Cuky

I didn't explain myself well enough. I meant the Artemis II vehicle, not the Artemis II mission. Artemis I vehicle keeps popping up with problem after problem. I am not superstitious but am starting to think that it is cursed

I think now is maybe the time to scrap Artemis I and go straight to Artemis II... the amount of mishaps and bad luck with this vehicle is astonishing

I am not sure, but seems to me that they do spin primes before every static fire, at least with Booster 7 since they started testing. Maybe that is part of getting raptors ready to fire properly. Or maybe just a test they do before they test so that they don't blow up the whole thing when they go to fire it up for static test because of faulty fuel line or something.

Better have a lot of those, and them being successful, then to go do a first launch, hype it all up only for vehicle to even start it's engines. NASA, Boeing and co. are already doing that, let's have SpaceX at least do it properly. If it blows mid flight then there is some work to do, but at least get to "take off" part without having to abort because of some hardware issue that wasn't checked before.

Fair enough, teething problems for new hardware (wether reused old parts or brand new parts) are kinda expected. What isn't expected is for manufacturers and operator to be so far behind schedule due to problems occuring in testing, them not understanding the cause and how to fix them dven after they show up in further testing. And then to just wing it in a hope that they won't appear for first launch attempt. Going by what was reported as problems and their attempts to solve them I would hazard a bet that Boeing, Bechtel, NASA and others still. have no idea ehat exact problem they are having and how to solve them

Fair enough, it is a new vehicle. But they are 6 years behind original plans, they had tests that weren't completed because they had technical issues and they still proceed to attempt a launch where they continue to have those same technical issues. And I would agree with you that it is kinda gottagetthereitis if it wasn't the same thing with other Boeing developed hardware for NASA which was just a tiny bit late when problems were discovered and still haven't had a problem free flight with that craft as well. I think it is much much much deeper that simple rushing to get there. I think the main reason is that whatever happens program is so far in development that it won't be canceled before at least one or two flights. And contractors know that, they also know their contracts are safe because of political reasons so they are just milking the federal budget as much as they possibly can. And when opposition gets loud enough only then will they get their act together, actually work on solving the issues, launch and pat themselves on the back for a job well done

At this moment I have so little faith in Artemis program and contractors that make hardware for it that I sincerely doubt they will launch before 2023. If I am not mistaken first stage is made by Boeing which in last few years hasn't really proven itself with reliably building stuff. They are facing delays and are over budget in rockets, space crafts and airplanes. That doesn't give confidence in the company. And mobile launch platform is made by Bechtel, and from what experience I have on that company (they built a large part of highways here in Croatia) they also like to go over budget and face delays after delays. And guess what, both scrubbed launch attempts were due to equipment built and delivered by those two companies.

I would be hugely surprised if it doesn't end up with a scrub today

That price seems a bit steep doesn't it? I mean, they were talking about how much they will save per seat in comparison to launching astronauts on Soyuz, but if quick google search wasn't wrong it is "only" $15 million per seat saving. TBH, I expected Dragon ticket to be much cheaper.

Love how it burbs/farts on shut down. If that is the feature of Raptor engines that sound will probably get as famous as Titan II turbo pump spool up

@Scotiusdon't be like that. After all this wait we have a chance to see live (or on TV) a demonstration flight of a technology from late 70s and early 80s. It is also fitting that Boeing is behind it, since they still produce airliners from that era. SpaceX, Blue Origin and co. are all about pushing new technologies, being more efficient and actually making a profit. However stupid throwing absurd amounts of money on ancient tech may seem I think it is not thaaaaat bad of an idea to have some low(er) tech solutions on the line ready to be used. Shame that they are actually super expensive and take eternity to be built.

Can't wait for Blue Origin to use this clip as evidence that NASA made a mistake in choosing SpaceX for Moon landing missions claiming "they missed the whole darn thing"

Probably because it started to feel like "been there, done that" now with SpaceX. Falcon 9 became super reliable, both in terms of launch performance and landing success. Starlink has been launched so many times now that there is basically nothing new to see there. We can notice this thread as well getting pretty quiet lately. Only when there is coverage of crewed missions there seems to be some buzz around Spacex. They made it seem like routine and people look for interesting stuff elsewhere. My guess is once Starship/Heavy testing and flights resume there will be so much more noise around SpaceX.

