Space Travel & Exploration

[PACOX]

Agreed. Wonder which project team is rewriting Artemis to NOT include Starliner.

Starliner has nothing to do with Artemis. The capsule used for Artemis is called Orion primarily built by Lockheed

[Easo]

SpaceX must have champagne rivers in office at this point.

[Chairman Sheng-Ji Yang]

That's just insanity and hubris, by Boeing. Frankly, I think the ISS should decouple the Starliner and kick it off to burn up in the atmo at this point.

Aren't they already busy rewriting programs to make that even possible ... as in Starliner can't even leave the ISS unmanned as is?

[Easo]

You can't make this up:

https://arstechnica.com/space/2024/0...s-on-saturday/

The Starliner spacecraft has started to emit strange noises

[Pann]

You can't make this up:

https://arstechnica.com/space/2024/0...s-on-saturday/

"My God, it's full of stars!"

[Chairman Sheng-Ji Yang]

Hal, is that you?

[Pann]

Boeing's Starliner is due to undock from the ISS at 18:04 ET (22:04 UTC) and return to Earth around six hours later.

https://x.com/Space_Station/status/1832173649941672264

- - - Updated - - -

Starliner has undocked from the ISS

https://x.com/NASA/status/1832179269747011837

Will it make it back intact?

[PACOX]

Successful uncrewed landing of Starliner. Obviously better safe than sorry but you can be the astronauts that should have been on are have though, "man I could have been on the ground right now".

[PACOX]

Solid chance of the Polaris Dawn mission launching tonight, furthest) highest mission since Apollo, easily the furthest commercial mission. First commercial EVA (spacewalk) Also first scientific mission that doesn't involve the ISS since the space shuttle? The mission will go well past ISS, 3x higher than it actually.


Major milestone.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polaris_Dawn

[PACOX]

Renewed concern about SpaceX's Starlink interfering with astronomy.

Radio waves from Elon Musk’s growing network of satellites are blocking scientists’ ability to peer into the universe, according to researchers in the Netherlands.
The new generation of Starlink satellites, which provide fast internet around the world, are interfering more with radio telescopes than earlier versions, they say.
The thousands of orbiting satellites are “blinding” radio telescopes and may be hindering astronomical research, according to Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy (ASTRON).

SpaceX, which owns Starlink, has not replied to a request from BBC News for comment.
The satellites provide broadband internet around the world, often to remote places, including challenging environments like Ukraine and Yemen.
They are also used to connect remote areas of the UK to fast internet. In 2022 tests showed that Starlink could deliver internet speeds four times faster than the average, according to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.
But astronomers say this comes at a cost.

"Every time more of these are launched with these kinds of emission levels, we see less and less of the sky," Professor Jessica Dempsey, director of ASTRON, told BBC News.
"We're trying to look at things like the jets, which are emitted from black holes in the centre of galaxies. We also look at some of the earliest galaxies, millions and millions of light years away, as well as exoplanets," she said, highlighting the areas the satellite radiation is affecting.
Interference from the second generation, or V2, satellites was found by ASTRON to be 32 times stronger than the first generation.

The amount of radiation emitted exceeds regulations set by the industry body the International Telecommunications Union, Prof Dempsey added.
One estimate suggests there are 6,402 Starlink satellites currently in orbit at around 342 miles (550km) above Earth, making it the largest provider by far.
The satellites are relatively large - with 3m flat panels and an 8m solar array for power.
SpaceX's main competitor, OneWeb, has fewer than 1,000. But it is a growing business area. Amazon is developing its own network and hopes to launch at least 3,000 in the next few years.

By 2030 the number of satellites in orbit is expected to surpass 100,000.
The study was done using the LOFAR radio telescope in the Netherlands on a single day in July earlier this year.
Many objects in space, including distant galaxies and planets, emit light on the electromagnetic spectrum.
This radiation travels like waves and radio telescopes can pick up on those waves, allowing us to get a picture of things we can't see with our eyes.
But those waves are being disturbed by satellites.

The scientists found unintended electromagnetic radiation from almost all the V2 Starlink satellites observed.
It was about 10 million times brighter than from the weakest sources of light identified, they say.


...full article in links

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy4dnr8zemgo

[Ripster42]

Successful uncrewed landing of Starliner. Obviously better safe than sorry but you can be the astronauts that should have been on are have though, "man I could have been on the ground right now".

You don't become an astronaut if you don't want to go to space. I'd bet they're ecstatic about getting their 2 week mission extended to 9 months.

[cubby]

You don't become an astronaut if you don't want to go to space. I'd bet they're ecstatic about getting their 2 week mission extended to 9 months.

It's gotta be tough to keep a straight face when they kept getting delay updates.

[Pann]

Starship 5 is stacked and ready to go! Just waiting on regulatory approval... I can't wait! Hopefully we'll get a test of the chopsticks this time.

https://x.com/SpaceX/status/1837613770736390558

[Tuor]

The coating of the more thean 700 segments of the ELT.

[Flarelaine]

You don't become an astronaut if you don't want to go to space. I'd bet they're ecstatic about getting their 2 week mission extended to 9 months.

I suppose you have a point, but at the same time, visiting is not the same as living there.

[Elegiac]

Cards Against Humanity is Suing SpaceX

The maker of the popular party game Cards Against Humanity is accusing Elon Musk’s SpaceX of trespassing on and damaging a plot of vacant land the company owns in Texas.

In a lawsuit filed this week at a Texas court, Cards Against Humanity alleges SpaceX has essentially treated the game company’s property — located in Cameron County — as its own for at least the past six months. The lawsuit said SpaceX, which had previously acquired other plots of land near the property, has placed construction materials, such as gravel, and other debris on the land without asking for permission to do so.

SpaceX did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Cards Against Humanity, which is headquartered in Chicago, had purchased the plot of land in 2017 as part of what it said was a stunt to oppose former president Donald Trump’s efforts to build a border wall. The company said 150,000 people had each contributed $15 towards the effort. Over the years, Cards Against Humanity says the land has been maintained in its natural state. It also says it contained a “no trespassing” sign to warn people they were about to step on private property.

The company is asking for $15 million in damages, which it says includes a loss of vegetation on the land.

They're also accepting ownership of Twitter as an alternative.

Stuff like this is why I will continue to look with skepticism at SpaceX or any other private spaceflight operator. NASA being shit doesn't make capitalism less shit.

[Milchshake]

They're also accepting ownership of Twitter as an alternative.

Stuff like this is why I will continue to look with skepticism at SpaceX or any other private spaceflight operator. NASA being shit doesn't make capitalism less shit.

My my, "revolutionizing" space travel sure seems easy when you can just say fuck you to regulations or oversight.

Before and after shots of the CAH property. Elom getting off easy. Usually african-americans get shot or worse, for lesser levels of tresspassing in Texas. /teehee
/s using rogan/musk levels of podcast humor

https://sherwood.news/power/elon-mus...anity-lawsuit/

Before


After

[Pann]

Starship test flight scheduled for tomorrow at 7am CT

https://x.com/SpaceX/status/1845146075574972633