Shyster's thread of Spaaaace.
Shyster's thread of Spaaaace.
That's the first ever, right?
Shyster's thread of Spaaaace.
Bowies in spaaaaaaace.
Shyster's thread of Spaaaace.
First landing on the barge, yes. Four of the five prior attempts crashed for various reasons, and on one the stage tipped over because one of the landing legs failed to lock.
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Shyster's thread of Spaaaace.
Just awesome
Shyster's thread of Spaaaace.
@shyster
Didn't see this thread on the front page
I missed out
Didn't see this thread on the front page
I missed out
Shyster's thread of Spaaaace.
I have watched that clip like 20 times and I would swear it is CGI or a computer game.
Simply incredible!
Simply incredible!
Shyster's thread of Spaaaace.
Impressive. Finally subscribed to their channel.
Shyster's thread of Spaaaace.
Tim Peake will be running the london marathon from the ISS treadmill
Shyster's thread of Spaaaace.
tried watching this last weekend at my in-law's place in Altoona . Connection was so poor I had to watch 30 seconds at a time . And on screen keyboards blow.
excited for their expansion into manned spaceflight next year.
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Shyster's thread of Spaaaace.
Watching that Wallops launch last year was one of the coolest experiences of my life. Sitting in the kitchen with my wife watching the countdown online, and then venturing out into the beautiful, clear night. 30 seconds or so later, seeing that rocket come streaking up over the southern horizon, heading east towards the ocean and eventually out of sight (but not for a while).
Shyster's thread of Spaaaace.
Orbital's next launch from Wallops is, at the moment, penciled in for a late-June launch. In the year or so since the last Antares launch from Wallops spectacularly exploded only seconds after liftoff, Orbital has switched from the decades-old AJ-26 main engines to new RD-181 designs. Like the AJ-26 engines, the RD-181 is a Russian engine purchased from NPO Energomash. But the AJ-26s were refurbished surplus engines from the old Russian moon program in the 60s and early 70s, while the RD-181 is a brand-new engine. The RD-181 is basically a single-chamber version of the dual-chamber RD-180 engine that has been used in the Atlas V for years, and it's also basically the "export" version of the RD-191, which is the main engine for the new Russian Angara rocket. The Angara is the Russian heavy-lift "rocket of the future" and is intended to replace the Proton, so the Russians have already put a ton of development time and effort into those engines. Orbital was basically able to walk up to them and buy export versions right as the testing was finished. The engine switch has also required Orbital to make a lot of changes to things like launch procedures, guidance software, and propellant storage and loading at the Wallops site.Watching that Wallops launch last year was one of the coolest experiences of my life. Sitting in the kitchen with my wife watching the countdown online, and then venturing out into the beautiful, clear night. 30 seconds or so later, seeing that rocket come streaking up over the southern horizon, heading east towards the ocean and eventually out of sight (but not for a while).
Orbital is hoping to run some hot-fire tests in May before the launch in June. The explosion of the mission last year was a huge mess, and re-engining the Antares has no doubt cost a lot, but the result should be a safer and higher-performance rocket. Not only does the new engine come from arguably the best family of rocket engines in the world, but a pair of RD-181s offers something along the lines of 13% more thrust than the old AJ-26 engines (which clearly demonstrated dubious reliability).
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Shyster's thread of Spaaaace.
For those of yinz that like to check out the night sky, the planet Mercury is at its best visibility for months right now. If you look about 10 degrees or so above the western horizon after twilight, you can see it pretty clearly. It's usually very tough/impossible to see because of its proximity to the sun.
http://www.space.com/32595-mercury-best ... s-now.html
http://www.space.com/32595-mercury-best ... s-now.html
Shyster's thread of Spaaaace.
SpaceX is planning to launch the JCSAT-14 telecommunications satellite early Friday morning (or later this night, depending on your time zone). The launch window opens at 1:21 a.m. Friday eastern time (or about 4 hours from the time I'm typing this). SpaceX will be attempting a barge landing. I'm not sure if there will be video of the landing attempt, considering it being nighttime and all. The launch will be covered via streaming video, and like with prior launches there will be a "hosted" stream with commentary and a "technical" steam with countdown audio only.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtI0Ho ... b67FeUjDeA
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtI0Ho ... b67FeUjDeA
Shyster's thread of Spaaaace.
Another SpaceX launch, another successful barge landing. The second stage is currently coasting before it re-lights for the geostationary-transfer burn.
Shyster's thread of Spaaaace.
And a nominal deployment of the JCSAT-14 satellite. SpaceX is making this space stuff look almost easy.
https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/728459808270000128
https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/728459808270000128
Shyster's thread of Spaaaace.
That's what she said.
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Shyster's thread of Spaaaace.
My brother was telling me something happened during the landing and that they were lucky to land the thing. Sounded like a part of the landing frame was not set properly. From that video I can't see what he means, looks textbook. But he was in the ear of the people running the show, so who am I to argue.
Shyster's thread of Spaaaace.
SpaceX is currently working toward launching a commercial communications satellite for Thaicom tomorrow (Thursday, May 26) at 5:40pm ET. The Thaicom 8 satellite is a telecommunications satellite built by Orbital ATK on Orbital's GEOStar-2 satellite platform; it has a 15-year expected life and will provide (as one can expect from Thaicom's name) communications coverage for South and Southeast Asia. The Falcon 9 first stage will attempt a barge landing. This will be the third Thaicom satellite to ride a Falcon 9 to orbit. SpaceX also launched Thaicoms 6 and 7 in 2014. Video should be available on SpaceX's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/spacexchannel
SpaceX has a significant backlog on its launch manifest, and the plan all along has been to work toward and maintain an "every couple weeks" launch cadence, so if all continues to go well we can expect regular launches.
SpaceX has a significant backlog on its launch manifest, and the plan all along has been to work toward and maintain an "every couple weeks" launch cadence, so if all continues to go well we can expect regular launches.
Shyster's thread of Spaaaace.
Looks like a technical issue reared its head for the SpaceX launch. It has been scrubbed until Friday.
https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/735965207625932801
https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/735965207625932801
Shyster's thread of Spaaaace.
Elon Musk posted this onboard video (significantly sped up) from the first stage for today's launch. It spans from just after stage separation to touchdown on the drone ship. This took about 5 minutes or so in real time.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BF7sxM9QES7/?hl=en
https://www.instagram.com/p/BF7sxM9QES7/?hl=en