SpaceX News

[WLJ]

https://twitter.com/NASASpaceflight/status/1659218650900074498

Chris Bergin - NSF
@NASASpaceflight
I've bugged Elon enough about this already, but it seems Ship 25 is currently partnered with Booster 9 for the next test flight.

(I got Ship 28 in the office pool, so no gift basket for me).

Screenshot shows Ship 29, Ship 28 and Ship 25 right now:

SpaceX
@SpaceX
·
23m
Ship 25 moved to a suborbital pad at Starbase for an upcoming static fire of its six Raptor engines

[RoadKingLarry]

It's not an exposure problem per say but the tighter less forgiving dynamic range of digital compared to film.

It is the medium they chose to use I would think they would choose to optimize the results. There are ways around the dynamic range limitations even with consumer grade digital cameras. A high end set up should be able to do better.

[WLJ]

It is the medium they chose to use I would think they would choose to optimize the results. There are ways around the dynamic range limitations even with consumer grade digital cameras.

Nature of CCD & CMOS sensors vs film. After many years of doing darkroom work and then switching to digital, digital blows out way more in a unrecoverable manner than film. There are images I could recover in the darkroom but couldn't in similar images shot with digital. In the examples shown in the video you can see where the sensor is overwhelmed.

[RoadKingLarry]

I started shooting film in the early '80s, started darkroom work in 1990. Still have my own darkroom and multiple film cameras in multiple formats, 35mm, 120, and 4x5 and shoot, develop and print B&W and develop C41 at home. I also shoot digital and have been for a more than a decade.

I know the limitations of both mediums and I also know that the limitations can be worked with and around. For the extreme overexposure we see on the SpaceX "footage" one possible option would be something like this from Sony -
https://pro.sony/en_GL/technology/variable-auto-nd-filter-technology

It can be done, it is still my opinion that the modern digital photographer doesn't possess the knowledge or doesn't care about the craft enough, or they (SpaceX) don't want to spend the money for it.

[WLJ]

It's the nature of electronic sensors issue. When one part of the sensor starts to get overloaded in it's dynamic range it tends to overload the rest of the sensor to the point where there's nothing left to recover.

[WLJ]

Curious Droid put out a correction video.
In the original he stated NASA no longer used high speed film and only shoot in digital now. Well it turns out  NASA is still using high speed film in addition to digital but that they just don't normally release it to the public. Well someone requested if it could be released and NASA did release some.

This is a quick update to the last video "Why is Older NASA Launch Film Footage Still the Best?"    • Why is Older NASA... 
In that, I bemoaned the fact that even though we have supposedly better cameras than the Apollo and Shuttle days, the amazing close-up footage of today’s launches are not seen because digital cameras can't handle the over-exposure situations of the very bright engines and SRB's compared to film.
Well, I just found out that NASA does still use high-speed film to record engineering footage and that this has just become available for the Artemis 1 launch of Nov 2022. So below are the links to the NASA footage on their images website and also the twitter user Go4Gordan who used a freedom of information request to get it released.
Watch the full video for a just over 7 minute best of compilation of some of the eight plus hours of slow-mo footage available set to Mars By Holst.

 NASA Film Footage Update & Artemis Launch
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jl5yQ6RX_eE

[WLJ]

Took a screen shot that highlights the issue.
With the view shot on digital this was completely blown out.

[WLJ]

Even though watching them land never gets old it has almost gotten to the point of reporting the mail got delivered
Making it look easy....again.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VzEfuP95Z90

[AZRedhawk44]

https://spacenews.com/space-force-looks-at-options-for-relieving-cape-canaveral-launch-congestion/

East-bound launches from California may be happening some day soon.  Of course, this would probably only be for reusable vehicles with high degrees of reliability and control redundancy.

[WLJ]

BO chosen as the alternate  for the Luna Lander

https://twitter.com/NASASpaceflight/status/1659570111517278208

[AZRedhawk44]

BO chosen as the alternate  for the Luna Lander

https://twitter.com/NASASpaceflight/status/1659570111517278208

The "alternate."

