CatastrophicFailure

Wait Vostok-derived lunar flyby?? Also I didn’t an early Soyuz do an EVA transfer between two craft?

Spent entirely too long today canning up some homemade filling for apple… π … We now have 13 pints of the stuff. And I don’t even like apple pie that much. But, with that, the year’s canning is finally done. Still have some lingering peppers to dry but when WWIII breaks out tomorrow and brings nuclear Armageddon, we might die of terminal diabeetus but we certainly won’t starve.

Just strap enough Protons to it to get it out of the atmosphere before lighting that nuclear candle. Simple.

Raptor Vacuum durability testing at Starbase.

This is the dual-drone ship landing too, right?

In short, no. That site is for operational flights, not test flights. As in, once the bugs have been largely worked out. And even then NASA is concerned enough that SpaceX needs to build an entirely new crew access arm at Pad 40 specifically because of the risk to 39A from having Starship right there. Back in the Falcon 1 days, SpaceX had to launch all the way out at Kwajalein because the Air Force wouldn’t let them near the existing facilities at Vandenburg, too many unknowns at the time. So no, it can’t just move to an existing facility, and in all likelihood they’d still be facing the same bureaucratic issues there. The process. Hasn’t. Even. Started. The FAA has done their thing already, so why hasn’t the DFW even started? And if they have, why so opaque about it? That’s not conspiracy, that’s accountability. It’s not an accusation, it’s an IF/THEN. Since the DFW has been against this project from the get go, yes, I question the motives of those pulling the strings, again because of the complete lack of transparency and accountability. No one is saying, “don’t regulate.” No one is saying, “just light that candle!” We’re saying do so in a timely and open manner, specifically to avoid this very nonsense! It’s not a “mistake,” it’s a cheap shot. He’s better than that.

No. Incorrect. Wrong. Unless you think building a launch site in, say, the middle of downtown Corpus Christi is somehow a valid choice. As others have pointed out, there is literally nowhere else in the US they could have placed a launch site without ruffling SOMEone’s feathers. The lesser of evils really isn’t much of a choice. No. The thing people are complaining about is, very specifically, regulators NOT doing their jobs. As in, for reasons yet unknown, they haven’t even started. That is an entirely valid thing to complain about, especially if the FDW is intentionally using the situation as some sort of pocket veto. I’m sorry bud, I really am, but you just show your true colors here. Your comments are usually lucid and insightful but this just stinks of sour grapes. Bad form.

That’s how the printer companies (infamously) make their money, sell you the printer for cheap then bilk you for ink endlessly. The original subscription model. Wait is that even legal? They can force you to use their own crap?

Not worth the investment, financial and every other sense. Remember, they nixed plans to recover second stages already because they just can’t justify the effort needed for any kind of recovery. Space debris is a real concern also. The answer to most “they should just…” or “why don’t they..?” questions is STARSHIP. That’s it. That’s the solution. That’s the end result of a couple decades of rocket-building experience as to how to do everything better.

I meant the hamster.

Heheh oh yeah, just didn’t know much much cussing there might be.

Careful, I’ve heard things about those Russian hamsters…

There’s this… which despite the usual hullabaloo seems like more nothing…

Almost. https://x.com/austinbarnard45/status/1702057715051253848

I walked a goat today. I must admit, when I woke up this morning, those are not words I was expecting to utter today. We came around the corner on the way home and my wife was like, "that's... not a deer..." He was just standing there in the middle of the road looking cornfused. She noted the collar on him, so I parked, hopped out, grabbed a random leash from the back seat, and turns out he's incredibly friendly. Or hungry. Or both. He came right up to me and proceeded to lick my hand, at which point we very nearly owned our first goat. Sigh. But yeah, we figured he belonged to a neighbor and got loose. So some mild drama and a walk around the loop ensued until we found his caretaker out looking for him. Apparently his actual owner is somewhat AWOL, too. Oh, and his name is William. Gonna have to step up our efforts on that goat pen now... I hate to break it to you but this is for Christmas 2027...

All 63 requirements have either been completed or are for future flights… also 90+ cameras.

Meanwhile, across the pad… Ship 26 has been rolled out for testing. Quite the head-scratcher, this. Lots of speculation that it’s a prototype expendable tanker/orbiting fuel depot/fuel-transfer tester, but in any of those cases it’s odd that it still has tile pins and mounting hardware for fins. IIRC there’s upgrades on this booster specifically for that.

Sounds to me like they’ve already done it.

+1 for “oubliette.”

Yup. As someone deep in that X thread said, this would be the FAA’s response whether it was the day after IFT-1 or the day before the new launch license was granted. Bit fun tho to scroll through the comments and watch, sigh, “both sides” blow it all out of proportion.

FAA to SpaceX:

And going up.

Gave the puppy a piece of pancake as a treat. He’s now decided it’s the greatest toy EVER and has spent the last hour evenly distributing it around the living room. [WeNeedAFacepalm.gif]