SpaceX

[CharlieOneSix]

Now planned for 1500 GMT tomorrow, Sunday 24th

[Boac]

Tuesday possible for SN9

[Boac]

Weather scrub again.

A Tweet from Elon
"@Elon Musk

We’re hoping for FAA approval of a test flight tomorrow afternoon
10:37 AM · Jan 26, 2021"

More popcorn!

[PHXPhlyer]

1st private space crew paying $55M each to fly to station

https://www.nbcnews.com/science/space/1 ... on-rcna241
https://www.axiomspace.com/

1st private space crew paying $55M each to fly to station
The first crew will spend eight days at the space station, and will take one or two days to get there aboard a SpaceX Dragon capsule.

Jan. 27, 2021, 7:56 AM MST
By The Associated Press
The first private space station crew was introduced Tuesday: Three men who are each paying $55 million to fly on a SpaceX rocket.

They’ll be led by a former NASA astronaut now working for Axiom Space, the Houston company that arranged the trip for next January.

“This is the first private flight to the International Space Station. It’s never been done before,” said Axiom’s chief executive and president Mike Suffredini, a former space station program manager for NASA.

While mission commander Michael Lopez-Alegria is well known in space circles, “the other three guys are just people who want to be able to go to space, and we’re providing that opportunity,” Suffredini told The Associated Press.

The first crew will spend eight days at the space station, and will take one or two days to get there aboard a SpaceX Dragon capsule following liftoff from Cape Canaveral.

Russia has been in the off-the-planet tourism business for years, selling rides to the International Space Station since 2001. Other space companies like Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin plan to take paying customers on up-and-down flights lasting just minutes. These trips — much more affordable with seats going for hundreds of thousands versus millions — could kick off this year.

Axiom’s first customers include Larry Connor, a real estate and tech entrepreneur from Dayton, Ohio, Canadian financier Mark Pathy and Israeli businessman Eytan Stibbe, a close friend of Israel’s first astronaut Ilan Ramon, who was killed in the space shuttle Columbia accident in 2003.

“These guys are all very involved and doing it for kind of for the betterment of their communities and countries, and so we couldn’t be happier with this makeup of the first crew because of their drive and their interest,” Suffredini said.

Each of these first paying customers intends to perform science research in orbit, he said, along with educational outreach.

Lopez-Alegria, a former space station resident and spacewalking leader, called the group a “collection of pioneers.”

Tom Cruise was mentioned last year as a potential crew member; NASA top officials confirmed he was interested in filming a movie at the space station. There was no word Tuesday on whether Cruise will catch the next Axiom flight. Suffredini declined to comment.

Each of the private astronauts had to pass medical tests and will get 15 weeks of training, according to Suffredini. The 70-year-old Connor will become the second-oldest person to fly in space, after John Glenn’s shuttle flight in 1998 at age 77. He’ll also serve under Lopez-Alegria as the capsule pilot.

Axiom plans about two private missions a year to the space station. It also is working to launch its own live-in compartments to the station beginning in 2024. This section would be detached from the station once it’s retired by NASA and the international partners, and become its own private outpost.

PP

[Boac]

Do I start to get excited and buy more cocoa? https://www.spacex.com/vehicles/starship/

[CharlieOneSix]

Looks like a planned launch today between 1500-2359 GMT. A continuous live stream is here:

That windspeed of 13 gusting 20 mph doesn't bode well........it's not even sunrise there for a few more minutes (0714 CST) so will probably increase once the sun is up.

[TheGreenGoblin]

Will keep a weather eye out C16.

[Boac]

Thanks C16 - as you say, challenging wind for landing a pogo-stick on a dinner plate.

[Boac]

There goes another scrub.

[CharlieOneSix]

Not surprising - look at the way that wind is moving the camera! More popcorn on order for another go tomorrow from 14-2000 GMT...

[TheGreenGoblin]

Not surprising - look at the way that wind is moving the camera! More popcorn on order for another go tomorrow from 14-2000...

How many more hours of my life am going to waste, while thoroughly enjoying the process.

[Boac]

The problem appears to be with the FAA approval for launch, and Mr M is getting a bit fed up with the FAA. Yesterday's planned flight had to be turned into a load/unload rehearsal due to this.

Perhaps he should just buy the FAA.............................that'll snook Amazon..............

[Boac]

Will they/won't they?

"Elon not happy ... The launch appears to have been delayed because the FAA did not grant final approval for the 10km launch attempt. SpaceX founder Elon Musk tweeted about the FAA, saying, "Their rules are meant for a handful of expendable launches per year from a few government facilities. Under those rules, humanity will never get to Mars." Temporary Flight Restrictions are also in place for Friday, which is now the earliest possible time the vehicle could take flight. Weather should be more benign for SN9 on Friday".

