Search found 117 matches

by orbitingpluto
2015-08-18 03:19am
Forum: Science, Logic, And Morality
Topic: NASA successfully tests Orion main engine
Replies: 8
Views: 3018

Re: NASA successfully tests Orion main engine

Thaaat's not happening with only four engines. An SSME in its original design has a thrust of, what, two million newtons? Less? The F-1 was a lot more powerful than that, and the Saturn V first stage had five F-1s. A SSME, per wikipedia, produces 1.8 million newtons at sea-level compared to the F-1...
by orbitingpluto
2015-08-16 09:41pm
Forum: News and Politics
Topic: Rocket(s) launching live
Replies: 61
Views: 10513

Re: Rocket(s) launching live

August has been slow so far, but it'll pickup speed from here. This week you can look forward to: Aug 19: The 5th HTV cargo vehicle will launch from the Tanegashima Space Center in Japan aboard a H-IIB rocket on a resupply mission to the ISS. The webcast will be through JAXA's youtube channel when i...
by orbitingpluto
2015-08-09 08:49pm
Forum: News and Politics
Topic: International Space Station:News, Events, etc
Replies: 27
Views: 10008

Re: International Space Station:News, Events, etc

Some news: The validation of the Veggie plant growing system is getting to the point where astronaut can start eating some of the stuff they are growing with it. There will be a spacewalk from the ISS tomorrow(Aug 10th), exiting on the Russian side of the station and the two spacewalkers are Gennady...
by orbitingpluto
2015-07-29 06:30pm
Forum: News and Politics
Topic: International Space Station:News, Events, etc
Replies: 27
Views: 10008

Re: International Space Station:News, Events, etc

The ESA has made a neat little 3d panorama of most of the US-side of of the ISS, with not only the pictures that make up the panoramas taken in June by the ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti, but she also did the videos that one can view in some of the clickable parts.
by orbitingpluto
2015-07-27 09:49am
Forum: News and Politics
Topic: Rocket(s) launching live
Replies: 61
Views: 10513

Re: Rocket(s) launching live

That Delta 4 I mentioned? Launched successfully, here's a replay of part of it.
by orbitingpluto
2015-07-22 11:00pm
Forum: News and Politics
Topic: International Space Station:News, Events, etc
Replies: 27
Views: 10008

Re: International Space Station:News, Events, etc

The Soyuz is now securing itself to the Rassvet module of the ISS, with hooks and latches. The docking phase is nearing it's end, and now the process turns to making the Soyuz secure and safe, getting the area between the hatch of the ISS and the hatch of Soyuz ready so the crew of the Soyuz TMA-17M...
by orbitingpluto
2015-07-22 10:31pm
Forum: News and Politics
Topic: International Space Station:News, Events, etc
Replies: 27
Views: 10008

Re: International Space Station:News, Events, etc

The Soyuz is only a few hundred meters away from the ISS, currently flying around to it's assigned docking port, with final approach set to start in 5 minutes, with docking about 15 minutes off. The webcast is here.
by orbitingpluto
2015-07-22 09:28pm
Forum: News and Politics
Topic: Rocket(s) launching live
Replies: 61
Views: 10513

Re: Rocket(s) launching live

I forgot to say, the Delta 4 launch has been scrubbed a day due to weather, so it'll take place on the 24-25th, at 8:07 pm EDT / 12:07 pm UTC.
by orbitingpluto
2015-07-22 08:05pm
Forum: News and Politics
Topic: International Space Station:News, Events, etc
Replies: 27
Views: 10008

Re: International Space Station:News, Events, etc

As ground control and the three crewmembers guide Soyuz TMA-17M towards the ISS, there's not much to watch via the webcast until the Soyuz gets close enough to be seen. Among the things to be seen at that point will be whether manual commands deployed the panel at the end of the port solar array, bu...
by orbitingpluto
2015-07-22 07:50pm
Forum: News and Politics
Topic: Rocket(s) launching live
Replies: 61
Views: 10513

Re: Rocket(s) launching live

I didn't get home anywhere near as quickly as I hoped, but at least for three different travelers things went pretty much as planned. One solar panel on the end of one of the two arrays didn't deploy automatically, but otherwise it's well enough that the Soyuz is free to catch up to the ISS. Perhaps...
by orbitingpluto
2015-07-22 01:28am
Forum: News and Politics
Topic: Rocket(s) launching live
Replies: 61
Views: 10513

Re: Rocket(s) launching live

Tomorrow three people will climb aboard a Soyuz, that tops a another, different kind of Soyuz, to go to the ISS. The ESA has video series that explains the launch, docking, and also landing of the Soyuz capsule, and just below is the launch video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVvgpKt5uCA Anyway, w...
by orbitingpluto
2015-07-16 01:57am
Forum: News and Politics
Topic: Rocket(s) launching live
Replies: 61
Views: 10513

