Space Stuff

[redrumloa]

I expect it to be a failure, but still looking forward to it if it actually happens. Saying it will fail is not even a knock on SpaceX here. Until very recently almost every mission to Mars has failed be it NASA, Russia, etc.

 

[Robert]

I expect it to be a failure, but still looking forward to it if it actually happens. Saying it will fail is not even a knock on SpaceX here. Until very recently almost every mission to Mars has failed be it NASA, Russia, etc.

I kinda do and kinda don't. SpaceX track record is fantastic and I fully expect them to eventually soft-land a rocket on Mars. I doubt it will be within the timescales Musk is predicting but I think it will happen. Whether that then leads to any of the other stuff is far more speculative. The last bit, about a self-sustaining city, seems fanciful in our lifetimes but I used to think reusable rockets wouldn't happen while I was still alive so I hope I'm wrong again.

 

[Robert]

Another milestone for SpaceX:

Billionaire businessman Jared Isaacman has become the first non-professional astronaut to walk in space during the Polaris Dawn mission.

"Back at home we all have a lot of work to do, but from here Earth sure looks like a perfect world," he said as he stepped out into space for the first time.

Carrying four private citizens, including SpaceX engineers Anna Menon and Sarah Gillis, the SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket launched into space on Tuesday and will spend up to five days in orbit.

Mr Isaacman funded the mission, which is the second privately-crewed mission from SpaceX - the spaceflight company founded by Elon Musk.

Their spacecraft, called Resilience, will go into an orbit that will eventually take them up to 870 miles (1,400km) above the planet. No human has been that far since Nasa's Apollo programme ended in the 1970s.

 

[FluffyMcDeath]

 

[Robert]

We’re finally going to the Solar System’s most intriguing but unexplored frontier​

If you've been waiting for a real mission of discovery into the unknown, this is it.



The icy surface of Europa could hide life below.

 

[Robert]

Space X just caught a Starship booster. Incredible stuff.
Live stream is still running:

 

[Robert]

China reveals a new heavy lift rocket that is a clone of SpaceX’s Starship​

 

[Robert]

Pretty much what was suspected but I couldn't help anthropomorphising "the little copter that could" when I read the bit in bold.

NASA believes it understands why Ingenuity crashed​

NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter, right, stands near the apex of a sand ripple in an image taken by Perseverance on Feb. 24, 2024, about five weeks after the rotorcraft’s final flight. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/LANL/CNES/CNRS

Eleven months after the Ingenuity helicopter made its final flight on Mars, engineers and scientists at NASA and a private company that helped build the flying vehicle said they have identified what probably caused it to crash on the surface of Mars.

In short, the helicopter's on-board navigation sensors were unable to discern enough features in the relatively smooth surface of Mars to determine its position, so when it touched down, it did so moving horizontally. This caused the vehicle to tumble, snapping off all four of the helicopter's blades.
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Amazingly, the vehicle was able to recharge somewhat with its solar panels and is continuing to communicate about once a week with the Perseverance rover that brought it to Mars in February 2021. This will last a little while longer before the rover and helicopter lose line-of-sight communications.

 

[redrumloa]

Why Is No One Talking About Astronaut Sunita Williams Stuck In Space ?
https://www.facebook.com/share/v/Depco69MfsD3smNV/

Astronauts stuck in space could be there until 2025, NASA says​

That's what happens when your country doesn't have a real president.

Boeing Starliner astronauts will return to Earth in March 2025 after new NASA, SpaceX delay​

The new delay will bring Wilmore and Williams' time in space to around nine months in total — far longer than the 10 days or so their mission was originally expected to last.

Complete and total embarrassment. Could go in the National Embarrassment thread. The US still has no president until orangemanbad takes office back next month.
https://www.space.com/space-explora...ilhu0mozCJ9XXVEHUQ_aem_9N_2sEC60AmJ5P8jytruYA