# 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:** 51
**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:** [November 6, 2023, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-space-exploration-thread/925703/1002 "2023-11-06T21:31:53Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > Astra soon to be gone? Well, they aren’t _quite_ dead yet: > **[Astra Announces Closing of Additional Debt Financing and Waiver of Previously...](https://investor.astra.com/news-releases/news-release-details/astra-announces-closing-additional-debt-financing-and-waiver)** > > Financing provided by affiliates of two early investors in Astra ALAMEDA, Calif. --(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 6, 2023-- Astra Space, Inc. (“Astra”)(Nasdaq: ASTR) announced today that it has closed an initial financing with JMCM Holdings LLC (“JMCM”) and... I don’t want to go on the cart! (Oh, don’t be such a baby) ---
**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:** [November 7, 2023, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-space-exploration-thread/925703/1003 "2023-11-07T16:09:17Z")
This is more planetary science than it is launch system development, but I thought some of y’all might enjoy seeing these articles on recent research results: > **[The Moon Is Even Older Than Scientists Thought - Eos](https://eos.org/articles/the-moon-is-even-older-than-scientists-thought)** > > How did the Moon form and how old is it? The most precise dating yet of Earth’s largest satellite found that it is much older than previously thought. > **[Five Martian Mysteries That Have Scientists Scratching Their Heads - Eos](https://eos.org/articles/five-martian-mysteries-that-have-scientists-scratching-their-heads)** > > Despite centuries of study and many spacecraft visits, the Red Planet still holds secrets. Here are just a few. > **[Where the Wild Marsquakes Are - Eos](https://eos.org/editor-highlights/where-the-wild-marsquakes-are)** > > A new analysis of the seismic data gathered by the InSight lander reveals that marsquakes occur across a much larger area of the planet than previously believed. ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2023, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-space-exploration-thread/925703/1004 "2023-11-07T16:23:40Z")
Any story that states a need for “a huge hot buttery network of seismometers” gets a thumbs up from me. 👍 ---
**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:** [November 7, 2023, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-space-exploration-thread/925703/1005 "2023-11-07T16:33:54Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > This is more planetary science than it is launch system development Space exploration is in the title of this thread, not launch system development (which if you think about it is the bit right before the space exploration starts, though still absolutely on topic as far as I’m concerned) Planetary science _is_ space exploration! Thanks for these links, the Mars mysteries article was particularly interesting. ---
**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:** [November 7, 2023, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-space-exploration-thread/925703/1006 "2023-11-07T16:58:43Z")
Understood. But somehow launch system development, and the concomitant business highlights and lowlights, seems to be a perennial topic here. Consider my intro as the equivalent of Monty Python’s > And now for something completely different … Just a way to signal a transition within the overall flow. ---
**Author:** ![xtenkfarpl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c2a13f/32.png) [@xtenkfarpl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xtenkfarpl)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2023, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-space-exploration-thread/925703/1007 "2023-11-07T18:08:30Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > But somehow launch system development, and the concomitant business highlights and lowlights, seems to be a perennial topic here. Of course. It’s hard to explore space in detail unless we have instruments out there making measurements not blocked by the atmosphere, and we have to get them out of the gravity well somehow? ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2023, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-space-exploration-thread/925703/1008 "2023-11-08T13:34:10Z")
So recently the Lucy spacecraft went by the asteroid Dinkinesh and discovered it had a satellite. Cool, but not too surprising. Well now it has found out that Dinkinesh has TWO satellites that are a contact pair, the first contact pair found orbiting another asteroid. > **[NASA’s Lucy Surprises Again, Observes 1st-ever Contact Binary Orbiting...](https://science.nasa.gov/missions/lucy/nasas-lucy-surprises-again-observes-1st-ever-contact-binary-orbiting-asteroid/)** > > NASA's Lucy Spacecraft took images of asteroid Dinkinesh, discovering that the asteroid has the first-ever contact binary pair orbiting the asteroid. Brian ---
**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:** [November 9, 2023, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-space-exploration-thread/925703/1009 "2023-11-09T00:42:49Z")
It’s satellites all the way down. ---
**Author:** ![Llama\_Llogophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2023, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-space-exploration-thread/925703/1010 "2023-11-10T00:53:22Z")
Apollo 8 commander Frank Borman, one of the first three humans to see the moon up close, has died: > **[Frank Borman, who commanded the first Apollo mission to the moon, dies at 95](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/obituaries/frank-borman-commanded-first-apollo-mission-moon-dies-95-rcna124538)** > > Borman commanded the Apollo 8 Christmas 1968 flight, which circled the moon 10 times and paved the way for the lunar landing the next year. He died Tuesday, NASA said. ---
**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:** [November 10, 2023, 10:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-space-exploration-thread/925703/1011 "2023-11-10T10:19:03Z")
Sad news ☹ I think it means there are only four living lunar astronauts left alive today. ---
**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:** [November 10, 2023, 10:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-space-exploration-thread/925703/1012 "2023-11-10T10:35:01Z")
Eight, assuming you count the ones that circled the moon. Living astronauts that set foot on the moon: Buzz Aldrin David Scott Charles Duke Harrison Schmitt And ones that circled the moon (which included Borman): Jim Lovell Bill Anders Tom Stafford Fred Haise ---
