Fifth Avenue Forum

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLE-ocDoXrs

-o

Why would you post this moron lol?

These people just crack me up, that's all.

Is he a flat Earth truther?

I believe so, yes.

WHAT IS THE MECHANISM, SLICK

Orbital has conducted a hot-fire test of the first stage for the re-engined Antares rocket. The test was roughly 30 seconds and tested the new RD-181 engines at 100% and several partial throttle levels. Assuming no problems, the return to flight for Antares currently has a NET (no earlier than) target date of July 6, 2016.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxBD1QkeDRc

Ok, this time, never before, but this time, the thread title conjured "Pigs in Spaaaace" in my head...

United Launch Alliance will be attempting today to launch a spy satellite for the US National Reconnaissance Office. The launch vehicle is the Heavy version of the Delta IV rocket, which uses two strap-on Delta IV Common Booster Cores as boosters for the central core. The Delta IV Heavy is currently the most powerful U.S. rocket in service; the upcoming SpaceX Falcon Heavy will take over the title once it comes on line. The type and destination of the payload are classified, although some things can be divined just from the launch site and vehicle. One, it's really big and heavy if it needs the Delta IV Heavy version to launch, and two it's probably headed to geostationary orbit because it's launching from Cape Canaveral. Odds are it's an Orion signals intelligence (SIGINT) satellite. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orion_(satellite)

It's currently raining at the Cape and the launch conditions are no-go. Liftoff is scheduled for 1:59 p.m. EDT, and if the weather clears the launch can be viewed on http://www.ulalaunch.com/webcast.aspx.

SpaceX will be attempting tomorrow morning to launch a pair of communications satellites for France’s Eutelsat and Bermuda-based Asia Broadcast Satellite Limited. The satellites are both Boeing 702SP communication satellites, which Boeing designed to be stackable so that two of them can be launched at the same time. The SP is an enhanced version of the 702 satellite family, and if you watch DirecTV or listen to XM radio, those signals got to you via a Boeing 702. To cut weight, the SP version of the 702 uses ion thrusters rather than conventional chemical thrusters, and that saves enough weight that the two-in-one launches are possible.

The launch window opens on Wednesday morning at 10:29 a.m. EDT. The weather forecast for tomorrow is currently 80% favorable.

Nominal launch. The Eutelsat and ABS satellite have both been deployed into geostationary transfer orbit. Unfortunately, it looks like the first stage went explodey upon the barge-landing attempt.

I read a headline on Huffington I believe that called it an "Unscheduled Disassembly"

I'm not sure exactly where it came from, but "RUD" is pretty common in the space community. That's what Elon Musk called it:

https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/743096769001578498
He then clarified the meaning:
https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/743097668725940225
Gotta love a guy who uses a smiley to explain how his company's rocket crashed and blew up when attempting to land. Musk also said that SpaceX will post video later today when they get access to the drone ship's cameras. Because, hey, who doesn't love explosions?

By all accounts, the China National Space Administration just had a successful first launch of the new Long March 7 medium/heavy rocket. China is developing three new rocket families to replace it's current active portfolio of rockets. The current Long March 2, 3, and 4 series of rockets all use engines powered by toxic hypergolic propellants. China wants to move away from those toxic propellants to safer alternatives. The new Long March 5, 6, and 7 use engines powered by either kerosene and LOX (main stages and some upper stages) or liquid hydrogen and LOX (for upper stages). China developed three new engines for this project: the YF-100 and YF-115 kerosene engines and the YF-75D hydrogen engine. The Long March 7 is roughly comparable in terms of performance to the Falcon 9, Atlas V, Delta 4, and Ariane 5 and will probably be the workhorse of the new fleet. It uses a first stage powered by two YF-100 engines, supplemented by four liquid strap-on boosters with one YF-100 each. The second stage uses four YF-115 engines.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alFgWFVKc04

This was also the first launch from the new Wenchang Satellite Launch Center, located on Wenchang island in the South China Sea. China's other launch facilities are all inland, and spent stages end up coming back down on land. Some of those launch sites even have the vehicles overflying populated areas. Launches from Wenchang will have flights heading out over (and spent stages falling into) the ocean. One could see his whole project as a sign that today's China is paying more attention to safety and environmental considerations.

Tonight 11:18 EST -- Juno goes into orbit around Jupiter.
http://www.theverge.com/2016/7/4/120779 ... w-to-watch

SpaceX is in the final stages of prep for a launch of the Dragon cargo vehicle to the iSS. Liftoff is scheduled for 12:45 a.m. EDT Monday, July 18. There will be coverage on SpaceX's YouTube channel, and because this is a NASA mission there should also be coverage on NASA TV. SpaceX conducted a successful static fire of the Falcon 9 earlier today, no problems were found, and the weather is currently estimated at a 90% chance of "Go."

This will be a dual-launch weekend for ISS cargo missions. Earlier today the Russian space agency launched a Progress cargo ship to the ISS using a Soyuz-U rocket.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDtbfCt2Gcw

Scott Manley is scientist and IT professional who is best known for his YouTube channel and his love of Kerbal Space Program and other space games. In addition to his gaming videos, he occasionally does videos on the real science of rocketry and spaceflight, and in this video he answers the question "How exactly are rocket engines lit?"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=capiUBVd7EU

Also on the science of rocketry, if anyone has any interest in the history of liquid rocket fuels and the development of early rocket engines I highly recommend reading Ignition!: An Informal History of Liquid Rocket Propellants by John Drury Clark. Mr. Clark worked for the U.S. Government for 21 years developing liquid rocket propellants. The book is in the public domain and can be downloaded as a PDF from https://library.sciencemadness.org/libr ... nition.pdf. It might seem like a boring topic, and there is plenty of science in there, but Mr. Clark is an excellent writer and writes with the wry humor of an old scientist (Clark was in fact close friends with many prominent early sci-fi and fantasy writers, and the forward for Ignition! was written by Isaac Asimov). If you like the following passage, seriously consider giving the book a read:

Chlorine trifluoride, ClF3 , or "CTF" as the engineers insist on calling it ... is also quite probably the most vigorous fluorinating agent in existence - much more vigorous than fluorine itself ... All this sounds fairly academic and innocuous, but when it is translated into the problem of handling the stuff, the results are horrendous. It is, of course, extremely toxic, but that's the least of the problem. It is hypergolic with every known fuel, and so rapidly hypergolic that no ignition delay has ever been measured. It is also hypergolic with such things as cloth, wood, and test engineers, not to mention asbestos, sand, and water - with which it reacts explosively. It can be kept in some of the ordinary structural metals - steel, copper, aluminum, etc. - because of the formation of a thin film of insoluble metal fluoride which protects the bulk of the metal, just as the invisible coat of oxide on aluminum keeps it from burning up in the atmosphere. If, however, this coat is melted or scrubbed off, and has no chance to reform, the operator is confronted with the problem of coping with a metal-fluorine fire. For dealing with this situation, I have always recommended a good pair of running shoes.

Is that a Jawbreaker?

I've heard the Great Red Spot is slowly dying down. Should be safe to explore Jupiter soon, right?

Please define "slowly."

I was going to say 'the time it would take to develop the technology to make a manned (personed?) flight to Jupiter, poke around, and return safely' but honestly I'm not sure which could happen first.

SpaceX has coughed up some beauty shots of recent missions:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKqY8sy3nkM