totm nov 2023 SpaceX Discussion Thread

[mikegarrison]

1 hour ago, kerbiloid said:

As there is no crew onboard, only passengers, should they add a new spaceflight category between the "crewed" and "uncrewed", the  "passengered"?

"Crewed" is just a more inclusive word than "manned". It's not a job description.

[RCgothic]

Some very useful disambiguation about Inspiration 4's trajectory:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[RCgothic]

I went through the perigees of the flights listed here:

There has never been a high-altitude crewed flight that fits the definition of circular (apogee equals perigee within 1km).

The closest was STS31 - 615x613km.

STS 48 (Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite) - 580x575km was pretty good.

Inspiration 4 is third best on that list - 579x570km.

 

[JoeSchmuckatelli]

6 hours ago, mikegarrison said:

"Crewed" is just a more inclusive word than "manned". It's not a job description.

True - but 'Passengers and Crew' tends to be a useful distinction in naval and airline parlance.  'Crew' usually denotes employee/person who works in or on the craft.  Passengers?   

"No, we are not serving at this time."

"Don't touch that!" 

"Sir - PLEASE RETURN TO YOUR SEAT"

11 hours ago, Spaceception said:

You guys are making me run out of "Likes" for the day!

9 hours ago, Beccab said:

 

So this is clearly a view of the 'noon' side of Earth... what happens when they are near the terminator or not in the ubra?  Do they have to close the hatch or just remember to not look at the Sun?

[RCgothic]

They all have job roles.

Commander, Pilot, Medical Officer and Mission Specialist. They will be conducting medical research onboard. I don't see any reason to label them as passengers. Aside from rare exceptions ("ballast"), most spacefarers contribute to the mission.

There may be more of a case to answer when Starship starts flying larger manifests.

Some starship interior art in the background of this shot with Sian. In particular note the full-diameter jogging track by the main windows!

 

 

 

[Beccab]

12 minutes ago, RCgothic said:

Aside from rare exceptions ("ballast"), most spacefarers contribute to the mission.

And those are still called astronauts too, for example Senator Ballast (now NASA Administrator Ballast)

Edited September 16, 2021 by Beccab

[RCgothic]

46 minutes ago, Beccab said:

And those are still called astronauts too, for example Senator Ballast (now NASA Administrator Ballast)

That's Senator Administrator Ballast to you and I. ;-)

[tater]

 

[wumpus]

2 hours ago, Beccab said:

And those are still called astronauts too, for example Senator Ballast (now NASA Administrator Ballast)

I really have to wonder just how much  more influence the other Senator Ballast had over his Mercury capsule than he did over the shuttle.  Wiki mentions that he had photo/videography duties as well as was used for medical research tests.

[tater]

While I still lean towards it ("astronaut" or "cosmonaut") being a professional distinction, that's clearly not a thing in the real world.

At the very least I think if the vehicle can be controlled by the crew, and the crew are trained to do so, they are more than just passengers.

I don't think there's any way the occupants of NS can take control, for example, and taking control of Space Ship 2/3 would require at the very least piloting skill, and ideally a fair amount of simulator time at the very least do do a dead stick landing from space. Few of the people who will have a flight in that will have that skillset.

 

Spoiler

 

 

Edited September 16, 2021 by tater

[magnemoe]

5 minutes ago, tater said:

While I still lean towards it ("astronaut" or "cosmonaut") being a professional distinction, that's clearly not a thing in the real world.

At the very least I think if the vehicle can be controlled by the crew, and the crew are trained to do so, they are more than just passengers.

I don't think there's any way the occupants of NS can take control, for example, and taking control of Space Ship 2/3 would require at the very least piloting skill, and ideally a fair amount of simulator time at the very least do do a dead stick landing from space. Few of the people who will have a flight in that will have that skillset.

Its lots of stuff, you can be an eva specialist who make you an obvious astronaut even if you can not manually dock the ship you arrived in. In fact none on the ship can but it can be be remote controlled. 
Now all who work on an oil platform in Norway has to do training in evacuation from the platform and escape an splashed down helicopter and probably basic damage control and survival. 
This is an expensive course so even an cleaning job pays very well. 
Guess the same will be true in space even then you have space stations with hundreds of people living on them the environment is still much more hostile and the transport cost is way higher even with stuff like starship. 
Now we will get an distention between tourist and astronaut the same way an tourist and an bartender on an cruise ship is different. Now I assume the bartender is part of crew and is trained in safety protocols. 
An entertainer who is onboard for one night is not. You will probably get the same in space there an scientist or engineer sent up for say an week to do a task get the tourist course while people staying regular needs the full package. 
 

