Author Topic: Space exploration thread - Unexpected Rapid Disassembly in the launch area. (Read 320014 times)

TepidT2O · « **Reply #2560 on:** January 28, 2021, 03:19:16 pm »

Quote from: Welshred on January 28, 2021, 02:23:30 pm

I'm going to be in work until 5 our time so really hope it's not then

I reckon you’ll be ok.

TepidT2O · « **Reply #2561 on:** January 28, 2021, 05:54:49 pm »

FAA website says it’s been scrubbed until tomorrow

TepidT2O · « **Reply #2562 on:** January 28, 2021, 06:14:31 pm »

Still might fly today, they’re working with the FAA to make it happen apparently

Welshred · « **Reply #2563 on:** January 28, 2021, 06:26:55 pm »

Better not be during the match!

TepidT2O · « **Reply #2564 on:** January 28, 2021, 07:08:59 pm »

Looks like it’s scrubbed.

Musk has tweeted about dissatisfaction with the FAA!

Welshred · « **Reply #2565 on:** January 28, 2021, 07:36:28 pm »

That's a shame, but it's imminent which is exciting!

TepidT2O · « **Reply #2566 on:** January 28, 2021, 07:41:09 pm »

They’re still working on the FAA it seems. But it doesn’t seem likely today..

TepidT2O · « **Reply #2567 on:** January 28, 2021, 07:48:36 pm »

Well hang on... the recondeser is going... so something is happening!

Welshred · « **Reply #2568 on:** January 28, 2021, 07:55:22 pm »

Now looks like they're loading propellant!

Welshred · « **Reply #2569 on:** January 28, 2021, 08:56:45 pm »

So this looks like it's going to happen during the second half

Welshred · « **Reply #2570 on:** January 28, 2021, 09:37:30 pm »

Aborted

TepidT2O · « **Reply #2571 on:** January 28, 2021, 10:38:24 pm »

Maybe tomorrow?

Seem to be issues getting permission from the FAA

TepidT2O · « **Reply #2572 on:** January 29, 2021, 03:38:38 pm »

Not today.

Although excitingly they seem to be rolling SN10 out ...

Two starships alongside each other?!

Bill Shepherd · « **Reply #2573 on:** January 29, 2021, 03:54:56 pm »

Recon Elon is trying to make a point to the FAA by rolling SN10 out now?

'Hey, we're queueing up to launch here!'

farawayred · « **Reply #2574 on:** January 29, 2021, 05:39:29 pm »

Quote from: Bill Shepherd on January 29, 2021, 03:54:56 pm

Recon Elon is trying to make a point to the FAA by rolling SN10 out now?

'Hey, we're queueing up to launch here!'

Or there is some bad juju with the number 9. Have you seen the iPhone 9?

TepidT2O · « **Reply #2575 on:** January 29, 2021, 07:49:09 pm »

More heat shielding on SN10

Welshred · « **Reply #2576 on:** January 29, 2021, 09:10:38 pm »

https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1355255403945332737?s=09

Here they are next to each other!

Welshred · « **Reply #2577 on:** February 1, 2021, 09:10:14 pm »

Temporary Flight Restrictions announced for Tues, Weds and Thurs this week.

TepidT2O · « **Reply #2578 on:** February 2, 2021, 01:51:03 pm »

Green light from the FAA, weather good, thunderbirds are go....!

Early afternoon in Texas so 5-6pm here?

TepidT2O · « **Reply #2579 on:** February 2, 2021, 05:51:36 pm »

An hour or two until launch if all goes well

TepidT2O · « **Reply #2580 on:** February 2, 2021, 07:22:50 pm »

Could be looking at 8pm launch time if all goes well

Welshred · « **Reply #2581 on:** February 2, 2021, 07:36:51 pm »

Think it's just you and me Tepid but I'm excited for this haha

TepidT2O · « **Reply #2582 on:** February 2, 2021, 07:59:42 pm »

There’s been a car in the range so a slightly delayed launch

Welshred · « **Reply #2583 on:** February 2, 2021, 08:14:29 pm »

Engine chill has started, we're about 11 minutes away

TepidT2O · « **Reply #2584 on:** February 2, 2021, 08:18:06 pm »

God, this is great.

