______
• Picked up by Pookie’s Toons
Stuff That’s Hard to Do (Falcon9 OneWeb)
Routine
Return to Launch Site (RTLS) Stg-1 landing and pretty Earth views, so great video
Things to watch for:
• After Stg-1&2 separate, Stg-1 flips and ignites to return to the Cape
• Fairing half being left behind illustrates Stg-2 acceleration
• Landing-burn startup transient (green flame of starting chemicals, TEA-TEB + LOx) @T+7:23
• Satellite deployment vid @T+1:29:45 to 1:35:30
______
• Cultural ref
Updating the 2021 Version
Veeshir comment
______
• Previously
• Picked up by Pookie’s Toons
G-Men, Lumberjacks, and Judeans
______
• Historical ref (Hoover)
• Cultural ref-1 (Monty Python, Lumberjack sketch)
• Cultural ref-2 (Monty Python’s Life of Brian, I-want-to-be-a-woman scene)
• Reminder: Refs added for young whippersnappers who “ain’t got no culture” yet
Stuff That’s Hard to Do (Threefer)
STARLINK from Vandenberg
(Bullseye on a sunny California Friday with great views of Mother Earth as well as the space-geek stuff)
Stuff That’s Hard to Do (Falcon9 Starlink)
Sunset Launch
Oooh, preeetyyy (definitely full-screen worthy, definitely)
Interesting things to watch:
• Stage separation, as usual
• Fairing separation, first time looking aft
• Ice particles dynamics as Stg-1 rotates to tail-first
• Stg-1 shadow on thruster plumes
• Stg-1 decelerates as it rises to the top of its trajectory, then accelerates as it falls, then decelerates during entry burn, then accelerates for a few seconds (5600 to 5700 km/hr) until the atmosphere thickens enough for drag to cause deceleration (where it would overheat if not for the entry burn)
• Great vid of landing at sunset (kind’a romantic)
(What? Yes, this will be on the exam)
Payload deployment (unique view)
MORE:
Starlink launch from Vandenberg sched. Wed afternoon (UPDATED)
Crew launch resched. Wed night
It could happen
Mission details (new Starlink satellite design, Crew/ISS)
Nerd History
(What? Yeah, more easily entertained than you can imagine)
Why Space-Alien Invaders May Not Be a Big Threat
Imagine you’re an alien ship captain about to invade Earth,
and you detect all this near-Earth satellite traffic.
Would you chance it or assume that this is a planetary defense system?
https://twitter.com/fasc1nate/status/1627047472773345285
I wonder if the astronomers looking for extra-terrestrial planets
hosting advanced, intelligent life are looking for a dense sphere of
satellites surrounding those planets. Seems like that would be a phase
of development that advanced technical civilizations must pass through.
(What? Well, yeah, satellites as we know ’em would be too small to detect from here,
but the thought still applies)
Stuff That’s Hard to Do (Falcon9 Twofer)
Starlink from Vandenberg
beautiful sunny daytime launch
nice landing vid
Inmarsat from the Cape
Why I Don’t Do Valentine’s Day
Happy Valentine’s Day.. 😂 pic.twitter.com/jKkFKmO6Fq
— Buitengebieden (@buitengebieden) February 14, 2023