_Augustus_

ASAP is paranoid, is worried about an issue that occured over a dozen flights ago, and downright needs to go away because if it weren't for them D2 would be flying by now.

Energia flew twice.

Started working on the mirror today after pouring a plaster tool. Sagitta is very slight after 1 hour of #60.

It appears that they're electing to do something similar to Dragon C2+ where they combined objectives from 2 missions into one.

DM1 is the unmanned D2 test flight; DM2 is the manned one.

Apparently the crew of DM2 was announced a while back. Eric Boe will be commander, with Sunita Williams, Robert L. Behnken, and Douglas Hurley in the crew as well. Assuming DM1 sticks to its scheduled April launch date I'm going to attempt to convince my family to fly down there for the launch.

Iridium always backs SpaceX and happily flies on reused boosters. I love them now.

Polyus was hastily thrown together from off-the-shelf parts. A purpose-designed vehicle would be much smaller.

No, that's for test flights. They're confident they can slim the weight down for operational use to reach the Karman line again. https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2018/01/spaceshiptwo-2018-test-campaign-preparation-powered-flight/

Is NASA suffering from "favorite son" syndrome? Since when was Starliner further along than D2?

I'm really confused. So the F9 performed properly? Will this failure affect future flights?

They were about the same distance this morning (would've gotten up yesterday but the wind would've knocked over the scope). There's a foot of snow on the ground, temperatures below zero Fahrenheit, and bad seeing, but I went out with my little 60mm refractor for a look anyway. Mars was a mushy blob but Jupiter's bands were good and you could see the GRS.

F

12" blank is here. It's a bit heavier than I expected but still very nice.

I don't think I put it quite right. Over here on the SLS thread, something like a weld or mission patch is news-worthy. Meanwhile on the SpaceX, BO, ULA, etc. threads we see actual rockets and spacecraft being built and plans for upcoming missions, etc. SLS literally doesn't have any real plans past EM-2.

Yes, it is. I'm just pointing out how pathetic NASA's "milestones" are for this stupid rocket. Yep.

Yeah, if you read back my first 6" mirror got stuck to a too-soft pitch lap as well. I chipped it a bit in a vain attempt to remove it. Eventually got it off by letting the mirror/lap sit in the sun to melt the pitch, prying them apart, and then bathing them in acetone to dissolve the pitch (Acetone, like pitch, is nonpolar and thus will dissolve it). The 12" is my third mirror. Despite being quite large it's thin and thus lightweight at only 1" thick - not quite thick enough to support itself under its on weight, but thick enough to require relatively simple support. You typically want at least 3 eyepieces - one around 20-32mm (depends on the scope) for low power (i.e. large DSOs and finding things), one from 12-18mm for medium power (most DSOs and maybe the Moon), and one from 5-10mm for high power (small DSOs, double stars, Moon, planets). Sometimes you'll want one below 5mm for really high power with a scope below f/6 or so. More eyepieces than 4 or so tend to be unnecessary and seldom used. Price usually depends on the apparent field of view, coatings, and performance (i.e. astigmatism/coma correction) below f/6.

These are the achievements, folks. Patches and temporarily turning LC-39B into a waterpark.

Blank gets here Monday. I start classes again on Tuesday.

Since the Long March 5 failure last year, Chang'e 5, which would return samples from the near side of the Moon, has now been delayed to 2019, while Chang'e 4, a backup to Chang'e 3 that will land on the lunar far side, has been given an official launch date. Chang'e 4's relay orbiter (which will visit EML2) will launch in June while the lander will launch sometime later in the year. The orbiter will launch on a CZ-4C while the lander will launch on another CZ-3B. http://www.newsweek.com/china-plans-far-side-moon-landing-2018-world-first-768519

Apparently the blanks shipped out TODAY. Ridiculous.

I have no idea on when or whether the 12" blanks shipped out. Didn't come in the mail today. Last night I took out the 6" f/4.5 and saw a greenish color in M42 - never seen that before.

Sounds like you need a small refractor.

According to my records I spent 85 nights observing this year. I hope I can get up to at least 100 next year.....

Blanks have arrived at the group buy organizer's place in Florida. Now mine just has to make its voyage up here. Hopefully gets here by the end of the week.