This will be another CST-100 boondoggle, where SpaceX flies 10 (or more) missions before other guy gets a demo mission accomplished (Crew Dragon has flown 10 manned missions while Boeing's Starliner has yet to have a successful demo mission).

[WLJ]

Sure the final design will be more penis like

Blue Origin release a hi-res version of Blue Moon:
https://twitter.com/NASASpaceflight/status/1659575548790669312

[RoadKingLarry]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HV2UoWhV7qs

[dogmush]

Space X is testing out water-cooled steel plates blast diverters.

https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1659599720761950208?s=20

[WLJ]

https://spacenews.com/space-force-looks-at-options-for-relieving-cape-canaveral-launch-congestion/

East-bound launches from California may be happening some day soon.  Of course, this would probably only be for reusable vehicles with high degrees of reliability and control redundancy.

I can't see the government approving that but on the flip side though that for after obit landings it would be safer for those on the ground since reentry would be over water if approved for such.

[RocketMan]

Sure the final design will be more penis like

Blue Origin release a hi-res version of Blue Moon:
https://twitter.com/NASASpaceflight/status/1659575548790669312

Jeff Bezos, Space Grifter!

[WLJ]

I see BO changed to an upper engine design layout from the bottom engine layout of the original design. Not only does this mitigate the lunar dust and crater issue it also gets rid of the ladder of death of the previous layout.

SX plans on having an elevator like setup on their lunar lander which is basically a Starship with the landing/ascent engines on the upper part as well.

BO original design on the left, SX right
Note the ladder on BO's



BO's new design

[WLJ]

Space X is testing out water-cooled steel plates blast diverters.

https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1659599720761950208?s=20

Need some hotdogs and a very long stick

[WLJ]

Marcus House's weekly update.
Includes some footage of what appears testing of the (maybe improved?) FTS at 01:07

SpaceX Starship Static Fire Prep, NASA Blue Origin Announcement of Lunar Lander, and much more
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IXMMqPE3Tk

[WLJ]

SpaceX is targeting Saturday, May 20 at 6:16 a.m. PT (13:16 UTC).) for launch of the Iridium OneWeb mission to a low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.
 
The Falcon 9 first stage booster supporting this mission previously launched Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich, DART, Transporter-7, and seven Starlink missions. After stage separation, the first stage will land on the Of Course I Still Love You droneship, which will be stationed in the Pacific Ocean.

A live webcast of this mission will begin about 15 minutes prior to liftoff

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crdFx4HiSFw

[AZRedhawk44]

Poor Iridium.

They were an anchor customer for SpaceX's early days.  Their network is prominently used by Garmin and Spot and similar emergency GPS beacons, and it's on the threshold of being made obsolete by Starlink and their partnership with T-mobile that will be backwards compatible with existing phones on the T-mobile network.

[WLJ]

Falcon 9 is launching the Axiom-2 mission with Astronauts Peggy Whitson, John Shoffner, Ali Alqarni, and Rayyanah Barnawi on board. The mission will take 4 astronauts to the International Space Station on Axiom's second all-private astronaut mission to the ISS. Liftoff is scheduled for 5:37 PM EDT (21:37 UTC) from LC-39A, Kennedy Space Center, Florida. This is the first space flight by a Saudi female astronaut and the first planned landing of a booster from a crewed mission on land at LZ-1.

 SpaceX Falcon 9 Launches Axiom-2 Mission to the International Space Station
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXkvQVSo6dA

[WLJ]

I see BO changed to an upper engine design layout from the bottom engine layout of the original design. Not only does this mitigate the lunar dust and crater issue it also gets rid of the ladder of death of the previous layout.

Well according to Scott Manley's Kerbal model the engines are on the bottom while it's just the fuel tank tanks on top. I though the engines were hiding up there somewhere next to the tanks. So I stand corrected? Maybe?

Why Blue Origin's Lunar Lander Is A Radical Rethink
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpoR87UDnPA

[MillCreek]

SpaceX Falcon 9 Launches Axiom-2 Mission to the International Space Station
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXkvQVSo6dA

And the mission in in progress:  https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/axiom-space-private-astronauts-headed-to-international-space-station

[WLJ]

They just docked.