Spot the Space Station

[passedpawn]

I have 3 streams up on my monitors. I think the best one is everyday astronaut feed on youtube. You get the official SpaceX feed there plus some really fun commentary.

 

[day_trippr]

Well that was wild! I guess the FTS on Starship kicked in...

Cheers!

 

[passedpawn]

Well that was wild! I guess the FTS on Starship kicked in...

Cheers!

Yep, double RUD. No landings. But that booster RUD was a bonus. Sploded into a nebula

 

[OakIslandBrewery]

Bonus morning for sure and IMO a successful launch even though the Starship didn't make it to Hawaii.

I hope it's a quick turnaround for ITF-3!

 

[passedpawn]

I hope it's a quick turnaround for ITF-3!

I'm sure Elon will tweet a 1-week turnaround. But FAA reviews might add months delay.

 

[day_trippr]

Hopefully they have a big cache of Raptors

 

[Konadog]

I love the shock wave that went thru the fog when they lit all 33 raptors. We haven't heard if the launch pad survived yet have we.

Either way, this launch was 100% better than the last one.

I hope they can get the Falcon 9 off tonight on the west coast as they scrubbed the last two nights. Weather should be better tonight.

 

[passedpawn]

I love the shock wave that went thru the fog when they lit all 33 raptors. We haven't heard if the launch pad survived yet have we.

Either way, this launch was 100% better than the last one.

I think it looked pretty good. One of the launch sites put up a live camera of the pad aftermath and it looked just fine. I think the water deluge helped a lot.

The tower and the "chopstick" rocket grabbers looked brand new afterward. Even the blinking lights at the top of the tower were still blinking (how the hell do they survive that?)

 

[day_trippr]

Nice synopsis of what happened and where they are now...



Cheers!

 

[tracer bullet]

https://www.astrobotic.com/astrobotics-peregrine-launches-to-the-moon/
Maybe people saw this, but we sent something towards the moon a few mornings ago. Alas, it doesn't seem to be doing well. I had planned to put a note on my calendar to try and follow if it actually landed. Oh well.

https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=PEREGRN-1

 

[day_trippr]

That went sour almost immediately, been keeping an eye on it to see what the powers that be decide to do with it...

Cheers!

 

[DuncB]

That went sour almost immediately, been keeping an eye on it to see what the powers that be decide to do with it...

Cheers!

Gravity rules in these cases in the end.

 

[day_trippr]

https://spacenews.com/astrobotic-gets-payloads-working-on-ailing-peregrine-lander/

 

[balrog]

Nice synopsis of what happened and where they are now...



Cheers!

"Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly"

They do love naming things, eh?

 

[day_trippr]

I think RUD goes back to the 60s.

PEREGRINE is still alive and made it to the moon's neighborhood but probably doesn't have the ability for an orbital insertion...

https://www.space.com/astrobotic-peregrine-moon-lander-lunar-distance

 

[day_trippr]

PEREGRINE coming home to die...

https://apnews.com/article/private-moon-lander-earth-reentry-e59645ffd5dc43f80f25a8ec34c0f449

 

[day_trippr]

Speaking of RUD...In other news, the 2nd Starship blew up due to a planned LOX release - that did NOT go as planned...

https://spacenews.com/spacex-says-propellant-venting-caused-loss-of-second-starship/

 

[balrog]

Impossibly huge massive engines burning brightly nearby.
Why would anyone think release LOX "in the vicinity" could possibly go right?

 

[day_trippr]

Peregrine's epitaphs are already being written...

https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/15/world/peregrine-moon-lander-failure-nasa-scn/index.html

 

[day_trippr]

Meanwhile, Japan has another moon mission soft landing attempt...

https://www.space.com/japan-first-moon-landing-slim-webcast

 

[tracer bullet]

https://findstarlink.com/
Have you guys ever looked for the satellites? I've tried a few times with my kid but we've had no luck. Supposed good viewing times, along with clear skies, and being quite sure we are looking in the right place at the right times has yielded nothing.

We're in a "big city" with probably just too much light pollution.

 

[Konadog]

Try Heavens above for easy to spot satellites. This is what I use in the big city. Clear nights also help

 

[Pkrd]

https://findstarlink.com/
Have you guys ever looked for the satellites? I've tried a few times with my kid but we've had no luck. Supposed good viewing times, along with clear skies, and being quite sure we are looking in the right place at the right times has yielded nothing.

We're in a "big city" with probably just too much light pollution.

Are the new versions dimmer than the old ones? I haven’t seen any in a while.

The fresh trains are spectacular.

 

[day_trippr]

Fairly comprehensive analysis here

"The average magnitude of the originals at 550 km is 4.63, so they would be visible under even moderately light-polluted skies. The average VisorSat [latest Starlink version] magnitude is 5.92, so they’re only 31% as bright as the originals and significantly more difficult to see."

Cheers!

 

[day_trippr]

 

[day_trippr]

They are "still checking the status" but it appears Japan has crashed another vehicle on the moon.
The two gentlemen at the bottom right looked glum, and even the animation shows the craft up-side-down...

 

[Rish]

Looks like it landed but now having power issues.

https://www.reuters.com/technology/...nding-moon-sniper-slim-spacecraft-2024-01-19/

 

[day_trippr]

Yup, stuck the landing, but probably ended up facing in a sub-optimal direction...

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-68055186.amp

 

[day_trippr]

Seriously sub-optimal!
Turns out that simulation image of an up-side-down lander was accurate...

https://www.space.com/japan-slim-moon-lander-photo-lunar-surface

 

[tracer bullet]

It would be interesting to listen in on any ideas they are coming up with to think if they can use the little rover to tip the big guy upright.

 

[balrog]

In other space news, Ingenuity suffers rotor damage.

https://www.engadget.com/nasas-inge...own-on-mars-for-the-final-time-204004656.html

 

[day_trippr]

Sad to see her demise but Ingenuity had a hella good run.
Maybe they'll be able to drive Perseverance over to get a good look at the damage and see if it truly is fatal...

Cheers!

 

[Konadog]

In the shadow picture of the rotor blade it looks like a "hit" mark in the sand.

It is sad to see we won't have any new pictures after the last download, but it was a good run.

 

[day_trippr]

Yup. And I'd keep flying that if that's the total of the damage - and it still flies
But there may be more damage than that...

Cheers!

 

[Konadog]

I was thinking the same thing, last data dump, then fly the thing until the battery dies!

 

[day_trippr]

Reminder of the upcoming solar eclipse this Spring...

https://www.space.com/total-solar-eclipse-april-8-2024-finest-for-united-states

 

[day_trippr]

SpaceX double header Starlink launches tonight...

https://www.space.com/spacex-starlink-launch-doubleheader-january-2024

 

[balrog]

SpaceX double header Starlink launches tonight...

https://www.space.com/spacex-starlink-launch-doubleheader-january-2024

Will there come a day when nothing can launch due to all the crap up there?

 

[day_trippr]

I expect at some point the powers that be will have to deal.

Meanwhile...speaking of the length Americans will go to avoid using the metric system, now they're using geese from Canada...

https://www.jpost.com/science/article-784093

 

[beermanpete]

I expect at some point the powers that be will have to deal.

Meanwhile...speaking of the length Americans will go to avoid using the metric system, now they're using geese from Canada...

https://www.jpost.com/science/article-784093

Are Canadian geese smaller or larger than Canada geese? A yard vs a meter, perhaps?