SpaceX News

[WLJ]

 

https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1686050455468621831

[WLJ]

Mary
@BocaChicaGal
I have received an overpressure notice for a potential Booster 9 static fire attempt tomorrow! 🔥🔥🔥🚀

https://twitter.com/BocaChicaGal/status/1688009513645821952

Tomorrow as in today 

But I will note it is highly unusual for them to do something like this on a Sunday

[WLJ]

Tank farm activity so they may very well be going for a static fire today. I'm assuming the new steel plate/water system will be on so this could be extra interesting.

[WLJ]

Live

SpaceX Booster 9 Raptor Engine Static Fire
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFKKFt1CQW0

[WLJ]

2.75 seconds fire
4 engines shut down before firing

Needs more work.
Hopefully they got the data they needed

[WLJ]

Instant steam
Interesting effect the engines had on the water flow. You can really see it at 0.25 speed.
Really need to full screen it to see properly

https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1688294107721121792

Jack of NSF who was on site said this test sounded far quieter than past SF tests without the deluge system

[WLJ]

August 6 at 10:00 PM
SpaceX Launches Falcon 9 Starlink 6-8
NASASpaceflight
Scheduled for Aug 6, 2023
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is set to lift the next batch of 22 Starlink v2 Mini satellites into orbit from SLC-40. The first stage for this mission, B1078, is flying for the 4th time and will land on A Shortfall Of Gravitas.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L06VtH_5q-k

[BobR]

8/7/2023  Launch from Vandenberg. Picture from my front yard in Pahrump, NV




bob

[WLJ]

Very cool

[WLJ]

B9 rolled back to the Mega Bay

[WLJ]

August 10 at 9:45 AM
Virgin Galactic 02 mission - Second Commercial Crew Mission
NASASpaceflight
801K subscribers
233 waiting  Scheduled for Aug 10, 2023
The Galactic 02 mission will be Virgin Galactic's sixth crewed spaceflight and SpaceShipTwo's second commercial mission. The crew comprises pilots CJ Sturckow and Kelly Latimer, Virgin Galactic's chief astronaut instructor Beth Moses, and customers Jon Goodwin, Keisha Schahaff, and Anastatia Mayers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAjDKoeo4TI

[WLJ]

Now that's a trailer

https://twitter.com/NASASpaceflight/status/1689457063687073793

[WLJ]

Just a wee bit creepy considering

Chris Bergin - NSF
@NASASpaceflight
Roscosmos is going all out with their Luna-25 coverage:
https://youtube.com/watch?v=cgi2pI

https://twitter.com/NASASpaceflight/status/1689759240372502528

[WLJ]

Hot Staging ring being installed on B9.

And yes there was another Starlink launch last night and two more before that I didn't report. At this point it's gotten so routine it's like reporting the bus stopping at the bus stop. Actually that's a good thing when you think about it.

[AZRedhawk44]

I read elsewhere that SpaceX has lifted over 10x the mass that the Chinese have this year.

The Falcon rocket line is going to go down in history as a pivotal achievement, no matter what happens with Starship.

[WLJ]

Meanwhile BO which was founded before SX has yet to lift a single gram into orbit.

[WLJ]

Suppose to be getting ready to test the water system

Live feed
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhJRzQsLZGg

[Doggy Daddy]

Meanwhile BO which was founded before SX has yet to lift a single gram into orbit.

Perhaps they could hire Hunter as a technical advisor.

[WLJ]

Perhaps they could hire Hunter as a technical advisor.

He knows how to get high

[WLJ]

Mariner notice put out for Aug 31st. Hmmmm
Still watching but that and some good views of the Hot Staging Ring being installed.


Marcus House with his weekly update.

SpaceX Drops Bombshell Upgrade, and Starship Flight 2 Date Intention Revealed!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANlOJBXxS24

[WLJ]

https://twitter.com/SciGuySpace/status/1691836079869960374

[WLJ]

Just a wee bit creepy considering

https://twitter.com/NASASpaceflight/status/1689759240372502528

Update, the moon has a new crater.

Luna-25 crashes into moon after orbit maneuver
https://spacenews.com/luna-25-crashes-into-moon-after-orbit-maneuver/

Russia's Luna-25 spacecraft CRASHES into the Moon after spinning into an uncontrolled orbit: Failure for Kremlin's first lunar mission in 50 years
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12425749/Russias-Luna-25-smashes-moon-failure.html

Here's a Scott Manley video on the long road to making a new moon crater.

Russia's Luna 25 Mission - Making JWST Development Look Smooth
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XM8bJsqCLYQ

Now on to watching to see if India's lander is successful. There was a sort of unofficial race between Russia and India to land a lander near the moon's south pole.

Luna-25 was being described in the media as being in a race with India’s Chandrayaan-3 lander to set down near the moon’s south polar region. Chandrayaan-3 successfully lowered its lunar orbit Aug. 19, setting it up for a landing attempt at a similar latitude to Luna 25

Chandrayaan-3’s landing is expected around 8.34 a.m. Eastern Aug. 23. A further mission, the Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) by Japan’s space agency JAXA, is scheduled for launch on a H-2A rocket Aug. 25. SLIM is a landing technology demonstrator aiming to make exploration more precise and economical.

https://spacenews.com/luna-25-crashes-into-moon-after-orbit-maneuver/

[WLJ]

Russian sources are already blaming endemic corruption inside the agency for the failure of the mission. Putin is expected to axe top space officials over the disaster.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12425749/Russias-Luna-25-smashes-moon-failure.html

Putin is as we speak spinning the how will they "accidentally" die wheel

[MillCreek]

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12425749/Russias-Luna-25-smashes-moon-failure.html

Putin is as we speak spinning the how will they "accidentally" die wheel

^^^ I'll take 'what is falling out a window' for $ 500, Alex.

[WLJ]

More info
Not sure if it was a software or hardware error yet.

"Rapid Unscheduled Landing" 

Looking past Luna 25’s lunar landing failure: what’s next?
https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2023/08/luna-fails-to-land/