Cozy-airlessness - Cozy Airlessness

Blue Moon really should go first. It's a more practical, less ambitious design, with better inherent safety. We shouldn't splash out on the towering ambitious megarocket just because we can. That stuff should come later, once we've gained confidence and experience. That should be obvious.

NASA does not need a lander with a dry mass of 100+ tonnes to put 2–8 astronauts on the Moon. The lander's excessive size and mass actually make several problems, such as the hatch being 30 m above the ground and there needing to be a crew elevator system with no current plan for a backup if it fails.

Big spaceship does not equal good spaceship. Don't be fooled by spectacle and awe. Starship HLS is ill-suited to taking humans to the surface of the Moon. The best case for it is as a heavy cargo vehicle, perhaps in service of a Moonbase. Again, that comes later. Skylab after Mercury-Redstone, not before.

It's genuinely possible that Starship HLS might not be ready before Blue Moon MK 2 is.

Can't wait to see Rocketlab recovering first stages! They are made of carbon fibre so they should be a bit more heat resistant than aluminium?

Flight 10 is scheduled for 25 November!

Flight 10 will use S-band telemetry and onboard flight computers to gather data for future first stage recovery.

The first stage will also use a new reaction control system for guided re-entry.

Selene

Albert Aublet / Jules Louis Machard

mourning

Mercury Friendship 7

Gemini and Agena.

There are only 2 genders

Please people thee are only two genders…. I can’t believe that Tumblr is allowed to exist and make up all these ridiculous identities and not have all its users in mental health facilities. 

SCP-268-FR - “Dix-Mille Lucioles”

Rainbow Rayleigh Moon. Rayleigh scattering is responsible for this phenomenon.

Titan: Ligeia Mare and environs

Numerous lakes of hydrocarbons and seas are visible: at the top is the prominent body of liquid known as Ligeia Mare; the main centers are in the northernmost part of Kraken Mare and on the island of Mayda Insula; and in the bottom center is a portion of Punga Mare. In the lower right corner, Jingpo Lacus reveals a series of sinuous canals in its lake bed, while Bolsena Lacus appears in the lower left corner.

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute/Ian Regan