Re: Rocket(s) launching live

Two votes are enough for me, though to keep the topic lightweight for slower connections, I'll simply link to videos instead of embedding. Here's a replay of the Ariane 5 launch up to about 4 minutes , and since the video I posted earlier of the day's Atlas V launch is back on page two, here it is a...
by orbitingpluto
2015-07-15 06:32pm
Forum: News and Politics
Topic: Rocket(s) launching live
Replies: 61
Views: 10513

Re: Rocket(s) launching live

And both satellites have been separated, closing off this flight as a success. Just repeating what I asked earlier, does anyone want links to launch replays/highlights? Anyway, the next two launches are a Soyuz out of Baikonur carrying a Soyuz TMA spacecraft headed for the ISS on the 22nd, followed ...
by orbitingpluto
2015-07-15 05:48pm
Forum: News and Politics
Topic: Rocket(s) launching live
Replies: 61
Views: 10513

Re: Rocket(s) launching live

Lift-off went well, the solids being bright enough to dim the cameras to the point where it nearly looked like a night launch. It's cloudy in French Guiana, so the webcast is showing a great deal of computer simulation.
by orbitingpluto
2015-07-15 05:38pm
Forum: News and Politics
Topic: Rocket(s) launching live
Replies: 61
Views: 10513

Re: Rocket(s) launching live

4 minutes to lift-off.
by orbitingpluto
2015-07-15 05:05pm
Forum: News and Politics
Topic: Rocket(s) launching live
Replies: 61
Views: 10513

Re: Rocket(s) launching live

The Atlas V launch went well, though I missed seeing it live. I'm linking to a video of it , but I'd like to know if doing that regularly after each launch is something people want to see. If I don't hear anything, I'll take that as a 'no'. Anyway, somewhat over twenty minutes from now, the Ariane 5...
by orbitingpluto
2015-07-15 06:19am
Forum: News and Politics
Topic: Rocket(s) launching live
Replies: 61
Views: 10513

Re: Rocket(s) launching live

There's two links for the Atlas V webcast, one that is supposed to be for mobiles (I'm not sure how that link works) and a regular one . The Ariane 5 launch will be streamed via Arianespace's website here . The Ariane will be launching a geostationary communications satellite and the second-to-last ...
by orbitingpluto
2015-07-12 04:15pm
Forum: Off-Topic
Topic: nuclear weapons testing in space?
Replies: 11
Views: 2571

Re: nuclear weapons testing in space?

The burst of radioactivity would disrupt not only regular communications satellites, but also scientific sats as well, even if the explosion happens really far out. With so much expensive and useful equipment operating in space owned by so many governments and companies, any of whom with a line of s...
by orbitingpluto
2015-07-10 06:12pm
Forum: History
Topic: The fallen of WWII
Replies: 18
Views: 8379

Re: The fallen of WWII

The part where Soviet deaths just kept climbing really gets the point across about the how many there were in a way numbers just fail to. What an interesting film.
by orbitingpluto
2015-07-10 01:01pm
Forum: News and Politics
Topic: Rocket(s) launching live
Replies: 61
Views: 10513

Re: Rocket(s) launching live

And now 5 satellites from the UK have successfully been put into a polar orbit by the Indian PSLV. Next webcasts(plural) will be on the 15, with the Atlas V launching earlier in the day at 3:36 PM UTC, and later the Ariane 5 at 9:27 pm UTC.
by orbitingpluto
2015-07-10 12:29pm
Forum: News and Politics
Topic: Rocket(s) launching live
Replies: 61
Views: 10513

Re: Rocket(s) launching live

Liftoff- night launches are cool.
by orbitingpluto
2015-07-10 11:33am
Forum: Off-Topic
Topic: My Grandpa just died
Replies: 21
Views: 4521

Re: My Grandpa just died

It sounds like he lived life well, so there may be comfort in that. My sympathies go out to your and your family.
by orbitingpluto
2015-07-10 10:33am
Forum: News and Politics
Topic: Rocket(s) launching live
Replies: 61
Views: 10513

Re: Rocket(s) launching live

Going forward, I'm going to mention the launches without webcasts- because now that I found out today's Indian PSLV launch does have one, there's only the next hour and a half for anyone here to find that out and get ready should they want to see it. Here the link , webcast starts 30 minutes before ...
by orbitingpluto
2015-07-09 07:01pm
Forum: News and Politics
Topic: International Space Station:News, Events, etc
Replies: 27
Views: 10008

Re: International Space Station:News, Events, etc

NASA has selected the first astronauts to train for commercial crew , which is another step closer to getting those vehicles in service, providing a backup to Soyuz and also enabling one more astronaut aboard the ISS. The NASA article doesn't quite spell out that last bit, but then increasing the s...