Will it take off? If it does, will it explode on a ball of flames again?

Welshred · « **Reply #2585 on:** February 2, 2021, 08:33:08 pm »

Ah man so close again

doesn't look like one of the raptors ignited

TepidT2O · « **Reply #2586 on:** February 2, 2021, 08:33:47 pm »

rob1966 · « **Reply #2587 on:** February 2, 2021, 08:34:14 pm »

Welshred · « **Reply #2588 on:** February 2, 2021, 08:35:20 pm »

SN10 tomorrow? I mean they have the flight restrictions in place

TepidT2O · « **Reply #2589 on:** February 2, 2021, 08:35:53 pm »

Haha that was quite an explosion, bits of SN9 went everywhere

rob1966 · « **Reply #2590 on:** February 2, 2021, 08:41:25 pm »

Quote from: TepidT2O on February 2, 2021, 08:35:53 pm

Haha that was quite an explosion, bits of SN9 went everywhere

Hit the other one didn't they?

TepidT2O · « **Reply #2591 on:** February 2, 2021, 08:43:13 pm »

Quote from: rob1966 on February 2, 2021, 08:41:25 pm

Hit the other one didn't they?

Tis but a scratch

rob1966 · « **Reply #2592 on:** February 2, 2021, 08:47:37 pm »

Quote from: TepidT2O on February 2, 2021, 08:43:13 pm

Tis but a scratch

Showed my kids that at the weekend

farawayred · « **Reply #2593 on:** February 3, 2021, 04:25:10 am »

Elon Musk flying an all-civilian mission this year. One seat goes to ruffle for those who donate to St. Jude. I do that on a regular basis, so I hope I'm the lucky one. (Like there is a chance...)
https://www.dw.com/en/spacex-to-launch-first-all-civilian-mission-this-year/a-56427011

Welshred · « **Reply #2594 on:** February 3, 2021, 04:05:45 pm »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwZl6YV3xYA

Scott Manley's take on SN9 last night

Quote from: farawayred on February 3, 2021, 04:25:10 am

Elon Musk flying an all-civilian mission this year. One seat goes to ruffle for those who donate to St. Jude. I do that on a regular basis, so I hope I'm the lucky one. (Like there is a chance...)
https://www.dw.com/en/spacex-to-launch-first-all-civilian-mission-this-year/a-56427011

Oh that's exciting, good luck mate!

R1col · « **Reply #2595 on:** February 7, 2021, 09:25:27 am »

Coming home at 5.30am the other morning, and was surprised to see a whole chain of moving objects in the sky.
Googled it when I got in and it was what I thought, the SpaceX Starlink satellites going over.

Anyone who likes to check out the ISS when it passes over, may want to keep an eye out for Starlink as well, very impressive.

https://findstarlink.com/

Andy @ Allerton! · « **Reply #2596 on:** February 7, 2021, 11:11:00 am »

Astronomers map a neutron star’s surface for the first time

NASA’s NICER instrument reveals that neutron stars are not as simple as we thought.

By Alison Klesman | Published: Thursday, December 12, 2019

RELATED TOPICS: STARS | ASTROPHYSICS | EXTREME OBJECTS]Astronomers map a neutron star’s surface for the first time

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https://astronomy.com/news/2019/12/astronomers-map-a-neutron-stars-surface-for-the-first-time?utm_source=asyfb&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=asyfb

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Pulsars are the lighthouses of the universe. These tiny, compact objects are neutron stars — the remnants of once-massive stars — that spin rapidly, beaming radiation into space. Now, for the first time, astronomers have mapped the surface of a 16-mile-wide pulsar in exquisite detail. The result challenges astronomers’ textbook picture of a pulsar’s appearance and opens the door to learning more about these extreme objects.

