CatastrophicFailure

Maybe... maybe you should try nuts?

Yeah, but... did Saturn ever have a 12 second full-power static fire? (Obviously the shuttle did not)

The real question is, as all these pens are traveling Otherspace, are the passing the missing socks from the clothes dryer going the other way? The mind boggles.

I second that “wait, what?!”

Static fire pushed back till tomorrow, same time Interesting aside, I see the Delta IV launch out of Vandy has been pushed back to tomorrow, hmm... Maybe there’s a national oxygen shortage?

So, is this thread dead? Here’s a stylistic question: when beginning a sentence with a large number, a sentence that cannot be greacefully rephrased, should the number be written out or in digits? ie: 81,512 people did the hokey-pokey. Eighty-one thousand, five hundred and twelve people did the hokey pokey. “The hokey pokey was done by 81,512 people” just sounds awkward, as does, “done by 81,512 people, the hokey pokey was,” unless your speaker is short and green, that is. Which, come to think of it, actually does include most of our speakers...

Watching for Jawas to shock?

Apparently they have their own landing pad drone now. Looks marginally more functional than those other guy's giant roomba...

Aw, man. Just found this and it was getting really interesting with all the weirdness. Are your hard drives still ok from the old machine, so you can eventually continue? You'll want to be sure and add a good surge protector or even voltage regulator/battery backup when you get up and running again. They can be found pretty reasonably these days.

I'd be very surprised if they livestream it at all. It's a 6 hour window, so could be any time within that. If they go ahead with it. Half-Life 4 confirmed! Wake up, sheeple! (I'm out of likes again... )

Holey minor earthquake, Batman! This says to expect a fifteen second firing!

Making a great way to hide what they did. All we really know for sure about NG Anyway is that they procured the launch and maybe provided the decoupler. ”hey Northrop Grumman, we need some plausible deniability for one of our trusted allies can to loft a secret bird, will y’all take one for the team? No? Ok, then, here’s some money from all those $40,000 hammers we bought way back when, and next time we have a contract bid yours just might end up on the top of the stack...”

Some new (here) info on Wednesday’s FH test, as per NasaSpaceFlight: Test window opens at 1300 EST, 1100PST, 0000 UTC. It’s planned to be a wet dress rehearsal, first time the monster has actually been fully fueled. If everything goes well with that, they may proceed directly to a static fire. If everything goes well with the static fire, which may last as long as seven seconds (), launch could be as soon as the 25th. Tho even if everything goes perfectly, static fire or launch may be delayed for further testing.

I think we now know what ZUMA is...

Which, as far as I know, is chiefly through radar. We’ve known how to make things “invisible” to radar for a long time. Hiding the other potential tells of a satellite, at least long enough for it to make a significant inclination change, remains very plausible. Heck, maybe the other space-tracking nations are even in on the secret. Y’know, because reasons. @Nibb31‘s made some very good points, the sheer level of secrecy about this bird means everything’s on the table.

And these are just the ways we know about. How about laser communication? I know that's been tested in space before, seems a pretty un-interceptable way to talk to a black bird...

Is it? We've had the tech to avoid radar detection for a long time now. Only natural that sooner or later it would be applied to satellites...

I read it’s not going to be trackable by amatures in the northern hemisphere for two weeks. Now if it’s a “spacecraft” capable of significantly changing its own orbit in that time...

Sure about that? No US gov’t agency has claimed the thing, only that the gov’t arranged the launch thru subcontractor SpaceX. IIRC, the UK gave up on its own orbital launcher once upon a time cuz it was cheaper to buy launches from America, so wouldn’t be the first time the US has launched a payload for an ally... I think, whatever the truth is, this whole thing comes down to two words: Plausible deniability. ...more red flags here than an old Soviet parade...

50 degrees puts it right in that area on the upper stage's second pass, as it deorbits:

The (completely bass-ackwards) original broadcast order was: "The Train Job" "Bushwhacked" "Our Mrs. Reynolds" "Jaynestown" "Out of Gas" "Shindig" "Safe" "Ariel" "War Stories" "Objects in Space" "Serenity" With "Trash", "The Message", and "Heart of Gold" unaired in the United States during the series original run.1 It sucks you in much better this way. Especially Our Mrs. Reynolds. I'll be in my bunk...

@Just Jim beat me to it. Also, what episode are you starting with? They were broadcast out of order, and that’s usually the preferred way of watching them. But make sure you watch The Message last. Because.... reasons....

Just saying... but if the estimates of 50* inclination are correct, that’s useless for overflying most of Russia, however... ”Why, hello there, Mr. Uncooperative Dictator! My, that’s a very nice thing-we-don’t-want-you-to-have you’ve got there, be a shame if someone... dropped a malfunctioning satellite on it...“ darn shame about those solid tungsten rods, too. There was this really big light bub, y’see...

w00t w00t!

Suuuuuure the extra-double-secret-super-black-you-saw-nothing!-satellite is DOA, I absolutely believe that. Crying shame, it is. Guess all those amateur satellite trackers can just stop bothering to track it, as well as all our international rivals. Nothing more to see, here, folks. Move along... move along... And of course, this... we do not speak of...