It's been done and so far with no problems.

Footage of the daring stunt showed a billionaire popping out of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule on a tether as he came face-to-face with the dark vacuum of space.

Tech billionaire Jared Isaacman became the first-ever civilian to start a space walk on Thursday — after already travelling the farthest from Earth a human being has gone since the Apollo moon missions.

Footage of the daring stunt showed Isaacman, 41, popping out of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule on a tether as he came face-to-face with the dark vacuum of space just before 7am (EDT).

“Back at home we all have a lot of work to do, but from here, Earth sure looks like a perfect world,” Isaacman said soon after emerging from the spacecraft with the planet glittering below him.

After about 15 minutes outside, Isaacman was replaced by SpaceX engineer Sarah Gillis to go through the same motions. She was slated to be following by two other crew members: engineer Anna Menon and former Air Force Thunderbirds pilot, Scott “Kidd” Poteet..........

Polaris Dawn mission accomplished without a hitch.

SpaceX capsule splashes down off Florida coast.

SpaceX's Polaris Dawn crew has returned to Earth after five days in orbit, following a historic mission featuring the world's first commercial spacewalk.

The Dragon capsule made splashdown off the coast of Florida shortly after 03:37EDT (07:37GMT), in an event stream lived by SpaceX.

"Splashdown of Dragon confirmed! Welcome back to Earth," SpaceX said on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.

The US space agency Nasa said the mission represented "a giant leap forward" for the commercial space industry.....

Cheers.

Another milestone for SpaceX has been made.

Space X successfully catches Falcon Superheavy rocket booster in ‘Mechagodzilla claws’.

SpaceX made an incredible advancement in capability when it launched its Starship rocket — and then managed to catch the Super Heavy booster in the “Mechagodzilla” claws on the launch pad on Sunday.

SpaceX successfully flew the first-stage booster of its Starship megarocket back to the launch pad after a test flight, a technical tour de force that furthers the company’s quest for rapid reusability.

The “super heavy booster” had blasted off attached to the uncrewed Starship rocket minutes earlier, then made a picture-perfect controlled return to the same pad in Texas, where a pair of huge mechanical “chopsticks” reached out from the launch tower to bring the slowly descending booster to a halt, according to a livestream from Elon Musk’s SpaceX company.

The booster was caught by the “Mechazilla arms” at SpaceX’s Starbase in Texas after the Starship rocket separated from the booster and continued into space.

Not long afterwards, the upper stage of Starship splashed down, as planned, in the Indian Ocean, a development saluted by Musk on X.......

Cheers.

The most incredible thing concerning rockets I've ever seen. You can't maneuver a rocket stage weighing many hundreds of tons like that. You just can't do that. Mind blowing...

Indeed fantastic!


Starship Flight 5: Where Were You? | SpaceX Starbase

Starship Flight 5 - Cinematic Experience | CSI Starbase


That, and NSF, completely shaped my day!


What a wonderful time to be alive!

Enjoy!!
Martin

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

Well that 1 didn't take off.

SpaceX Failed Launch: Here's What Went Wrong.

A launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket was scrubbed on Sunday due to a helium leak.

The SpaceX Starlink 6-77 mission, meant to deliver 23 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit, was scheduled to launch from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on November 3 at 4:57 p.m. ET.

However, the Falcon 9 launch was stopped just over two minutes before launch due to a helium leak on the rocket's first stage.

During a live broadcast on X (formerly Twitter) of the planned launch, a SpaceX team member could be heard saying, "Hold, hold, hold. Standing down for helium, stage one."

A helium leak in a Falcon 9 launch can be particularly problematic due to the rocket's reliance on inert gas to pressurize its fuel systems.

Falcon 9 uses supercooled liquid oxygen (LOX) and RP-1 (a refined kerosene) as propellants. To feed these liquids into the engines, Falcon 9 uses helium to pressurize both the LOX and RP-1 tanks, particularly as fuel is used during ascent........

It's almost time to do it again.

SpaceX Starship Sixth Test Flight: What to Expect.

SpaceX is finalizing preparations for the sixth test flight of its Starship rocket, with the launch scheduled for Monday, November 18.

The upper stage of the rocket is now positioned on the launch pad at SpaceX's Starbase facility in Boca Chica, Texas, the company said on X (formerly Twitter).

Standing at 397 feet tall, Starship is the world's largest and most powerful rocket, comprising two main sections: the upper "Starship" stage and the lower "Super Heavy" booster.

This groundbreaking rocket system is being developed with the ambitious goal of enabling lunar and interplanetary missions, including NASA's Artemis program, which aims to return astronauts to the moon before the end of the decade.

However, before Starship can reach this milestone, it must first clear numerous technical challenges—which is what the sixth test flight is all about......

Cheers.

Well it didn't go all that well with Elon's improved starship.

SpaceX Confirms It's Lost Starship During Test Flight 7, After Successful Booster Catch.

SpaceX has confirmed it has lost its Starship during the seventh test flight today.

Moments after Starbase's giant metal tower 'Mechazilla' successfully caught the Super Heavy booster, a SpaceX spokesperson said they'd lost communication with the Starship.

"At this point, we are assuming that the ship has been lost," spokesperson Dan Huo said. "But there's a lot of things you're going to learn as all those systems are now interacting with each other for the first time."

Today's launch featured "a new generation ship with significant upgrades, attempt Starship's first payload deployment test, fly multiple reentry experiments geared towards ship catch and reuse, and launch and return the Super Heavy booster," according to SpaceX.