See Boeing, when competent and/or not living of a tax payers wallet valve problems don't take 2 years to find and repair

Also I have read somewhere that first plans didn't have any masts on since Olympic class was never imagined with sails in mind. They were included because of two reasons: looks and somewhere to hang wireless antennas off.

Just stumbled up on this article about workers exiting Spacex https://wonderfulengineering.com/top-spacex-employees-are-leaving-the-company-as-pressure-mounts/ Among those that laft in past few weeks are people from 3 senior roles in the company

We should tweet that to Elon. He'd probably get few dozen Starlink satellites in Moon orbit to make sure stream is uninterrupted

My guess would be that it is to either protect them during re-entry (as I understand they are only actively cooled while running) or to protect them from each other

Yes I understand that. But so far looking what is happening around me can't really prove to me that this vaccine will protect me more than what my immune system did so far. Maybe I am wrong, time will tell. And still, that is my opinion at this moment. As time goes by it can even become stronger or it could completely change.

Well, some of you (or even most) might not agree with me, but I am choosing not to take a vaccine. And not because of all different theories that are circulating around but because of my personal experience. Before this all started my personal doctor tried to convince me for quite a few years to take a flu vaccine because I am a bit overweight and I have asthma. So, after few years of her trying to convince me I cave in, take a flu shot. My arm was swollen for more than a week and after about 3-4 weeks I got my first case of flu in like 10-15 years. And I was stuck in bed for more than a week. Then few years go by without any problems but she still persisted. So again, after few years I took the flu vaccine again and again had a really bad case of flu. That time I said "never again" and I haven't had any flu cases any more. Then covid came. In my previous company 2 coworkers who I worked with daily and had close contacts with both got it. And they had a nasty one but both came back to work within a month. Just a week later 3 more coworkers from another store got downed either with positive test or had to self isolate. I had no problems. All in all almost 90% of my ex coworkers had either contracted it or had someone in their family get it and I haven't had a single cough. Ok, I had a nasty case of bronchitis (yes I tested for covid and was negative) sometime last winter but that was all. When I changed company my new boss went to get vaccinated since he works at customers homes (HVAC, water, electricity...) His wife had covid during winter, he was home with her and haven't had it. After he took vaccine he was down for a week and almost died. Said he'd rather be unable to work than to take another shot. If time comes when we won't be able to choose than I will get the vaccine. But as long as I can choose I'll take my chance without it.

I first saw this game on one of the many torrent sites and didn't think much of it. Then, I accidentally stumbled on one of Scott Manley's Interstellar Quest videos (it was 3rd or 4th episode if I remember correctly). I then downloaded the game, saw that I am able to run it on my then PC so I bought it and started playing. But now I am in a bit of a trouble as to how to introduce my friend to KSP. She recently started an engineering degree at university and is absolutely interested in space, planets, stars, possibility of alien life and is kinda interested into rocketry and technology around them. So I mentioned KSP few times but I'd like to show something to her because it would explain the game much better than I can do with words. So in last few days I was searching on YouTube trying to find a more recent short video (2-5 minutes) that would actually show to a newcomer what the game is. And I just couldn't find anything with as little modded content as possible (because I want to present her the game as it is when you install it, mods come later). So if any one of you knows of such video please share a link with me

And yet they are furious that they aren't getting those big contracts from NASA

Just seen this video I know SLS and basically most of hardware being prepared for Artemis program might be considered to be already outdated, but I really hope Artemis 1 will be a success and that we'll get few more missions out of this program. It is actually exciting for me to see all those different super powerful rockets being designed and built and hopefully flying soon.

Thanks, I definitely missed on connecting that in my head.

I'm sorry if I come out as ignorant, but I can't wrap my head around how that new law in Texas has anything to do with retaining or recruiting employees, either women or men partnered with women. I know I may be missing an obvious thing (known to happen to me) so I'd like for you to please clarify that so that I can understand what discussion here was about.