darthgently

Are under pressure rarification troughs a thing? Those couldn't feel that great either Same advice if stuck in the open during a tornado. Lay down in the deepest concavity or ditch that is handy

Wow, I read this as 2023 originally when I guessed 3-ish. 2024? Way too many variables, but I'm thinking as many as 5+, 3 at the lowest, 7 highest. Any delays would be from RUDs and resulting reporting/compliance issues mostly, but perhaps some out of the blue EPA issue (turtle spawning season?) I'm being optimistic, admittedly

A free Threads account

While I think assumption is a bit strong, it makes sense that our weaker ability to detect smaller, earth-sized, worlds combined with our sample size of one with the Sol system, that the probable average is likely lower g than the huge exoplanets we are currently, more easily, detecting

I'd guess >2 but <4. They are likely aiming for as many as remotely possible plus one, ha ha. How many will actually happen? The problem is reconciling "take Elon-time with a grain of salt" with "never, ever, underestimate what the SpaceX team will achieve in demon mode". Who knows?

Air brakes on large trucks also have a bit more latency so the driver has to press the brake a bit sooner to get the desired effect to happen when they want it to happen. Also, on a tractor trailer rig, the trailer brakes should engage slightly before the tractor brakes to ensure the trailer stays in line with the tractor while braking. This means a bit of additional lag to the tractor brakes engaging on top of the air brake lag. These latencies are the main reasons for keeping a large gap between the truck and traffic ahead aside from common sense. I always controlled my speed according traffic several vehicles ahead, like 1/4 mile, as well as that directly ahead to stay ahead of the slinky curve

Yep. Telemetry and frozen cam make it appear that 2nd stage was dead weight from separation. Did I see a momentary ignition attempt? A flash? Or was that artifact? Not sure

So the turbopump doubles as a macerator? Nice

Now, now, we need to give BO their due. New Shepard is impressive in this regard and was before SpaceX iirc. Or maybe you don't consider that "large" and I could see that

I am wondering if the height above the surface had been double or so that the combined plume may have been more coherent. There seemed to be a lot of surface interaction

One could get rid of unnecessary parts by only having a single Reality Negator to replace all other imaginable magical devices. Better yet, just make humans somehow transmute into Kryptonian Superpeople that can fly through space as fast as they want without a spaceship at all. Cheat codes fully enabled! Game completed! Yay!

This new book is a good read so far. The post below is a good highlight:

Maybe Blue Suborbital until they've achieved orbit? Humor aside, I look forward to the Orbital Reef era, but the path so far seems a bit wayward. But who knows? It could be a tortoise/hare thing going on with SpaceX being the hare. Doesn't really click though

Um, no. Did not suggest that. The vitriol, odd interpretation of my words, quotations around things I never wrote, and mind-reading of my motives is perplexing, but not intriguing. Maybe stop doing that

I'm gathering that it is the mascot for the Stage 0 team. Rumor has it anyway

No one said, "it will happen, DOH". Only argument I'm making is we don't know. Is there a problem with that?

All true. Undeniably. It makes one wonder if the OP was meant to be whimsical, humorous, and Kerbalish. Best, most fitting response:

I'm fairly sure that the point was that the precursors existing without life could combine in some natural process without a chemical plant involved yet still achieve the dimethyl sulfide result, and so abiotically. Maybe I'm misunderstanding one or both posts

I still think that perfecting the simple throwing of rocks was likely a very long phase in primate history for small game hunting. It requires only found rocks at its simplest and no tool fabrication at all. I mean, chimps and monkeys throw stuff. Just watch people in mobs and riots when things get crazy. Throwing things is for all practical purposes innate martial behavior just after shouting, pushing, shoving, and fisticuffs

As I recall, differential thrust is the plan for overall vectoring, no individual gimbaling. So yeah, failure of one means losing two! I may be mis-recalling

Very tantalizing, but the key phrase is "may have detected". I'm remembering phosphine and Venus

Make that a business jet that can land on a tiny level surface and I'm with you on this. If Dragon can land as accurately as F9 then it could come in supersonic and land on a heli pad or a small concrete parking lot extremely quickly. The LZ surface may suffer, obviously. Anyway, just a whimsical thought experiment

Plan C: 1. F9 + stripped basic Crew Dragon (renamed Crew Secret Squirrel) with no 2nd stage, booster RTLS after releasing Squirrel into ballistic path toward target, Squirrel uses super dracos to correct and land at target. 2. Sell to Pentagon as small team specops point to point insertion solution. 3. Go back in time to 1979 [@spacescifi pls insert solution here] and do Iran hostage rescue properly with 3 or 4 Squirrels simultaneously landing and teams securing the perimeter prior to rescue copters coming in. The shock and awe of multiple capsules making powered landings in proximity would be pretty cool, especially in '79

True, all must be proven. But does anyone really think orbital refueling is not possible or not feasible? Because simply not having been done is a lot different than not easily imagined at all. Automation (as demonstrated everywhere these days from craft auto-docking to ISS, to F9 boosters landing themselves) makes safe, unattended, orbital rendezvous and refueling easily imaginable, if involved. Boil-off and cryo shelf life at any orbital fuel depot is maybe a bigger problem than the refueling itself in the the bigger picture

Is orbital refueling of SS being considered in the C3 here?