# 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:** 79
**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:** [September 2, 2024, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-space-exploration-thread/925703/1562 "2024-09-02T23:46:26Z")
Or just take the hammer away from the midget: [Aircraft Mechanic Humor | Mechanics Hub](https://mechanicshub.com/jokes-aircraft-mechanic-humor/) ---
**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:** [September 3, 2024, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-space-exploration-thread/925703/1563 "2024-09-03T02:41:34Z")
It’s probably a cellphone some assembly worker left somewhere in the innards giving its final battery dying bleats for help. ---
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2024, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-space-exploration-thread/925703/1564 "2024-09-03T12:01:53Z")
reminds me of a story when Mini (the car comp.) were bought out by BMW and many workers were so pissed at that that they sabotaged the new cars. One particular nasty (low level) way was to drop a couple of nuts (as in nuts and bolts) into some cavities before they were welded shut … constant intermittant cluttering noises that are nearly impossible to diagnose/remedy … ---
**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:** [September 6, 2024, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-space-exploration-thread/925703/1565 "2024-09-06T21:11:22Z")
NASA will livestream the undocking phase beginning at 5:45 p.m. EDT (2145 GMT) and Starliner’s landing starting at 10:50 p.m. EDT (0250 GMT on Sept. 7). You can watch the livestreams on [NASA’s website](https://plus.nasa.gov/scheduled-video/nasas-boeing-crew-flight-test-undocking/) > **[Watch Live: Boeing Starliner is about to return to Earth without its crew](https://www.livescience.com/space/space-exploration/watch-live-boeing-starliner-is-about-to-return-to-earth)** > > Boeing's Starliner spacecraft will return to Earth today after undocking from the International Space Station without its crew. A livestream of the mission begins at 5:45 p.m. ET. Very shortly now. ---
**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:** [September 6, 2024, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-space-exploration-thread/925703/1566 "2024-09-06T22:06:53Z")
It’s separated. Hasn’t rammed the station… yet. ---
**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:** [September 7, 2024, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-space-exploration-thread/925703/1567 "2024-09-07T01:56:00Z")
I’d be interested to learn what they did to overcome the “crew required” limitation of a couple weeks ago. Not asking anyone here to explain but if you see a press release or relevant vid, a cite would be awesome. ---
**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:** [September 7, 2024, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-space-exploration-thread/925703/1568 "2024-09-07T02:01:18Z")
The best explanation I heard is that it was a configuration issue. Possibly nothing more than a JSON file with `{ "undockNeedsManualConfirmation" : false }`. There’s not much else that makes sense, given that the previous flight could undock just fine. But I’ll update the thread if I see anything official. ---
**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:** [September 7, 2024, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-space-exploration-thread/925703/1569 "2024-09-07T04:05:50Z")
Successful landing of Starliner. ---
**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:** [September 7, 2024, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-space-exploration-thread/925703/1570 "2024-09-07T11:43:11Z")
Hooray for Boeing. The alternate outcome would have been very bad. Not merely the bad it already is. ---
**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:** [September 7, 2024, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-space-exploration-thread/925703/1571 "2024-09-07T11:50:32Z")
Now we wait until February to see if the (Alanis Morissette) ironic thing happens. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2024, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-space-exploration-thread/925703/1572 "2024-09-07T13:32:15Z")
Even with the best possible ending given the conditions, I’m glad NASA stood firm. You simply don’t normalize deviance. If it’s out if spec, you don’t avoidably risk human life. ---
**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:** [September 7, 2024, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-space-exploration-thread/925703/1573 "2024-09-07T13:35:39Z")
Quite right. I agree completely that sending it home uncrewed was the 100% right thing to have done. ---
**Author:** ![Zakalwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zakalwe/32/270_2.png) [@Zakalwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zakalwe)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2024, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-space-exploration-thread/925703/1574 "2024-09-07T13:58:09Z")
So what’s next for Boeing? Are they going to have to fly another test flight or can NASA “since it would have been okay, you’re good.”? I would assume they have significant rework to do on the thrusters and helium systems. Have they even roughly laid out a timeline? ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2024, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-space-exploration-thread/925703/1575 "2024-09-07T14:03:26Z")
