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What kept the Soviets from going to the Moon (before the US)?

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No Nonsense
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20 votes
3 answers
5k views

Why do the boot prints on the moon appear bright in some photographs or film?

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terdon
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23 votes
3 answers
4k views

Was Starship’s “launch window” administrative, rather than due to orbital mechanics?

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Jörg W Mittag
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9 votes
2 answers
3k views

Term for deformation due to gravity

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Organic Marble
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18 votes
1 answer
5k views

Person falling from space

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Alejandro Rojas
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32 votes
1 answer
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Apollo 13's plutonium RTG re-entry into the Tonga Trench: Good shootin' or good luck?

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Harper - Reinstate Monica
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11 votes
5 answers
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In circle orbit, give a delta V to a satellite, how to find final orbit altitude?

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HopDavid
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20 votes
1 answer
3k views

Why are the Martian poles not covered by dust?

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Darth Pseudonym
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14 votes
2 answers
1k views

Does the atmospheric pressure of Mars fluctuate because of the seasonal evaporation of the polar ice caps?

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Alan Birtles
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10 votes
2 answers
2k views

Wouldn’t Super Heavy flip following stage seperation, even without help from its 3 lit engines?

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Chris Ison
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10 votes
3 answers
3k views

What is the largest object/mass that can survive entry into the earth's atmosphere from space without heating to 40 degrees C, or above?

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Vorbis
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2 votes
2 answers
1k views

Is there an anomalous variation of distance between Earth-Moon during a lunar eclipse?

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jpa
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2 votes
3 answers
788 views

(How) would the water deluge system impact Starship superheavy captures?

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Jörg W Mittag
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5 votes
2 answers
952 views

Object slowest at periapsis - despite correct position calculation

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Michael Hardy
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3 votes
1 answer
2k views

Space craft and interstellar objects

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Hobbes
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10 votes
1 answer
2k views

How is hot staging of Starship expected to provide such a large (10%) increase in total mass to LEO?

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uhoh
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6 votes
1 answer
2k views

Did Starship Ship 25 burn up on re-entry?

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user52748
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4 votes
1 answer
1k views

Is this 62 mile interception altitude reasonable for this stated missile trajectory?

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Russell Borogove
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2 votes
3 answers
185 views

Disposing of Obsolete Satellites by Propelling to the Sun

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Agnius Vasiliauskas
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6 votes
1 answer
769 views

What are these "fountains" during the deluge for the Super Heavy launch?

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Steve Pemberton
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5 votes
2 answers
462 views

What does a "handover" really mean in satellite communications?

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jpa
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4 votes
2 answers
449 views

Are rockets deliberately throttled back towards the end of the burn to spare crew and airframe g-forces?

Woody's user avatar
Woody
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5 votes
2 answers
231 views

Is a brachistochrone the best ascent profile?

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C. Towne Springer
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6 votes
1 answer
246 views

Why use plutonium when sunlight is everywhere? Any proposals to use concentrated solar power instead of Pu238 as a heat source for TGs?

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Fred
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3 votes
2 answers
300 views

If a baby was born on the ISS, what would its nationality be?

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Dragongeek
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4 votes
1 answer
258 views

Why Spacex Starship is not a modular rocket?

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SF.
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8 votes
1 answer
125 views

Understanding and breaking down pointing requirements

Erin Anne's user avatar
Erin Anne
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0 votes
2 answers
158 views

Which satellite is this very bright object? - part 2

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Steve Pemberton
  • 1,884
4 votes
2 answers
228 views

Does swimming experience help to adapt to weightlessness?

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Oscar Lanzi
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3 votes
1 answer
193 views

Who is manufacturing the solar panels for Starlink satellites?

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The Rocket fan
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-3 votes
1 answer
100 views

Artifical Gravity central core [duplicate]

Erin Anne's user avatar
Erin Anne
  • 9,849
3 votes
1 answer
96 views

Which SPICE kernels I have to load to calculate state vector of the outer planets

David Hammen's user avatar
David Hammen
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2 votes
1 answer
118 views

Does a country need to announce the parameters of its newly launched satellite to the world?

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cubetronic
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3 votes
2 answers
101 views

Typical external temperature profile for a LEO satellite

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John Doty
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2 votes
2 answers
118 views

What is ascent venting?

Woody's user avatar
Woody
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2 votes
2 answers
111 views

What is the prevalence of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium in the asteroid belt and in comets?

Woody's user avatar
Woody
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3 votes
1 answer
135 views

Could mirrors used in a Dyson Swarm be made from asteroids in the inner asteroid belt?

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Dragongeek
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3 votes
2 answers
102 views

sun pointing coordinate system design

Erin Anne's user avatar
Erin Anne
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2 votes
0 answers
230 views

Why did Starship perform an abrupt course correction seconds before stage separation?

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jkztd
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2 votes
1 answer
170 views

On space stations, what do they do with small solid particles which are free floating?

Fred's user avatar
Fred
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1 vote
1 answer
165 views

During Starship's recent flight, the stack appeared to be venting gas during the staging sequence. What was it?

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Jörg W Mittag
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2 votes
1 answer
108 views

How does SpaceX get its boosters from the ASDS to SLC-40?

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Jörg W Mittag
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3 votes
0 answers
169 views

Why did Starship start tilting to one side as soon as it lifted off during IFT-2?

Anthony Stevens's user avatar
Anthony Stevens
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2 votes
1 answer
92 views

Is vacuum created between the inner engines under Earth's atmosphere that could affect the booster in the early moments of the ascent?

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A McKelvy
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1 vote
0 answers
109 views

Scattering of exhaust gases during Starship IFT-2 hot staging

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P Marecki
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1 vote
0 answers
108 views

Does an overexpanded nozzle behave like a suction cup?

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Charles Staats
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0 votes
1 answer
80 views

Slowing down 16 Psyche using an enormous solar sail to reach the inner planets

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Fred
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1 vote
0 answers
98 views

Are smaller rockets easier to land? [closed]

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Shivam
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