[Boac]

Anyone else's paint dry yet?

[CharlieOneSix]

Scrubbed for today, Friday. From the SpaceX website:

As early as Monday, February 1, the SpaceX team will attempt a high-altitude flight test of Starship serial number 9 (SN9) – the second high-altitude suborbital flight test of a Starship prototype from our site in Cameron County, Texas.

Lets hope the FAA get themselves sorted over the weekend....

[CharlieOneSix]

SN10 joins SN9 at the launch site. The journey there looked rather precarious to me! If SN9 explodes on launch then surely it will take out SN10 as well? They look very close together.

[Boac]

Formation launch?

[CharlieOneSix]

SN9 scrubbed for today, 1 Feb. Don't know why although the wind is 21 gusting 31 mph. Window for 2 Feb is 1500-2359 GMT.

[PHXPhlyer]

SpaceX announces first mission to space with all-civilian crew

https://www.nbcnews.com/science/space/s ... w-n1256390

SpaceX announces first mission to space with all-civilian crew
The four-person expedition is expected to launch into orbit sometime in the fourth quarter of this year.
Jared Isaacman, founder and CEO of Shift4 Payments, will command the first all-civilian mission to space.

Feb. 1, 2021, 2:05 PM MST
By Denise Chow
SpaceX announced plans Monday for the first all-civilian mission to space, a major milestone for private spaceflight and the nascent space tourism industry.

The mission aboard SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft will feature a four-person crew led by Jared Isaacman, the founder and CEO of Shift4 Payments, a Pennsylvania-based payment processing company. The flight is expected to launch sometime in the fourth quarter of this year, according to SpaceX.

Private citizens have flown to space before, but these space tourists typically paid to hitch rides into orbit alongside trained NASA astronauts or Russian cosmonauts. Isaacman’s flight will be the first time a crew made up entirely of private citizens will venture into space. The crewmembers will undergo training by SpaceX, including mission simulations for emergency preparedness and how to handle orbital mechanics during their flight.

Isaacman said in a statement that the mission, dubbed Inspiration4, is “the realization of a lifelong dream and a step towards a future in which anyone can venture out and explore the stars.”

Anyone, that is, with millions of dollars to spend on the ride. SpaceX did not disclose how much Isaacman paid for the flight.

The expedition is part of a charity initiative to raise money for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. In addition to giving $100 million to St. Jude, Isaacman said he is donating the three other seats in the Dragon spacecraft to crewmembers who will be specially selected for the humanitarian flight.

“I appreciate this tremendous responsibility that comes with commanding this mission and I want to use this historic moment to inspire humanity while helping to end childhood cancer here on Earth,” Isaacman said.

The Inspiration4 mission will travel into orbit aboard SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. SpaceX has been launching rockets from Launch Complex 39A since 2017, and the historic pad was previously used for both space shuttle flights and Saturn V launches during NASA’s Apollo moon program.

During the multiday mission, the Dragon capsule will circle Earth once every 90 minutes along a customized flight path, according to SpaceX. At the end of the expedition, the spacecraft will re-enter the planet’s atmosphere and splash down off the coast of Florida.

Isaacman, a trained pilot who has flown both commercial and military aircraft, will command the historic mission. One spot on the flight is reserved for a St. Jude ambassador, while a second seat will be offered to a member of the public as part of a charity drive during the month of February.

For the final spot on the flight, Isaacman and Shift4 Payments will select an entrepreneur “who utilizes the new Shift4Shop eCommerce platform, which empowers entrepreneurs to build and grow successful eCommerce businesses online,” the company said in a statement. The competition began Monday and will run until Feb. 28, with the winner selected by an independent panel of judges.

Isaacman said the announcement of the Inspiration4 flight marks “the first step of a very exciting journey.”

The first space tourist, American multimillionaire Dennis Tito, launched to the International Space Station on an eight-day expedition in 2001. Tito reportedly paid $20 million to fly to the orbiting outpost aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft. Since then, only six other private citizens have flown in space, though the space tourism industry could soon be ramping up as companies such as Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origins and Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic begin offering orbital jaunts later this year.

Last month, SpaceX also announced that the first private space station crew, led by former NASA astronaut Michael Lopez-Alegria, will launch to the orbiting lab next January. Lopez-Alegria will be joined by three men who are each paying $55 million to spend eight days at the space station.

pp

[G-CPTN]

Would Trump like to go?

I'm sure that sponsors could be found.