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

Walrus
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Will this shut up the fake moon landing crowd? Probably not
4388B3B3-30A9-419F-AE94-9BBADB6E1B94.webp
 
ghce
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Walrus Walrus
Will this shut up the fake moon landing crowd? Probably not
4388B3B3-30A9-419F-AE94-9BBADB6E1B94.webp

I am sure many would disagree as this Quora topic thread clearly demonstrates https://www.quora.com/How-did-the-Vikings-manage-to-sail-to-the-Moon.
I especially like the post that talks about the Vikings sailing off the edge of our flat earth and merely navigating their way to the moon, seems so obvious now that I see it in print / online so it must be true.....
 
Walrus
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ghce ghce
I am sure many would disagree as this Quora topic thread clearly demonstrates https://www.quora.com/How-did-the-Vikings-manage-to-sail-to-the-Moon.
I especially like the post that talks about the Vikings sailing off the edge of our flat earth and merely navigating their way to the moon, seems so obvious now that I see it in print / online so it must be true.....
Damn never even considered it but yeah if it’s referenced online gotta be true. I wonder what watches they wore. The Vikings also brought ginger cats on their voyages so there must be a cat colony on the lunar surface.
 
ghce
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Walrus Walrus
Damn never even considered it but yeah if it’s referenced online gotta be true. I wonder what watches they wore. The Vikings also brought ginger cats on their voyages so there must be a cat colony on the lunar surface.
They would have to be Maine Coon cats though to be strictly accurate Norwegian Forest cats as these seem likely to be the progenitor of the Maine Coon breed we currently see which the Vikings kindly took to the US when they settled there. With their thick double fur lining these cats could weather the cold lunar temperatures quite well though the diet of moon cheese may not agree with them.
 
Walrus
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Firefly Blue Ghost Mission 1 Launch to the Moon (Official NASA Broadcast)
 
hen
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Walrus Walrus
Firefly Blue Ghost Mission 1 Launch to the Moon (Official NASA Broadcast)
Good stuff! I need to watch this in its entirety. Great that NASA is "back", they were always the big heros, the GOAT as the kids say. Defenitly not the same when some IT billionaire gets uppety standing on NASA`s shoulders.
 
pdxleaf
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Latest news is that Artemis may be in doubt.

It's difficult to discuss commercial space without discussing politics.

Not that I'm suggesting this thread introduce politics, but the whole program has turned political.

Going to be interesting to see where it leads.
 
vbrad26
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For the record - I never originally put that disclaimer in the thread title, A mod did, and understandably.
I have not been keeping myself super up to date. I know Artemis has been pushed back to no earlier than 2026 now, I believe.
But what else is going on? With Trump and Musk, I figured space would be...well, a go hah.
I mean, I know Musk wants to go straight to Mars, and rumors of SLS being canceled, so is that what you are referring to?
Edited:
 
Walrus
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https://www.nbcnews.com/science/space/nasa-report-boeing-damning-assessments-rcna165813


I guess everything has to be looked at. I hate I pile on Boeing but is SLS beyond hope? I honestly don’t know.

It was difficult to watch news in China, or look up specific things going on I should say but on a recent trip I did watch a short news summary about the # of launches they conducted (more than other other country but they did not officially state the number) and they have a big focus on the moon.

In my mind I thought a little space competition may get someone to the moon a little quicker. I think it’s too early to call it. Gotta do an honest appraisal of where things are at.

Personal seems more prudent to land on the moon again in preparation for something bigger but I don’t know any behind the scenes info other than my wife’s contacts who are engineers at NASA and JPL apparently they were getting hammered on budgets but that is hear say I don’t think these people are real high up.

As far as @pdxleaf comment about being hard to avoid politics I think I know why. I just hope we are able to get somewhere out there in a safe manner..
 
hen
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This is what a " rocket scientist " looks like these days.
Elon-musk-jumping-meme-95sjik.webp
I prefer the long, gray hair and lab coat to be honest.
 
