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Space Geeks

CBoukal

CBoukal

Impeached Staff Member
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Dec 9, 2011
Messages
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I really like to learn things about space flight and rockets. I've been messaging a select few people about different launches in case they wanted to watch. So I figure, why not start a thread where anyone can geek out about space stuff. I'll also try and post launches that include video. Here is a link to the guy I follow who posts all the upcoming launches. https://everydayastronaut.com/upcoming-launches/

I'll start with today, there is a possible launch at 11am CST.
SpaceX Live Stream

Lift Off Time - (Subject to change)February 25, 2022 – 17:12 UTC | 011:12 CST
Mission NameStarlink Group 4-11; the eighth launch to Starlink shell 4
Launch Provider - (What rocket company is launching it?)SpaceX
Customer (Who’s paying for this?)SpaceX
RocketFalcon 9 Block 5, B1063-4; 62.45 day turnaround
Launch LocationSpace Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E), Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, USA
Payload mass~14,750 kg (~32,500 lb) (50 x ~295 kg, plus dispenser)
Where are the satellites going?Starlink Shell 4; 540 km circular low-Earth orbit (LEO); initial orbit: 316 x 306 km 53.22°
Will they be attempting to recover the first stage?Yes
Where will the first stage land?~639 km downrange on Of Course I Still Love You Tug: Scorpius; Support: GO Quest
Will they be attempting to recover the fairings?The fairing halves will be recovered from the water ~654 km downrange by NRC Quest
This will be the:– 142nd Falcon 9 launch
– 82nd Falcon 9 flight with a flight proven booster
– 86th re-flight of a booster
– 7th re-flight of a booster in 2022
– 108th booster landing
– 34th consecutive landing (a record)
– 8th launch for SpaceX in 2022
– 21st SpaceX launch from SLC-4E
– 18th orbital launch attempt of 2022
 
Last summer I was kicking it in the backyard after dark, I like to watch for satellites. Here comes a really bright satellite, but wait! There's another right behind it. And another. A whole string of them, I started trying to count them but the string was almost horizon to horizon by now. I counted ~ 50.

Sure enough it was a Starlink cluster that had launched like a day or 2 before. They spread out over time so to see them all in a string like this was pretty cool.
 
ChuckJr said:
Last summer I was kicking it in the backyard after dark, I like to watch for satellites. Here comes a really bright satellite, but wait! There's another right behind it. And another. A whole string of them, I started trying to count them but the string was almost horizon to horizon by now. I counted ~ 50.

Sure enough it was a Starlink cluster that had launched like a day or 2 before. They spread out over time so to see them all in a string like this was pretty cool.
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I saw this as well. I took a video of it. I will try to post.
 
I’m not really a space geek, but I find it interesting as all heck! I have a couple of friends, who are plant biologists (that’s the easy way to explain it but they probably are quite a bit more than that lol) and often send experiments and stuff up to the ISS.

The last thing they did, was get a contract I believe from NASA to work on some stuff down near Cape Canaveral. It was for a year, and they put them up in a house on Merritt Island. I don’t know how many launches they got to see, but they literally just got to go out in the backyard to see them. I believe among the most impressive were the falcon heavy launches at the time.

Kinda bummed because they invited us down to hang out whenever we wanted, but timing, costs, and other things going on at the time didn’t allow it, so we didn’t go. I don’t get a chance to see them often but I count them among my closest friends even though location limits our ability to get together.
 
When I was a kid, my grandparents used to winter in Brownsville and Boca Chica beach was where us kids liked to go. We fished off the jetty at the mouth of the ship channel, played on the beach, etc.

Now the road to Boca Chica, right where we used to drive past, is where SpaceX has a launch pad. We would have checked that out for sure back in the day.
 
2:30pm CST today there is a potential launch
Lift Off TimeFebruary 28, 2022 – 20:35 UTC
(Subject to change)March 1, 2022 – 09:35 NZDT
Mission NameThe Owl’s Night Continues, a single StriX-β satellite for Synspective’s constellation
Launch ProviderRocket Lab
CustomerSynspective Inc.
RocketElectron
Launch LocationLaunch Complex-1B, Māhia Peninsula, New Zealand
Payload mass~100 kg (~220 Ib)
Where is the satellite going?561 km Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO)
Will they be attempting to recover the first stage?No, not on this mission
Where will the first stage land?It will crash in the Pacific Ocean
Will they be attempting to recover the fairings?No
Are these fairings new?Yes
This will be the:– 1st Rocket Lab launch of 2022
– 1st launch from Launch Complex-1B, Māhia Peninsula, New Zealand
– 24th Electron launch
– 20th orbital launch attempt of 2022

Cool information on this launch: <<Link>>

Live stream
 
Some great info in that link about the rocket and the engines it uses, looks like it went off without a hitch!
 
Today the United Launch Alliance (ULA) plans to launch the Atlas V 541 | GOES-T (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites). They will attempt the launch from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Fla. at 3:38pm CST

GOES-T will provide NASA and NOAA with continuous imagery and atmospheric measurements of Earth’s Western Hemisphere, lightning detection and mapping, solar imaging and space weather monitoring. This is the third satellite in NOAA’s GOES-R Series, and will continue the revolutionary improvements brought by GOES-R and GOES-S, also launched on ULA’s Atlas V rocket.

Lots of other cool data on the rocket/production/launch/satellite here <<Click the Link>>

Watch Live:
 
CBoukal said:
Today the United Launch Alliance (ULA) plans to launch the Atlas V 541 | GOES-T (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites). They will attempt the launch from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Fla. at 3:38pm CST

GOES-T will provide NASA and NOAA with continuous imagery and atmospheric measurements of Earth’s Western Hemisphere, lightning detection and mapping, solar imaging and space weather monitoring. This is the third satellite in NOAA’s GOES-R Series, and will continue the revolutionary improvements brought by GOES-R and GOES-S, also launched on ULA’s Atlas V rocket.

Lots of other cool data on the rocket/production/launch/satellite here <<Click the Link>>

Watch Live:
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Well, how did it... GOES? Successful launch?
 
Compared to that launch yesterday, this (much larger) rocket only made it about 1.2 miles in its first 32 seconds.
 
Astra successfully launched this afternoon. This is the same flight that they didn't get successful separation from 1st stage and 2nd stage and it blew itself up when they relit stage 1 while connected..

You can rewatch it here.
 
CBoukal said:
Astra successfully launched this afternoon. This is the same flight that they didn't get successful separation from 1st stage and 2nd stage and it blew itself up when they relit stage 1 while connected..

You can rewatch it here.
Click to expand...
Were they able to salvage the payload from that first failed flight?
 
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