# The Great Ongoing Space Exploration Thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Tags:** science-math\ **Created:** [November 16, 2020, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-space-exploration-thread/925703 "2020-11-16T12:18:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 109
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2025, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-space-exploration-thread/925703/2163 "2025-07-08T02:38:00Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > They went through several major design changes, going from a 12 m diameter down to 9 m, What was the reasoning behind that change? Aiui, increasing the diameter of a reentry body pushes the shock boundary further away from the body, which would reduce heating. On that score 12 m should have worked better than 9 m. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2025, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-space-exploration-thread/925703/2164 "2025-07-10T00:05:44Z")
I think 12 m was just too ambitious. It was a much larger rocket overall, targeting up to 300 tons reusable. 9 m is still a hella big rocket. I think they realized that with the amount of iteration required for a working system, both that size and the composites made development too expensive. This was before Starlink was a working system, too–they had to consider the possibility that it wouldn’t work out. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2025, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-space-exploration-thread/925703/2165 "2025-07-10T06:40:09Z")
NASA is in the transportation business, so naturally Trump decided who better to be the temporary NASA administrator than the Secretary of Transportation. > **[Here’s why Trump appointed the Secretary of Transportation to lead NASA](https://arstechnica.com/space/2025/07/nasa-has-a-new-interim-administrator-the-secretary-of-transportation/)** > > “Honored to accept this mission. Time to take over space. Let’s launch.”… ---
**Author:** ![Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiendish_astronaut/32/3295_2.png) [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiendish_Astronaut)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2025, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-space-exploration-thread/925703/2166 "2025-07-22T20:09:31Z")
Astronomers have discovered Betelguese’s companion star. > **[Astronomers crack 1,000-year-old Betelgeuse mystery with 1st-ever sighting of...](https://www.space.com/astronomy/astronomers-crack-1-000-year-old-betelgeuse-mystery-with-1st-ever-sighting-of-secret-companion-photo-video)** > > "Papers that predicted Betelgeuse's companion believed that no one would likely ever be able to image it." > The team thinks the star has a mass around 1.5 times that of the sun and that it is a hot blue-white star orbiting Betelgeuse at a distance equivalent to four times the distance between Earth and the sun, fairly close for binary stars. That means it exists within the extended atmosphere of Betelgeuse. This represents the first time a companion star has been detected so close to a red supergiant. > > The team also theorizes that this star has not yet begun to burn hydrogen in its core, the process that defines the main sequence lifetimee of a star. Thus, the Betelgeuse system appears to consist of two stars that exist at opposite ends of their lives, despite the fact that both stars formed at the same time! > > …[That] doesn’t mean that Betelgeuse’s companion is in for a long life; the intense gravity of Betelgeuse is likely to drag the smaller star into it, devouring it. > > The team estimates this cannibalistic event could happen within the next 10,000 years. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2025, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-space-exploration-thread/925703/2167 "2025-07-22T20:52:17Z")
See also related posts here: > [@Betelgeuse losing brightness](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/betelgeuse-losing-brightness/845478/200): > > Astronomers say they have found Betelgeuse’s small companion: a blue A or B star, hot but not yet on the main sequence, orbiting Betelgeuse at about 4 AU. Believed to be the explanation for the six year dimming cycle, caused as it orbits Betelgeuse. ---
**Author:** ![Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiendish_astronaut/32/3295_2.png) [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiendish_Astronaut)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2025, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-space-exploration-thread/925703/2168 "2025-07-22T21:17:23Z")
Thanks, I always seem to miss these other space threads. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2025, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-space-exploration-thread/925703/2169 "2025-07-22T22:24:17Z")
Wouldn’t Betelgeuse have been known as a spectroscopic binary before now? ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2025, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-space-exploration-thread/925703/2170 "2025-07-25T03:00:10Z")
