NASA, SpaceX, and all the good space stuff

PJ_Soul · April 3

Ledbetterman10 said:

I was watching on ABC (for some reason) and THEY MISSED THE LAUNCH. Literally showed a still frame during liftoff. Biggest broadcast fail I’ve ever seen.

Always best to go straight to the source. NASA does a great job of it.

Jason P · April 3

Comet MAPS is due to make its 1,650 year orbit around the Sun on April 4th. It will be so close to the sun that it will be in the atmosphere of the sun traveling at a very high rate of speed. If it survives, it should be visible to the naked eye April 6th - 10th. The last visible comet with a tail was seen in the 60's, so hopefully it survives at we can witness a very rare event.

https://starwalk.space/en/news/comet-c2026-a1-maps

Image: https://starwalk.space/gallery/images/c2026-a1-comet-location-2026/1540x866.jpg

eeriepadave · April 3

PJ_Soul said:

Glad it didn't blow up. I always think it's going to happen - had a somewhat traumatic moment when I was 10 for Challenger. My lovely 3rd grade teacher burst into tears while we were watching it live in the library. Always thrilled when a launch is successful!

That was in the back of my mind as well (as probably just about anyone near our age).

eeriepadave · April 3

This pic that they took looks something straight out of a movie.

Artemis II astronauts share their first images from the historic mission CNN

Jason P · April 8

Comet Maps did NOT survive its close encounter with the sun, but provided some fireworks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fka_7ht3iSc

PJ_Soul · April 8

Neato

Jason P · April 10

Godspeed to the astronauts in their safe return to Earth. It is going to be intense on their bodies as the re-entry is coming at a faster and steeper decent due to issues with the heat shield breaking apart on the unmanned Artemis 1 mission.

Splash-down is expected at 8:07 PM (EST).

ABC is covering it ....

PJ_Soul · April 12

Well all home, safe and sound... I feel like the way they have to come back to Earth is oddly primitive and scary. I hope they work something better out. The Shuttle program seemed a lot more civilized with reentry.

mickeyrat · April 13

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5021252/uploads/editor/2g/a3qcu7dllmri.jpg

Jason P · April 13

Can't have a good moment without someone peeing in the punch bowl.

mickeyrat · April 15

Jason P said:

Can't have a good moment without someone peeing in the punch bowl.

I didnt come up with that budget

Jason P · April 15

mickeyrat said:

Jason P said:

Can't have a good moment without someone peeing in the punch bowl.

I didnt come up with that budget

Which of the 40 low priority missions that are potentially at risk concern you the most? Which of the 40 fall under "extinction"?

PJ_Soul · April 15

Well I don't want any missions to be at risk, so I'm concerned about that budget for sure.

mickeyrat · April 15

Jason P said:

mickeyrat said:

Jason P said:

Can't have a good moment without someone peeing in the punch bowl.

I didnt come up with that budget

Which of the 40 low priority missions that are potentially at risk concern you the most? Which of the 40 fall under "extinction"?

supposed that depends on which are already fully funded vs those that were planned and unfunded

Jason P · May 13

An asteroid (2026 JH2) was just spotted a few days ago and will be making an extremely close flyby on May 18th, coming within 56,000 miles of earth which is very close in astronomical terms. It is about the size of a bus. The nerds at NASA say it does not pose a threat. If it did enter the earth's atmosphere, it would be comparable in size to the 2013 asteroid strike in Russia that caused 1,400 injuries.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamiecartereurope/2026/05/13/newly-discovered-asteroid-2026-jh2-to-make-very-close-flyby-of-earth/

PJ_Soul · May 13

That is pretty close... glad it won't hit. I think of a devastating asteroid strike as really likely in my lifetime, in relative terms, so they're kinda scary. I also think that if anything really big was coming, there actually may be a coverup to prevent the insane panic and chaos that would ensue. Not sure how well a coverup would work though... would be a pretty hard secret to keep.

PJ_Soul · May 23

Biggest rocket ever, largely but not totally successful test by SpaceX (video in article), which is important and I'm always glad to see such things advance.... can't say i'm thrilled with the intentional explosion in the Indian Ocean though! That could not be good for the marine life.

https://www.bbc.com/news/videos/c1728ypp15no

Jason P · May 29

Great Googly Moogly ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1O90WZJALYc

well, that is a bit of a set back ... losing the rocket is bad, but losing the launch pad is worse. Such is the pursuit of Space.

Jason P · June 1

So Blue Origin only has one launchpad that took 6 years to build and was just blown to smithereens. Space X had an explosion on a launch pad in the past, but had another lauchpad ... it still took a year to do the investigation before they were cleared to resume. Blue Origin is building a second launchpad, but it won't be ready in time to avoid serious delays for Artemis. And NASA doesn't have compatible launchpads for their rocket. So I imagine NASA is going to be talking with SpaceX if they want to get back to the moon anytime soon.

Sadly, no matter what course of action NASA chooses, the impact on the Artemis moon landing will be set back, big-time. Years. You don't want to be rushing things to make launch dates. As we have witnessed, things can and do got bad.

Gern Blansten · June 1

I probably don't know enough about it but I don't like the idea of the gov't funding either SpaceX or Blue Origin

NASA, SpaceX, and all the good space stuff

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