[RealKerbal3x]

 

[Beccab]

35 minutes ago, RealKerbal3x said:

 

Doing a little math from the SpaceX tweet, 5.5 orbits are roughly 8 hours 45 minutes for Inspiration 4, which means they went to bed about 9 hours ago. They should wake up soon!

[MKI]

4 hours ago, JoeSchmuckatelli said:

Do they have to close the hatch or just remember to not look at the Sun

I can go outside and not get blinding because I stared directly at the sun ;D

I'd assume they would have a sunshade, if the nosecone isn't designed to be opened/closed all the time.

 

 

On the I4 mission, are they in constant contact with SpaceX/the ground like a full on mission, or is it more periodic? Like is there a schedule planned before hand to make the most use of their time? 

 

 

[CatastrophicFailure]

2 minutes ago, MKI said:

assume they would have a sunshade, if the nosecone isn't designed to be opened/closed all the time.

Or just make sure the nose is pointing away from the sun at certain times… 

3 minutes ago, MKI said:

On the I4 mission, are they in constant contact with SpaceX/the ground like a full on mission, or is it more periodic? Like is there a schedule planned before hand to make the most use of their time? 

 

There was a tweet, maybe unthread, from NASA, I4 is using their TDRS system for communication, so probably in comms all the time, for safety if nothing else. 

[JoeSchmuckatelli]

13 minutes ago, MKI said:

outside and not get blinding because I stared directly at the sun ;

Well - there is this convenient atmosphere betwixt you and it.  Up there all they have is the magnetic field 

 

[JoeSchmuckatelli]

How come we are not seeing 'Inspiration'al videos of the tourists in spaaaaace?

[Beccab]

7 minutes ago, JoeSchmuckatelli said:

How come we are not seeing 'Inspiration'al videos of the tourists in spaaaaace?

1: still sleeping or just woke up

2: there will be events soon live from Inspiration 4 likely, but most of the mission will and should not be that. It's a public event, but in first place  it is their flight

3: cupola hatch still closed

Edited September 16, 2021 by Beccab

[Minmus Taster]

Daily hopper is relatable:

 

5 hours ago, RCgothic said:

They all have job roles.

Commander, Pilot, Medical Officer and Mission Specialist. They will be conducting medical research onboard. I don't see any reason to label them as passengers. Aside from rare exceptions ("ballast"), most spacefarers contribute to the mission.

There may be more of a case to answer when Starship starts flying larger manifests.

Some starship interior art in the background of this shot with Sian. In particular note the full-diameter jogging track by the main windows!

 

 

 

I love how SpaceX connects to the public with little things like that.

Also notice how they put little Starship hints in there videos, it's like Marvel  

[tater]

 

 

[CatastrophicFailure]

14 minutes ago, Beccab said:

1: still sleeping or just woke up

2: there will be events soon live from Inspiration 4 likely, but most of the mission will and should not be that. It's a public event, but in first place  it is their flight

3: cupola hatch still closed

Also entirely possible they're still busy puking their guts out. 

[tater]

 

 

[magnemoe]

18 minutes ago, Beccab said:

1: still sleeping or just woke up

2: there will be events soon live from Inspiration 4 likely, but most of the mission will and should not be that. It's a public event, but in first place  it is their flight

3: cupola hatch still closed

4 This is not an reality TV show==2.  or they might be space sick.

Now one fun pranks to throw and new astronauts is if you could have your ship suddenly change axle of rotation like above. 
You will obviously have lots of bells and red light and all has to stay in their closed space suit as puking in one prevent cleaning up the rest of the ship while puking inside an spacesuit is not fun.  

 

[Beccab]

7 minutes ago, magnemoe said:

4 This is not an reality TV show==2.  or they might be space sick.

Now one fun pranks to throw and new astronauts is if you could have your ship suddenly change axle of rotation like above. 
You will obviously have lots of bells and red light and all has to stay in their closed space suit as puking in one prevent cleaning up the rest of the ship while puking inside an spacesuit is not fun.  

 

>fun prank

>sets the entire spacecraft in emergency mode and risks killing the crew

Is there any chance you are a youtuber?

[tater]

18 minutes ago, magnemoe said:

4 This is not an reality TV show==2.  or they might be space sick.

I assume that part of the reason to go with netflix was as part of the fundraiser. The trade is also the "scoop" coverage in return for whatever netflix pays for content. Netflix makes money via subscription, and their expenses are bandwidth, and whatever they pay for content. They paid for this content.