**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:** [November 10, 2023, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-space-exploration-thread/925703/1013 "2023-11-10T10:38:36Z")
Of course, Boorman never actually landed so the number of living astronauts who have walked on the moon is the same today as it was on Monday. > **[List of Apollo astronauts](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Apollo_astronauts)** > > As part of the Apollo program by NASA, 24 astronauts flew 9 missions to the Moon between December 1968 and December 1972. During six successful two-man landing missions, twelve men walked on the lunar surface, six of whom drove Lunar Roving Vehicles as part of the last three missions. Three men have been to the Moon twice, one orbited once and took a circumlunar trajectory the second time, while the other two landed once apiece. Apart from these 24 men, no human being has gone beyond low Earth ... ---
**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:** [November 10, 2023, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-space-exploration-thread/925703/1014 "2023-11-10T11:40:09Z")
My post from the dedicate Ken Mattingly thread which now includes Borman too: > [@Astronaut Ken Mattingly passed away on {2023-10-31}; + some Apollo moon stats](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/astronaut-ken-mattingly-passed-away-on-2023-10-31-some-apollo-moon-stats/992828/3): > > This dates from 2012: And is surprisingly accurate. Right now the survivorship is running towards the high end of the 95th percentile; The lunar walkers are lasting 3-4 years longer than expected. The 5 to 4 survivor transition was expected in ~2019. We “should” be down to about 2-1/2 by now. Although that’s base on actuarial tables for mere mortals, not folks who once passed an astronaut physical and have had lifetime medical care. I don’t know anything about how well Aldrin, Scott, Duke o… ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2023, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-space-exploration-thread/925703/1015 "2023-11-10T20:09:48Z")
_“…good night, good luck, a Merry Christmas, and God bless all of you, all of you on the good Earth.”_ I believe Apollo 8’s was until now the last surviving full crew. ---
**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:** [November 18, 2023, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-space-exploration-thread/925703/1016 "2023-11-18T23:01:03Z")
Quoting a bit upthread from ~2 weeks ago for context … > [@PastTense](#): > > Astra soon to be gone? This post and the next few posts by our usual suspects 🙂 were about financing for these various start-ups and the challenges specific to the “new space” industry but also how they’re applicable to new ventures into new markets of all sorts. Today I was catching up on a financial blog I follow and encountered this entry from a month ago which is explaining a very interesting paper on the general topic of fashionable bubbles in the valuations of gold rush companies. Both the blog and the 3 papers it cites are worth a look for anyone who’s into the financial side of high tech & big industry. > **[Avoid Big Market Delusion: The Case Of Electric Vehicles](https://www.kitces.com/blog/big-market-delusion-electric-vehicles-ev-diversifying-investment-herd-mentality-market-bubble/)** > > Big Market Delusion can cause an entire industry to become overvalued, and the way to avoid getting caught up is to remain broadly diversified across markets. ETA: There’s probably a thread on the EV or self-driving car biz that could benefit from a cross-link to this post; I just wasn’t quite sure which thread that would best be. Anyone? ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2023, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-space-exploration-thread/925703/1017 "2023-11-18T23:39:05Z")
The return to normal interest rates and the end of the ZIRP era is going to result in a lot of companies going under for lack of financing. The era of cheap/free money is ending. This is probably a good thing, because there was a ridiculous amount of malinvestment due to artificially low rates. A lot of those speculative electric airplanes will likely vanish now - I think eHang is already in trouble. Hyperloop projects will hopefully die as well, as they were pretty much all scams. But unfortunately, some perfectly viable businesses will likely go down as well. ---
**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:** [November 24, 2023, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-space-exploration-thread/925703/1018 "2023-11-24T04:17:04Z")
> ESA’s new Ariane 6 rocket passed a major full-scale rehearsal today in preparation for its first flight, when teams on the ground went through a complete launch countdown followed by a seven-minute full firing of the core stage’s engine, as it would fire on a launch into space… > A last hot-fire test of the upper stage is being prepared and planned for December 2023 at the Lampoldshausen test centre from Germany’s DLR aerospace agency. > **[Hot fire: Ariane 6 ready to rumble](https://www.esa.int/Enabling_Support/Space_Transportation/Ariane/Hot_fire_Ariane_6_ready_to_rumble)** ---
**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:** [November 24, 2023, 8:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-space-exploration-thread/925703/1019 "2023-11-24T08:34:26Z")
Man, it should not be this hard to get excited about a rocket. Even SLS was an amazing launch. But Ariane 6? It’s just a slightly tweaked Ariane 5, supposedly cost reduced but in practice it looks like even that won’t pan out. Thankfully, there are a ton of upcoming rockets that _are_ exciting–Starship, Neutron, New Glenn, even Vulcan. Oh well. I don’t want them to _fail_, but it’s hard to see any outcome other than a dozen or so launches a year from European government projects that are obligated to use it. ---
**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:** [November 24, 2023, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-space-exploration-thread/925703/1020 "2023-11-24T17:55:23Z")
So they hot-fired part of the first stage on a pad in French Guiana. Next month they hope to hot fire an upper stage at a factory in Germany. Then they’ll put the upper stage on a boat to French Guiana, then eventually stack the whole thing, test a bunch more, then launch. How … quaint. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2023, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-space-exploration-thread/925703/1021 "2023-11-24T20:37:25Z")
Gotta make sure enough countries wet their beaks. Similar to how NASA rocket bits have to be transported all over the place. You build facilities in enough districts to make sure you maintain political support. Efficiency is a secondary concern for such people. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-space-exploration-thread/925703.md?page=50) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-space-exploration-thread/925703.md?page=52)