Diagram #34 | 5th April, 2023 | "Soon™"
Happy First Contact Day! As Troi said to Data and Picard - would you three like to be alone? Hey, it's a Titan! And here I am w/ a Titan IV years ago. Now it's Falcons and Starships.Spending time now working on webcast rehearsals for first test flight of Starship.
Quote from: Herb Schaltegger on 04/05/2023 08:16 pmQuote from: craiglv2 on 04/05/2023 07:56 pmWho would ever approve a rocket launch site at a wildlife refuge? Oh, I almost forgot that Cape Canaveral has shared the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge for 70 years.That's why just claiming some kind of "environmental" basis for any putative legal action is specious. My suggestion above is the kind of specific and focused approach someone would have to take if they want to challenge a lawfully-granted license; they would have to argue with some degree of particularity that there was a flaw in the licensing process or - more likely - that one of the preconditions for grant of a license was not met. Failing to meet one of the environmental mitigations promised in the finding of Mitigated FONSI could be such a basis. That's what they would have to argue to win, not to file. To file, they need nothing but the filing fee and paperwork. To get an injunction, they need more but not as much as they'd need to win.
Quote from: craiglv2 on 04/05/2023 07:56 pmWho would ever approve a rocket launch site at a wildlife refuge? Oh, I almost forgot that Cape Canaveral has shared the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge for 70 years.That's why just claiming some kind of "environmental" basis for any putative legal action is specious. My suggestion above is the kind of specific and focused approach someone would have to take if they want to challenge a lawfully-granted license; they would have to argue with some degree of particularity that there was a flaw in the licensing process or - more likely - that one of the preconditions for grant of a license was not met. Failing to meet one of the environmental mitigations promised in the finding of Mitigated FONSI could be such a basis.
Who would ever approve a rocket launch site at a wildlife refuge? Oh, I almost forgot that Cape Canaveral has shared the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge for 70 years.
Quote from: Herb Schaltegger on 04/05/2023 08:16 pmQuote from: craiglv2 on 04/05/2023 07:56 pmWho would ever approve a rocket launch site at a wildlife refuge? Oh, I almost forgot that Cape Canaveral has shared the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge for 70 years.That's why just claiming some kind of "environmental" basis for any putative legal action is specious. My suggestion above is the kind of specific and focused approach someone would have to take if they want to challenge a lawfully-granted license; they would have to argue with some degree of particularity that there was a flaw in the licensing process or - more likely - that one of the preconditions for grant of a license was not met. Failing to meet one of the environmental mitigations promised in the finding of Mitigated FONSI could be such a basis.Even arguing based on the mitigated FONSI that a precondition for grant of a license was not met would be difficult ….
In regards to lawsuits: because of the bass-ackwards way NEPA works, anyone wanting to file for an injunction would have to wait for the FAA to issue a Launch License. The proposed issuance of a Launch License is the federal action that triggered the NEPA process, and the sole purpose of the EA was to produce a public document of the environmental impacts of that federal action, in order to arm other agencies and the public with the information needed to contest actions (remember, a EA/EIS is not an 'approval' in any way shape or form, the sole enforcement mechanism is through lawsuits, not through environmental regulations or standards). Until the FAA actually issue the Launch License, that federal action has not occurred, so there is nothing to challenge.
Quote from: craiglv2 on 04/05/2023 07:56 pmWho would ever approve a rocket launch site at a wildlife refuge? Oh, I almost forgot that Cape Canaveral has shared the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge for 70 years.When weighing whether to approve a license for Starship to construct Starbase, why didn't the FAA take note of the fact that the space launch facilities in Cape Canaveral are partly shared with the Merritt Island National Refuge?
Quote from: Vahe231991 on 04/06/2023 02:39 pmQuote from: craiglv2 on 04/05/2023 07:56 pmWho would ever approve a rocket launch site at a wildlife refuge? Oh, I almost forgot that Cape Canaveral has shared the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge for 70 years.When weighing whether to approve a license for Starship to construct Starbase, why didn't the FAA take note of the fact that the space launch facilities in Cape Canaveral are partly shared with the Merritt Island National Refuge?NASA was established in 1958, and NASA began buying land for the Launch Operations Center (later the Kennedy Space Center) in 1962. The Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1963, largely as a buffer zone around NASA's launch operations complex. It wasn't a wildlife refuge before NASA started plans to build there, and also the environmental regulations didn't exist then. NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) was enacted in 1970.
QuoteStarship fully stacked at Starbase. Team is working towards a launch rehearsal next week followed by Starship’s first integrated flight test ~week later pending regulatory approval
Starship fully stacked at Starbase. Team is working towards a launch rehearsal next week followed by Starship’s first integrated flight test ~week later pending regulatory approval
Quote from: GewoonLukas_ on 04/06/2023 06:30 pmQuoteStarship fully stacked at Starbase. Team is working towards a launch rehearsal next week followed by Starship’s first integrated flight test ~week later pending regulatory approvalSo with the closure canceled on Monday are we calling this NET 18th now? Could argue that "~" means ± a couple days, but lets be realistic here, launch schedules almost always move to the right.
More generally, a lot of things that dramatically reduce the human population density end up being beneficial to wildlife. This includes weapons testing ranges, the Chernobyl disaster, offshore wind farms that keep fishing boats out, etc. Starbase/SpaceX will likely have this effect on much of the environmentally-sensitive acreage of the BC area. The area paved or occupied by structures was already mostly paved or occupied by structures.
https://twitter.com/alexphysics13/status/1643406331741708289QuoteThis advisory is normally updated every few hours (it says at the end when the next update will happen). It has been updated just a few minutes ago and it shows a new window for Starship's first orbital test flight from 7AM CDT to 11AM CDT
This advisory is normally updated every few hours (it says at the end when the next update will happen). It has been updated just a few minutes ago and it shows a new window for Starship's first orbital test flight from 7AM CDT to 11AM CDT
Is it possible to get these FAA updates directly? Are they on a web site somewhere?
Quote from: pedz on 04/07/2023 01:34 pmIs it possible to get these FAA updates directly? Are they on a web site somewhere? There's a link in that tweet: https://www.fly.faa.gov/adv/adv_spt.jsp
Folks,I apologize if I'm asking a question that's already been answered, but reading the article posted on NSF I'm a bit confused. Are they not going to attempt recovery of the booster or starship? I was under the impression that they would at least attempt to recover the upper stage. Any clarification appreciated!
