The Commercial - and now general space travel - Thread (No Politics Allowed)

For the truly touched..

Mixed feelings on this one lol

Russia's first lunar mission in 47 years smashes into the moon in failure

https://www.reuters.com/business/ae...roblem-entering-pre-landing-orbit-2023-08-20/

That seems like it would be difficult to read in a calm environment, much less working on an EVA.

Very interesting.

NASA forgot the lessons from Apollo 1 once before. I hope they do not have to learn them again.

Astronaut Terry Virts is not a fan of the design of Gateway: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2xNUv5KWgRWZakGIqsBuwF?si=-j0C6p5rRPOXoK4Qa-3OSA

Destin asked the audience why NASA decided on a Near Rectilinear Halo orbit for Gateway. Some answered it was because of improved communications. Destin said it was not [edit] the only method for improving communications, but that the strange orbit allowed NASA to land anywhere, such as the South pole. Destin's complaint was that the orbit became a 6 day wait in case there was an emergency. His other complaint was that the silent audience either did not know the reason for the orbit or were unwilling to say out loud the reason.

Terry Virts says they chose Gateway for jobs, essentially to involve the European Space Agency. He claimed that NASA picked the Near Rectilinear Halo because it was as close as the European Space Agency service module could get.

Virts made an interesting comment that as bad as Gateway is, it would be cheaper to build Gateway and then abandon it, as at least then you wouldn't have to maintain it, which will be very costly. Think about those 12 rockets of propellant that Destin was discussing.

This whole mission is frightening. After Apollo I, NASA tested everything and had a contingency plan well thought out. There were a few single point of failure items, but not many (think the single engine in the CSM). But those were considered safe and worth the risk.

It's difficult to have faith that the current Artemis plan has been designed to be the most effective and safe method to land on the moon. Destin's talk was like exhaling. Hopefully he will have made a lasting impression and NASA is still made of courageous people, not just courageous astronauts.

Photo taken in 2010 of the tracks on the moon left by Apollo 15 back in 1971!



https://www.lroc.asu.edu/featured_sites/view_site/4

Here is a 3D moon photo. Grab your 3D glasses.

The first US moon lander in more than 50 years launched with human remains on board, paving the way for space burials

https://www.businessinsider.com/vul...rst-land-moon-astrobotic-human-remains-2024-1

Private Peregrine moon lander suffers anomaly after historic Vulcan rocket launch, Astrobotic says

https://www.space.com/private-astrobotic-peregrine-moon-lander-suffers-anomaly

But hopefully not really gone with the latest update....

Not looking good for ol' Peregrine.
And in other (not so surprising) news....

Astronauts won't walk on the moon until 2026 after NASA delays next 2 Artemis missions

https://www.space.com/nasa-artemis-2-moon-mission-delay-september-2025

Well I guess some of us know how that Peregrine turned out...and that's too bad.
Anywayyyyyyy...I don't care how many F9 launches I watch, they are always just as cool.

I forget about this thread. Been a lot of action lately.
Here's an awesome video of the Starship 3 test...
The slo-mo @0:40 seconds in

Boeing can't catch a break. Space is hard!

Boeing Starliner's 1st astronaut launch delayed again, this time with no new flight date
https://www.space.com/boeing-starliner-1st-astronaut-mission-no-launch-date