From its perch on the exterior of the International Space Station, the Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer, or NICER, looks for X-rays from extreme astronomical objects, such as pulsars. In a series of papers published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, researchers used NICER to observe the pulsar J0030+0451, or J0030 for short, which lies 1,100 light-years away in the constellation Pisces. Two teams — one led by researchers at the University of Amsterdam and the other led by the University of Maryland — watched the X-ray light from J0030 over time to map the pulsar’s surface and measure its mass. Both teams arrived at a picture that is not what they expected.

Making a map

Pulsars, like black holes, are extremely dense but extremely small objects. Their immense gravity bends space-time around them, giving us a glimpse at the far side of the pulsar, even as they rotate out of view. The effect also makes the pulsar appear slightly larger than its actual size. Because NICER can clock the arrival of X-rays from the pulsar with extreme precision (better than 100 nanoseconds ), the researchers were able to build a map of the star’s surface and measure its size with unprecedented accuracy.

The teams determined that the neutron star is between 1.3 and 1.4 times the mass of the Sun. And it is roughly 16 miles (26 kilometers) wide. (By contrast, our Sun stretches just over 864,000 miles [1.3 million km] across.)

Those stats aren’t surprising. But next, the astronomers looked to map the location of hotspots on J0030’s surface. The simple, textbook image used to describe pulsars shows these objects with two hotspots, one at each of their magnetic poles. As the star spins, the hotspots shoot radiation out into space in thin beams, like a lighthouse. If one or both beams happen to pass over Earth, astronomers observe a pulsar.

J0030’s is oriented with its northern hemisphere pointed toward Earth. So, the teams expected to see a hotspot near the north pole. Mapping the hotspots required supercomputer modeling to disentangle where the X-rays NICER received from the pulsar originated on the star’s surface. The task would have taken normal desktop computers about a decade to complete, but the supercomputers finished in less than a month.

A new picture

What the teams found presented a different picture: J0030 has two or three hotspots, all in the southern hemisphere. The University of Amsterdam team believes the pulsar has one small, circular spot and one thin, crescent-shaped spot spinning around its lower latitudes. The University of Maryland team found the X-rays could alternatively be coming from two oval spots in the southern hemisphere, as well as one cooler spot close to the star’s south pole.

Neither result is the simple picture astronomers expected, indicating that the pulsar’s magnetic field, which causes the hotspots, is likely even more complex than originally assumed. While the result certainly leaves astronomers wondering, “It tells us NICER is on the right path to help us answer an enduring question in astrophysics: What form does matter take in the ultra-dense cores of neutron stars?” NICER science lead and study co-author Zaven Arzoumanian said in a press release.

With this accomplishment, astronomers will now look to duplicate it using more pulsars, building up a better understanding of what these strange stars look like and how they work.

Red Beret · « **Reply #2597 on:** February 13, 2021, 10:54:11 am »

Any updates on Mars 2020? Due to touch down in five days.

farawayred · « **Reply #2598 on:** February 13, 2021, 03:36:57 pm »

From what I gather the rover is doing well so far. The funny thing is that a collaborator of mine said that NASA Ames' supercomputer has been busy calculating another trajectory correction just last week, so I'm curious why that was needed. The mission had three planned trajectory corrections, which have already been executed, but apparently a fourth one was needed.

For those who want to watch the landing online, here is a snippet of a NASA email and links:

NASA’s Mars 2020 Perseverance rover is scheduled to land on the Red Planet at approximately 3:55 p.m. EST (12:55 p.m. PST) on Feb. 18, 2021. During landing week, the agency will be hosting virtual news briefings, live shows, and activities for the media, public, educators, and students and employees.

Live landing commentary originating from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California will start at 2:15 p.m. EST (11:15 a.m. PST) on NASA Television, the agency’s website, and YouTube.

NASA Television: https://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/#public
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nasa

If the rover lands successfully, I think that it would make the probability of success for Mars missions 50-50... It's hard to believe. But I'm more curious about the helicopter. An interesting bit of trivia about it: the first powered flight on another planet will carry a relic from the first powered flight on this planet. The helicopter carries a piece of fabric from the Wright Brothers' plane.

TepidT2O · « **Reply #2599 on:** February 13, 2021, 03:58:33 pm »

That’s an incredible factoid ...

I can’t understand how a helicopter can fly in that atmosphere though