What’s next for Boeing is probably a fresh round of campaign contributions to Congressional allies and lobbying them to make NASA stop being so mean to them. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2024, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-space-exploration-thread/925703/1576 "2024-09-08T13:44:35Z")
I wonder if the changes in the C-suite will have any impact? I imagine not; OldSpace culture is far bigger than one CEO, in ways that dwarf the cultural conservatism of the aviation industry. ---
**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:** [September 12, 2024, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-space-exploration-thread/925703/1577 "2024-09-12T02:19:30Z")
There a free new report out (only 219 pages) by the National Academy of Sciences: **NASA at a Crossroads: Maintaining Workforce, Infrastructure, and Technology Preeminence in the Coming Decades** > Since its formation more than 60 years ago, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has served as a global leader in science, aeronautics, and exploration, propelled technological innovation, and inspired youth to pursue careers in science and engineering, while often accomplishing the seemingly impossible. However, despite its critical and transformative role, NASA faces an uncertain future due to declining national investment as a percentage of gross domestic product and systemic issues that compromise its infrastructure, workforce, and capacity for technological innovation. > > As requested by Congress in the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine convened an independent expert committee to evaluate whether NASA’s current workforce, infrastructure, technological capabilities, and their interfaces can meet its strategic goals. NASA at a Crossroads: Maintaining Workforce, Infrastructure, and Technology Preeminence in the Coming Decades considers the critical facilities and emerging technologies necessary to fulfill NASA’s mission, as well as the workforce skills and organizational structure required to perform and support the work of the mission directorates, both now and in the future. [https://nap.nationalacademies.org/download/27519](https://nap.nationalacademies.org/download/27519) ---
**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:** [September 12, 2024, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-space-exploration-thread/925703/1578 "2024-09-12T13:52:26Z")
First private spacewalk: > **[Two private astronauts took a spacewalk Thursday morning—yes, it was historic](https://arstechnica.com/space/2024/09/two-private-astronauts-took-a-spacewalk-thursday-morning-yes-it-was-historic/)** > > "Today’s success represents a giant leap forward for the commercial space industry." Brian ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2024, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-space-exploration-thread/925703/1579 "2024-09-12T14:12:43Z")
So, not quite 60 years from the first government spacewalk and the first private spacewalk. > **[Voskhod 2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voskhod_2)** > > Voskhod 2 (Russian: Восход-2, lit. 'Sunrise-2') was a Soviet crewed space mission in March 1965. The Vostok-based Voskhod 3KD spacecraft with two crew members on board, Pavel Belyayev and Alexei Leonov, was equipped with an inflatable airlock. It established another milestone in space exploration when Alexei Leonov became the first person to leave the spacecraft in a specialised spacesuit to conduct a 12-minute spacewalk. > Liftoff took place at 07:00 GMT on 18 March 1965. As with Voskhod 1, a ... ---
**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:** [September 12, 2024, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-space-exploration-thread/925703/1580 "2024-09-12T18:56:57Z")
Just watched that spacewalk. So awesome, but seemed a shame that it was mostly at night and during a time when the path took the capsule over probably the longest possible route over mostly ocean possible. Was that deliberate? ---
**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:** [September 12, 2024, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-space-exploration-thread/925703/1581 "2024-09-12T20:17:05Z")
Very cool. Actually sets a record for most people on a spacewalk at once–although only two of them went on an EVA, all four were exposed to the vacuum of space, with only their suits to keep them alive. And the suits really are the heroes here. Suits in general are going to be a limiting factor for future missions. NASA has lost expertise and can’t produce more of or repair their current set of suits; the ones that are being developed for Artemis may well be the long pole in the whole mission (they only have one developer left after the other exited the program). So having a company with flight-proven suits and significant in-house expertise is a big deal. The current suits aren’t suitable yet for extended EVA session or the moon, but what they have now is a big jump over the first flight suits and I’m sure they’ll continue to make improvements. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-space-exploration-thread/925703.md?page=78) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-space-exploration-thread/925703.md?page=80)