I've seen a lot of very bad reporting on the subject.
Musk says that he hopes to have a smaller-scale version of the BFR doing "up and down" flights (straight up for a few thousand feet then back down) by the end of 2019. And that may only mean the booster stage. But some otherwise credible papers have turned that into manned flights to Mars by 2019.
The article above sneers at NASA for all the stages/vehicles needed to get to the moon, while Musk plans to do it in just ONE. But strictly speaking, the BFR has a booster stage and the main spacecraft. And for beyond earth orbit it would be refueled by another BFR configured as a tanker, with it's own booster. So four stages/vehicles.
The BFR runs into the same problem the scrapped the Saturn V: Other than manned beyond-earth-orbit flights, there's nothing that needs a launcher that big. So the newer plan is to build the smaller-scale BFR, a replacement for the Falcon rockets that might pay for itself, before moving on to the big Mars ship.
... The final vote ― which was 50-49 along party lines ― came one day after the Senate narrowly advanced Bridenstine’s nomination, thanks to an about-face from Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and a key vote from Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.). Rubio, who in September told Politico that he worried about Bridenstine’s nomination “could be devastating for the space program,” said in a statement Wednesday that he decided to support the nominee in order to avoid “a gaping leadership void” at NASA....
Not that big of a deal that someone found 12 more moons orbiting Jupiter - the count was already 67, but one of the one time more normal size moon keeps getting smaller. This ball of rock and ice is now only one mile in diameter due to collisions from orbiting in the opposite direction as the other 78(+) moons.
A booster rocket failed less than two minutes after launching an American and a Russian toward the International Space Station on Thursday, forcing their emergency — but safe — landing on the steppes of Kazakhstan.
It was the latest in a recent series of failures for the troubled Russian space program, which is used by the U.S. to carry its astronauts to the station.
NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos' Alexei Ovchinin were subjected to heavy gravitational forces as their capsule automatically jettisoned from the Soyuz booster rocket and fell back to Earth at a sharper-than-normal angle and landed about 20 kilometers (12 miles) east of the city of Dzhezkazgan in Kazakhstan....
I didn't know that such events could be survivable.
For all of the money we are spending, NASA should NOT be talking about going to the Moon - We did that 50 years ago. They should be focused on the much bigger things we are doing, including Mars (of which the Moon is a part), Defense and Science!
"As JFK famously said, 'We choose to go to the Moon not because it is easy, but because it is Mars.'"
"Moon is part of Mars is going to lead to moon truthers and Qanon people joining forces."
Comments:
The sad thing is that because of this tweet, now over 40% of the US population believes the moon is a part of Mars...and will now obsessively defend this position here and elsewhere.
Lindsey Graham quickly agreed and William Barr has threatened to prosecute any astronomer who says the moon is not part of Mars.
Everyone knows that the Moon hides within Mars during the day. The Moon only comes out at night. Sheesh!
Vrede too wrote: Fri Jun 07, 2019 6:44 pmDonald Trump's latest tweets!
For all of the money we are spending, NASA should NOT be talking about going to the Moon - We did that 50 years ago. They should be focused on the much bigger things we are doing, including Mars (of which the Moon is a part), Defense and Science!
"As JFK famously said, 'We choose to go to the Moon not because it is easy, but because it is Mars.'"
"Moon is part of Mars is going to lead to moon truthers and Qanon people joining forces."
Comments:
The sad thing is that because of this tweet, now over 40% of the US population believes the moon is a part of Mars...and will now obsessively defend this position here and elsewhere.
Lindsey Graham quickly agreed and William Barr has threatened to prosecute any astronomer who says the moon is not part of Mars.
Everyone knows that the Moon hides within Mars during the day. The Moon only comes out at night. Sheesh!
Omg
Part of tRump's best people :laughing-rolling:
Eamus Catuli~AC 000000000101010202020303010304 020405....Ahhhh, forget it, it's gonna be a while.
Vrede too wrote: Fri Jun 07, 2019 6:44 pmDonald Trump's latest tweets!
For all of the money we are spending, NASA should NOT be talking about going to the Moon - We did that 50 years ago. They should be focused on the much bigger things we are doing, including Mars (of which the Moon is a part), Defense and Science!
"As JFK famously said, 'We choose to go to the Moon not because it is easy, but because it is Mars.'"
"Moon is part of Mars is going to lead to moon truthers and Qanon people joining forces."
Comments:
The sad thing is that because of this tweet, now over 40% of the US population believes the moon is a part of Mars...and will now obsessively defend this position here and elsewhere.
Lindsey Graham quickly agreed and William Barr has threatened to prosecute any astronomer who says the moon is not part of Mars.
Everyone knows that the Moon hides within Mars during the day. The Moon only comes out at night. Sheesh!
Omg
Part of tRump's best people :laughing-rolling:
It stands to reason that if Bugs and Daffy can reach Mars and have the video to prove it, Americans should be able to do the same.
Trump: “We had the safest border in the history of our country - or at least recorded history. I guess maybe a thousand years ago it was even better.”
GoCubsGo wrote: Sat Jun 08, 2019 10:04 am
Hey, that's Marvin the Martian!
I was referring to the Earthlings who have made the trip. There will be no Martian cred offered here. Besides, it's pretty damn easy for a Martian to get to Mars.
I saw the movie and Daffy most certainly made the trip. trump should have a meeting.
Trump: “We had the safest border in the history of our country - or at least recorded history. I guess maybe a thousand years ago it was even better.”
GoCubsGo wrote: Sat Jun 08, 2019 10:04 am
Hey, that's Marvin the Martian!
I was referring to the Earthlings who have made the trip. There will be no Martian cred offered here. Besides, it's pretty damn easy for a Martian to get to Mars.
I saw the movie and Daffy most certainly made the trip. trump should have a meeting.
Ah, articulately explained .
Eamus Catuli~AC 000000000101010202020303010304 020405....Ahhhh, forget it, it's gonna be a while.
billy.pilgrim wrote: Sat Jun 08, 2019 5:58 amIt stands to reason that if Bugs and Daffy can reach Mars and have the video to prove it, Americans should be able to do the same.
billy.pilgrim wrote: Sat Jun 08, 2019 5:58 amIt stands to reason that if Bugs and Daffy can reach Mars and have the video to prove it, Americans should be able to do the same.
Bugs and Daffy ARE Americans, you commie!
You are correct. All the more reason for trump to have a meeting.
Trump: “We had the safest border in the history of our country - or at least recorded history. I guess maybe a thousand years ago it was even better.”
I read a story today that says a football field sized asteroid or otherwise classified space rock has a chance of hitting the Earth in the next few days. I hope this close proximity of Jupiter doesn't up our chances.....I've got plans.
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