The payload included a set of ten replica Starlink satellites.......

Hey! That is still a tremendous achievement!!! And a very rapidly on-going developing!

Have you just seen the close-ups of the catch of the big booster?!... Incredible!!!!


Note:

Bigger than the Saturn 5. With a very big cluster of engines that the Russian N-1 never managed to survive...

Fantastic stuff!

Meanwhile, some of the media are lost in their dull uncomprehending stupidity and trash gossip. Anything for dumb sensationalism over educated journalism?


And, for an even bigger "Wow!", FAA depending... Next launch attempt is next month...


Now... Decades later... Where is that SLS?... Or anything else comparable?

Keep searchin'!
Martin

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

Now... Decades later... Where is that SLS?... Or anything else comparable?

...and that is the reason why Elon Musk invested vast money into Trump's campaign. He risked a considerable portion of his personal, movable assets, a true gambler. For what?

To divert money from delayed, ultra-expensive, unsuccessful SLS resp. Artemis program for a more promising Mars program... his program.

As a collateral damage, he destroyed the commercial success of the proud French ^D^D err... cough... cough.. I meant "European" space program, that is, these Arianespace launch vehicles.

Chaos on the ground and in space?!...

Hear for yourselves:


Elon Musk Drops BOMBSHELL about Astronaut Rescue, Calls ISS Commander a Liar and R*tard...


... So...

Musk deorbits the ISS sooner/soonest!


Fly safe folks?
Martin

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

Musk deorbits the ISS sooner/soonest!

Elon Musk:

"The decision is up to the President, but my recommendation is as soon as possible.

I recommend 2 years from now."

Time for another go. Will this 1 also blow up?

Musk's SpaceX Starship rocket will launch for an eighth test flight.

The eighth flight test of SpaceX's Starship rockets will launch this morning, after the company was given the go ahead from regulators.

The flight will target objectives not reached during its last trial, which exploded over the Atlantic Ocean, sending debris raining down over the Turks and Caicos Islands.

Here's what you need to know about the launch.
When is the launch?

SpaceX's Starship mega rocket will fly again this morning at 10:30am (AEDT)......

Well the fireworks are less than 4hrs away.

Scrubbed to fly another day.


Keep searchin'!
Martin

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

No improvements there either.

[url=]https://www.news.com.au/technology/science/space/spacex-starship-rocket-breaks-apart-for-second-launch-in-a-row/news-story/ae2ed836041fff878b0b177c559f4ca8SpaceX Starship rocket breaks apart for second launch in a row.[/url]

Musk’s SpaceX suffered another setback on Thursday after the upper stage of its Starship rocket broke apart for the second launch in a row, sending debris showering back to earth.

SpaceX was conducting the eighth uncrewed test flight of its mega-rocket — the world’s biggest and most powerful — two months after the last attempt also ended in failure, sending debris raining over the Caribbean.......

Elon's big skyrocket lights up the sky yet again.

SpaceX Starship launched on ninth test flight after last two blew up.

Starship, the futuristic SpaceX rocket vehicle, has roared into space from Texas on its ninth uncrewed test launch, flying farther than the last two attempts before also ending in explosive failure.

The two-stage spacecraft, consisting of the Starship vessel mounted atop a towering SpaceX Super Heavy rocket booster, blasted off at about 7:36pm local time on Tuesday in Texas from the company's Starbase launch site on the Gulf Coast.

SpaceX later confirmed that the spacecraft experienced "a rapid unscheduled disassembly", or burst apart.

"Teams will continue to review data and work toward our next flight test," the company said in an online statement.

Elon Musk noted in a post on X it was a "big improvement" from the two previous demos.......

Well that 1 didn't even come close to getting off the ground.

SpaceX Starship upper stage explodes during ramp-up to expected engine test firing.

A SpaceX Starship upper stage exploded in a spectacular conflagration during ramp-up to an expected engine test firing at the company's Starbase manufacturing facility on the Texas Gulf Coast late Wednesday, destroying the rocket in what appears to be a major setback for the Super Heavy-Starship vehicle Elon Musk says is critical to the company's future.

Video from LabPadre, a company that monitors SpaceX activities at Starbase, showed the Starship suddenly exploding in a huge fireball just after 11 p.m. CDT, 10 to 15 minutes before the anticipated engine test firing, sending flaming debris shooting away into the overnight sky from a churning fireball that engulfed the test stand.....

The video can be found here. https://www.facebook.com/reel/1785196398873313

It also looks like the main stage went kaboom as well not long after.

History's verdict?
Elon Musk-- he aimed for Mars, and hit Texas!

A skyscraper in spaaace!!!


For beautiful views, see:

Starship Flight 11 Launch Highlights


For a technical rundown, see:

The End Of SpaceX Starship V2 - What Now?



Spectacular all round!

Keep searchin'!
Martin

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

For a technical rundown, see:

The End Of SpaceX Starship V2 - What Now?

02m15s: Dozens of... what is it? Hydrogen tanks? ...so close to the launch pad?

I remember aerial views of all the different NASA and military launch pads in Cape Canaveral with plenty of space.. large distances from launch pads to infrastructure. Unbelievable that SpaceX deems that safe.

I also can't identify any wide, paved roads for heavy crawler cranes or anything like that... in this coastal marshland. For every wind turbine that is erected in a forest in Germany, more installation space is required, and dozens of meters wide access roads for crawler cranes. Unbelievable.

But yeah... if you want to make spaceflight cheaper, you have to leave behind the previous approach with all of its costly, spacious infrastructure.