Launch, Land, and Relaunch Party Thread

[zubenelgenubi]

Don Pettit @astro_Pettit
New York City and Long Island at night.

Taken with Nikon Z9, 200mm f2, 1/320 sec, ISO 25600

Verging closer to amateur astronomy, but I'm pleasantly surprised at the less light polluted areas close to the megalopolis.  What is the closest land location to Lower Manhattan that one can see the Milky Way 🌌 with the unaided eye?

[zubenelgenubi]

Well, we hope to get a new date next week!

Quick #flashback to Bowen... where our Happy little Vegemite's looking bright as bright can be 👌

Team is back on site for systems testing — if all goes well, we hope to share a new NET date next week.

#TestFlight1 #VegemiteInSpace [Jun 13]

"He just smiled/
And gave me a Vegemite sandwich! 🥪

[Nevyn72]

isn't it possible to put most of the ground support equipment underground?

Then it wouldn't be called ground support equipment anymore now would it.

Sure it would. Just like dwarf, major and giant planets are still "planets".
It's all "ground" support

But if you dig holes are you really 'supporting' the ground? 
More 'Undermining' I would have thought...

[mikes]

John Oliver's "Last Week Tonight" 22nd June used footage from NSF's coverage

[catdlr]

John Oliver's "Last Week Tonight" 22nd June used footage from NSF's coverage

https://youtube.com/watch?v=VpVacJ6Yj6s

Numerous video feeds were accessible; however, John Oliver selected the sole one featuring a voice-over and appeared to be more interested in the exclamations than the content of the video.

[Robotbeat]

John Oliver's "Last Week Tonight" 22nd June used footage from NSF's coverage

There was some comedic timing there, but still not nearly as good as SN4’s:

“I mean if it was methane it’d be igniting in the flare, correct?” At 1:24:45. https://www.youtube.com/live/7YaFsUWgN3s?si=1GipApdZdE4dHgbo

https://twitter.com/booster_10/status/1934800590284243001

[Elmar Moelzer]

John Oliver's "Last Week Tonight" 22nd June used footage from NSF's coverage

You know, you can hate Elon "evil space Karen" Musk and his antiques, but as much as I want to laugh, I can't.
The Chinese have perfected the concept of the "fast follower" and every single setback allows them to catch up.
Unless you are a complete moron, Chinese or an operative of the CCP, you should not think of this as a good thing. Because the Chinese are not sleeping. They have their spies everywhere and they are learning just as much from this as SpaceX is. Then it is just a matter of time until they will catch up, maybe even surpass SpaceX like they did with electric cars.
I am not even an American citizen, but I do not enjoy that thought.

[catdlr]

John Oliver's "Last Week Tonight" 22nd June used footage from NSF's coverage

You know, you can hate Elon "evil space Karen" Musk and his antiques, but as much as I want to laugh, I can't.
The Chinese have perfected the concept of the "fast follower" and every single setback allows them to catch up.
Unless you are a complete moron, Chinese or an operative of the CCP, you should not think of this as a good thing. Because the Chinese are not sleeping. They have their spies everywhere and they are learning just as much from this as SpaceX is. Then it is just a matter of time until they will catch up, maybe even surpass SpaceX like they did with electric cars.
I am not even an American citizen, but I do not enjoy that thought.

The Chinese have demonstrated their version of Starship Superheavy at their meetings. Since they prefer copying proven designs over creating new ones that would require extra effort to establish and improve more quickly and effectively than the US version, I am convinced they will soon build a Starship that fails much more spectacularly than SpaceX's version.

(Just kidding - and I'm an American and can laugh at myself.).

[SpacedX]

John Oliver's "Last Week Tonight" 22nd June used footage from NSF's coverage

You know, you can hate Elon "evil space Karen" Musk and his antiques, but as much as I want to laugh, I can't.
The Chinese have perfected the concept of the "fast follower" and every single setback allows them to catch up.
Unless you are a complete moron, Chinese or an operative of the CCP, you should not think of this as a good thing. Because the Chinese are not sleeping. They have their spies everywhere and they are learning just as much from this as SpaceX is. Then it is just a matter of time until they will catch up, maybe even surpass SpaceX like they did with electric cars.
I am not even an American citizen, but I do not enjoy that thought.

Are things so bad that the West does not have its own spies everywhere?
If you really want to scare yourself, consider how China is more advanced than "us" in many technologies. 
I think this is likely a good thing and I'm not an operative.


Cheers,

[Robotbeat]

John Oliver's "Last Week Tonight" 22nd June used footage from NSF's coverage

…

You know, you can hate Elon "evil space Karen" Musk and his antiques, but as much as I want to laugh, I can't.
The Chinese have perfected the concept of the "fast follower" and every single setback allows them to catch up.
Unless you are a complete moron, Chinese or an operative of the CCP, you should not think of this as a good thing. Because the Chinese are not sleeping. They have their spies everywhere and they are learning just as much from this as SpaceX is. Then it is just a matter of time until they will catch up, maybe even surpass SpaceX like they did with electric cars.
I am not even an American citizen, but I do not enjoy that thought.

