 date.

[weatheriscool]

NASA announces crew members cut from SpaceX flight to free up seats for stranded Boeing Starliner astronauts

Source: The Independent

12 hours ago

A SpaceX Dragon capsule is set to launch next month with two empty seats to return the stranded Boeing Starliner astronauts to Earth early next year. NASA announced on Friday that two crew members would be cut from the SpaceX Crew-9 mission to make room - astronauts Zenda Cardman and Stephanie Wilson. It would have been Cardman’s first spaceflight.

The Dragon Capsule will launch from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Station to the International Space Station in late September. It will carry NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov to ISS where they will spend around five months in orbit. When they return in February 2025, they will be travelling with astronauts Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore.

Williams and Wilmore launched into space on Boeing’s Starliner on June 5 but had trouble docking because of issues with the craft’s thrusters, and helium leaks that delayed the process by nearly an hour. Since then, engineering teams have reviewed data, conducted flight and ground testing, consulted experts, and developed return contingency plans.

But it has meant that the Starliner astronauts’ ten-day mission aboard the first-ever crewed flight of Boeing’s Starliner has now turned into an unexpected months-long odyssey.

Read more: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/scie ... 04665.html

[Time_Traveller]

NASA astronaut Butch Wilmore reports 'strange noise' coming from Boeing's Starliner spacecraft, 'I don't know what's making it'

published 6 hours ago



On Saturday (Aug. 31) NASA astronaut Butch Wilmore noticed something weird inside the Starliner spacecraft.

Wilmore radioed down to Mission Control to ask about the bizarre noises heard emanating from Starliner's speakers while the spacecraft is currently docked to the International Space Station (ISS).

"There's a strange noise coming through the speaker," Wilmore tells Mission Control "I don't know what's making it."

Wilmore then holds a device to the speakers, allowing Mission Control to hear the pulsating sound occurring at regular intervals.

Mission Control at Johnson Space Center in Houston likens the sound to a "pulsing noise, almost like a sonar ping."

https://www.space.com/strange-noise-boe ... spacecraft

[firestar464]

movie material

[Powers]

movie material

Bat boy

[weatheriscool]

[firestar464]

Bro really thinks people will wanna live there bruh