Just don’t mention its name three times. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2025, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-space-exploration-thread/925703/2171 "2025-07-25T04:10:26Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > Wouldn’t Betelgeuse have been known as a spectroscopic binary before now? No. Spectroscopic binaries are usually short period binaries that have a regular back and forth movement in their spectral lines. The key phrase there is “short period” as in a few weeks or less. Betelgeuse Jr has a period of about 6 years, so not so short. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2025, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-space-exploration-thread/925703/2172 "2025-07-25T20:08:37Z")
Ah! Mainly because Betelgeuse is so damn big (not just massive but large) that the companion can orbit that far away from the epicenter and still be obscured. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2025, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-space-exploration-thread/925703/2173 "2025-07-25T20:10:40Z")
And orbit that far away and still be _inside_ Betelgeuse A. I was gobsmacked to read that a couple weeks ago. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2025, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-space-exploration-thread/925703/2174 "2025-07-25T20:28:32Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > And orbit that far away and still be _inside_ Betelgeuse A. Yep. An orbit of around 4 AU is around 600 million kilometers in radius. And Betelgeuse is estimated to be from 640 to 764 million kilometers in radius. So it is up to a full AU deep. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2025, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-space-exploration-thread/925703/2175 "2025-07-30T05:19:40Z")
Astra vibes: > At least the rocket was considerate enough to scoot off to the side so as to not destroy the launch tower. ---
**Author:** ![K364](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k364/32/5_2.png) [@K364](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K364)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2025, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-space-exploration-thread/925703/2176 "2025-07-30T14:34:11Z")
I like how the camera optimistically kept panning up even through the rocket started falling. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2025, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-space-exploration-thread/925703/2177 "2025-08-07T17:15:29Z")
Instead of little things like permanent moon bases or colonizing Mars people need to think bigger: how about a trip to Alpha Centauri? > **[Proposed spacecraft could carry up to 2,400 people on a one-way trip to the...](https://www.livescience.com/space/space-exploration/proposed-spacecraft-could-carry-up-to-2-400-people-on-a-one-way-trip-to-the-nearest-star-system-alpha-centauri)** > > The design for a 36 mile long spacecraft, called Chrysalis, includes libraries, tropical forests and structural manufacturing facilities, all supported by artificial gravity. Plans at: [https://www.canva.com/design/DAGmr3ubC8E/LHHAeeAIGGQe\_TkZVs-PXA/view](https://www.canva.com/design/DAGmr3ubC8E/LHHAeeAIGGQe_TkZVs-PXA/view?utm_content=DAGmr3ubC8E) ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2025, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-space-exploration-thread/925703/2178 "2025-08-07T17:52:20Z")
One way ? No thanks. ---
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2025, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-space-exploration-thread/925703/2179 "2025-08-07T18:12:35Z")
I’d just like to point out that every….one….of….us is on a one way trip. This concept of a plan’ ain’t happening but nothing changes. Have a nice day! ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2025, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-space-exploration-thread/925703/2180 "2025-08-07T18:27:18Z")
The gap between concept and practicality is mind-boggling. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2025, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-space-exploration-thread/925703/2181 "2025-08-07T18:28:40Z")
BTW: is Starship on hold indefinitely, or are there any tentative plans for further test flights? ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2025, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-space-exploration-thread/925703/2182 "2025-08-07T20:20:37Z")
This is a pretty funny Google News headline: [![](https://i.imgur.com/QVnbNlF.png) ](https://i.imgur.com/QVnbNlF.png) Now it is “Maybe August” > **[Starship Flight 10: SpaceX fires up megarocket for next launch from South Texas](https://www.caller.com/story/news/2025/08/04/spacex-starship-rocket-flight-10/85505173007/)** > > SpaceX is preparing its 400-foot Starship rocket for its next launch from South Texas, which Elon Musk has hinted could occur in August. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-space-exploration-thread/925703.md?page=108) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-space-exploration-thread/925703.md?page=110)