I actually think it’s funny because I don’t think that this particular failure makes a big difference to that result. I think SpaceX will barely be slowed down by this. The in-flight failures (where some debris actually hit a car) were a much bigger deal in my opinion, and even those didn’t slow them down much.

SpaceX will get there as long as they’re not actively sabotaged politically.

Meanwhile, we can afford a bit of levity.

[mlindner]

Personally I think John Oliver is clearly mocking NSF itself, NSF fans, SpaceX fans, and SpaceX in general in that clip and I cannot understand anyone on this thread who has a positive view of it unless they're only interested in attacking SpaceX.

He's a political propagandist that uses comedy to mislead and influence people.

[HVM]

A DMCA take down for UT and HBO. MSM should die faster.

[leovinus]

Shouldn’t this be a NSF local pub? Beer is good, bitrate fine, and Guinness for nomadd.

[tgr9898]

the Pit-House would be expanded upon quiickly

Cave would probably be put to use, maybe ironic after the Musk comments on the cave rescue in Thailand. As we go out to the worlds of the solar system there is the possibility of off-world people once again becoming the cave dweller, or troglodyte culture, or cave people, use of the Martian lava tube.

You can also enjoy various episodes of The Expanse to see the notional insides of colonies on Ceres & Eros. Early Mars might look a bit like those, presumably minus the prostitution and psychopathic murderers. (No spoilers! Haha)

I just hope the hairstyles are better in our future...

_{(And I went to College in the late '80, so my tolerance for bad hair is pretty significant)}

[zubenelgenubi]

B1091, Where Are You?!

(NSF street cred if someone composes parody lyrics, please)

[ClayJar]

(NSF street cred if someone composes parody lyrics, please)

Okay, I didn't get enough sleep last night.  Also, it's been a long, strange work day so far.  Even better, my lunch plans are well overdue and now apparently scrubbed entirely.  And to top it all off, the only part of the tune I recognized was the last line.  So, with a nominal amount of excuses documented, since somebody's got to at least throw a rough cut together...

There's a Falcon on the pad Massey's blown up overnight There's a traffic jam of Starlinks And some Kuipers in our sights The Bandwagon's over here Droneship's berthing at the pier   1091, where are you?

[SpaceLizard]

Tesla Diner & Supercharger | Open 24/7

Jul 21, 2025
Located in Hollywood, Tesla Diner is a retro-futuristic diner & drive-in charging experience all wrapped into one. 80 V4 Supercharger stalls are open to all NACS-compatible EVs, making it the largest urban Supercharger in the world.

You can place your order in advance or upon arrival through your vehicle's touchscreen & have your meal dropped off at your driver's side window – Or come inside to pick & choose

We have entertainment, too – movies & special features playing on 2 megascreens. Come dine & hang out on our Skypad...or cozy up in your Tesla & watch via the Tesla Diner app (where you'll find the movie schedule, too)

📍 7001 Santa Monica Blvd, West Hollywood

Learn more – https://www.tesla.com/tesla-diner

Any of our local Elonologists have any theories on if and how this could tie into his Mars ambitions?

[steveleach]

Tesla Diner & Supercharger | Open 24/7

Jul 21, 2025
Located in Hollywood, Tesla Diner is a retro-futuristic diner & drive-in charging experience all wrapped into one. 80 V4 Supercharger stalls are open to all NACS-compatible EVs, making it the largest urban Supercharger in the world.

You can place your order in advance or upon arrival through your vehicle's touchscreen & have your meal dropped off at your driver's side window – Or come inside to pick & choose

We have entertainment, too – movies & special features playing on 2 megascreens. Come dine & hang out on our Skypad...or cozy up in your Tesla & watch via the Tesla Diner app (where you'll find the movie schedule, too)

📍 7001 Santa Monica Blvd, West Hollywood

Learn more – https://www.tesla.com/tesla-diner

Any of our local Elonologists have any theories on if and how this could tie into his Mars ambitions?

I'm not sure it is any more relevant to Mars than building fart noises into the cars.

To me the Tesla Diner is just a great way to monetise the time people spend sitting at the chargers.

[catdlr]

Tesla Diner & Supercharger | Open 24/7

Jul 21, 2025

Any of our local Elonologists have any theories on if and how this could tie into his Mars ambitions?

I'm not sure it is any more relevant to Mars than building fart noises into the cars.

To me the Tesla Diner is just a great way to monetise the time people spend sitting at the chargers.

OK, then it's deleted.  Thanks for the opinions.  Your posts are also advertising them.

[steveleach]

Tesla Diner & Supercharger | Open 24/7

Jul 21, 2025

Any of our local Elonologists have any theories on if and how this could tie into his Mars ambitions?

I'm not sure it is any more relevant to Mars than building fart noises into the cars.

To me the Tesla Diner is just a great way to monetise the time people spend sitting at the chargers.

OK, then it's deleted.  Thanks for the opinions.

Wait, wut? We're (self-)censoring party threads now?