Porteroso
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hen hen
This is what a " rocket scientist " looks like these days.
Elon-musk-jumping-meme-95sjik.webp
I prefer the long, gray hair and lab coat to be honest.
Yeah but the real rocket scientists don't have enough money to fund space programs. I'm grateful for Musk's cash, so many things he could have spent it on, but space travel is so darn cool, and humanity is going to benefit from it.

If he actually gets a colony started on Mars I am going to be impressed.
 
hen
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Porteroso Porteroso
Yeah but the real rocket scientists don't have enough money to fund space programs. I'm grateful for Musk's cash, so many things he could have spent it on, but space travel is so darn cool, and humanity is going to benefit from it.

If he actually gets a colony started on Mars I am going to be impressed.
His missiones are government funded, the tax payers picks up the bill.

I hope he does, should take his mind of.....ehr no politics allowed.... Lets just say european matters.

If I recall correctly he should been on Mars already and some say his rockets are to small to ferry a colony all the way there. So there is still a long way to go. A smaller habitat for some scientist would be cool, think "The Marsian" and is far more plausible.
 
ghce
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hen hen
His missiones are government funded, the tax payers picks up the bill.

I hope he does, should take his mind of.....ehr no politics allowed.... Lets just say european matters.

If I recall correctly he should been on Mars already and some say his rockets are to small to ferry a colony all the way there. So there is still a long way to go. A smaller habitat for some scientist would be cool, think "The Marsian" and is far more plausible.
I think when he combines his tunneling technology with the Martian surface he will have the basis for a decent sized underground colony but unless I live to 150 I am unlikely to see its fruition.
 
dsstephens
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I've got the Firefly/Blue Ghost image thread as an open tab in my browser and check it daily. Perhaps getting to a bit of obsession with the lunar mission and the recent rapidity in which the space race is improving. Every small achievement is a massive step forward.
BGM1-Trajectory-Graphic-with-patch.webp
 
hen
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ghce ghce
I think when he combines his tunneling technology with the Martian surface he will have the basis for a decent sized underground colony but unless I live to 150 I am unlikely to see its fruition.
Those TBM`s are quite a heavy piece of machinery to send out of Earth`s gravity. Then there is the problem of running them on Mars. The electrical grid on Mars is still a bit rudimentary and diesel fuel and oksygen are also hard to come by. Nuclear power is an alternative, but if you are going to have people around, a lead shilding is needed. That brings us back to the heavy TBM. Not to mention all the equipment to turn nuclear heat to electricety.

Not to be a negative Nancy but I think scientists and engineers are needed for this task more than a visonary appmaker.
 
dsstephens
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hen hen
The electrical grid on Mars is still a bit rudimentary and diesel fuel and oksygen are also hard to come by.
Funny stuff to read this early in the morning. 😀 From a TBM being heavy pov, the payload is lessened the less you have to take, of course; so take the things to make the things, not the things themselves. Some level of robotic mining and manufacturing to assemble larger and more complex tools capable of building larger and more complex tools. We are far away from this, but not nearly as far as we were 1 year, 3 years, 8 years, or 30 years ago. Being able to take raw material and create wildly diverse products while sitting at your desk is just a kid's play example of what can be done today and that technology will continue to double at rapid pace. A micro reactor the size of a suburban can generate 10mw of energy, as an example, so I would theorize that self-contained power unit won't be a problem to take initially. Spacex, firefly, nasa, blue origin, rocketlab, intuitive, ge, terrapower, hitachi, etc are all developing these technologies constantly with 1000's of engineers and scientists with all of the capabilities to make this possible. And we're already doing it. A year ago, the european space agency sent a metal 3d printer to the ISS to be additive to the plastic printers already there for printing parts and supplies. Multiply that by a constant doubling factor in terms of capability and sending small robots to make large robots to make larger things to do things is really not that far fetched any longer. Waymo is a better taxi than any taxi or uber I've used; no humans involved at the execution level. And while I fully agree that we need the scientists and engineers to actually do all of this, it is the visionary appmakers that fund and drive it relentlessly that are the catalyst to making it happen in our lifetimes. I'm all for it.
 
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