StrandedonEarth

There were some odd occasional puffs towards the end of the burn before the big puff. It does not look good atm. They suspect it’s lost.

Booster RUD!

Stage sep!

Clock is rolling All engines good and moving smartly!

The bonus part of working at 6am PST on a Saturday is being already awake for this.

They can also point the engine section at the sun with much the same effect. But for Mars some sort of active cooling will be needed. There was a comment somewhere about earlier Mars probes having no boiloff problems, but I'm pretty sure those used storable hypergolic propellants, not cryogenics No, I was expecting just the Vacs, to be nearer the vents. Hmm, did they ever test how well the engines start confined in a vented interstage, vs open air?

I'm rather looking forward to March 1st myself, as that's the currently scheduled release date

In 1999, French cultural theorist Paul Virilio wrote, "When you invent the ship, you also invent the shipwreck; when you invent the plane you also invent the plane crash; and when you invent electricity, you invent electrocution... Every technology carries its own negativity, which is invented at the same time as technical progress."

Well, as the Sun ages it will get hotter, and eventually Earth will be too hot whereas Mars will be much more comfortable than it is now, especially with a few to several millennia of terraforming. As for the number of tanker flights, the tweet also says the lander is in the middle of the tanker sequence. So it certainly sounds like a refill / boost to elliptical / refill-and-go scenario. Yeah, I can see a real need to design/build/launch a proper propellant depot, with (PV) sunshades, and active cooling/conditioning with radiators if necessary Yeah, that’s what they’re creating Optimus Prime for. I’m sure eventually Boston Dynamics will get on board for the heavy lifting. BD could certainly use some mass production optimization.

Okay, here's one: is there any dV bonus to be gained by launching to polar orbits from higher and higher latitudes? I'm thinking there's less and less rotational velocity to counter, but as the Earth flattens toward the poles, the launch site sinks deeper into the gravity well, and the denser air that accompanies it which increases drag and reduces thrust/ISP. Sounds like an interesting mental exercise that I have no time for, never mind the necessary formulae and data.

*hype intensifies* 5am Pacific? Right when I’m making my lunch to go to work. I think I may be up a little earlier that day…. Or get to work a little later…. Or both!

As George Carlin said, “The Earth plus Plastic!” We’re just here to provide the Earth with plastic, because it cannot make plastic on its own.

Yeah, it is weird. When S&Sf wasn't working for me, I was able to back into the SpaceX thread through notifications and post there. Now S&SF is working in Safari (iOS) and Chrome (PC), but KSP1 discussion still does not work on either

Okay, weird, now S&SS Is working but KSP1 discussion still does not. Dunno if someone has been tinkering, but it seems to be working

The semi-conductor industry is interested in the possibilties... Semiconductor Manufacturing in Low-Earth Orbit for Terrestrial Use: Download the pdf from this site

I know. Bizarre, ain't it? Okay, I see. Using Chrome on PC, I get the Error 500 message when I try to access S&SS, but it works fine using the Edge browser. @JoeSchmuckatelli, @JoeSchmuckateli, have you tried other browsers? I tried Safari, Chrome, and Edge on iOS, and they all give a blank white screen for S&SS. The I started clicking around and discovered KSP1 Discussion is also giving the a white screen. Chrome on PC gives Error 500 for those two subforums, but Edge on PC is working fine. Tried Chrome and Firefox on my wife's laptop, with the same issue; Firefox was a blank white screen. So the only way I can access those two subforums is Edge on PC. Or be logged out. Weird. Tried different themes, no difference.

Okay weird, now I’m having trouble with S&SS, on mobile only. I just get a white screen, no message at all. But it works fine on PC, or if I’m logged out. I can view threads by linking in through notifications, and the next unread button works, but the Science & Spaceflight subforum is a blank white screen

Especially the mass savings of not having to carry the landing gear around.

Pinching, no, but I imagine they could close centred to the booster, without pushing it much.

What's the rush? Well, let's not wait until Earth is nigh uninhabitable before starting. A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, yadda yadda, and didn't a wise man say not to put all your eggs in one basket?

The Pink Floyd song One of These Days comes to mind, for the single line in the song: "One of these days, I'm going to cut you into little pieces!" I'd also bet that while it was being carved apart, at least one person was thinking "Careful with that axe, Eugene"

AFAIK the law says “You have the right to refuse unsafe work”. Somehow I get the feeling SpaceX will find a way to fire people that exercise that right. Not to mention that Common sense doesn’t grow in everybody’s garden… As to the chopstick catch, I believe the chopsticks start more spread and close when the booster drops between them. Again, AFAIK.

Some would die to work at SpaceX. That might be closer to the truth than they think… (freewalled) https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/spacex-musk-safety/. Musk is in too much of a hurry to think about safety. I think back to how many died building the Hoover dam…

We managed to get an early access code to get Taylor Swift tickets for one of her Vancouver shows. The tickets are now safely bought and tucked away in my Apple Wallet, and the kids (26 and 17) are ecstatic.

Ftfy…