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Top Questions

18 votes
7 answers
9k views

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

20 votes
3 answers
5k views

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

23 votes
3 answers
4k views

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

9 votes
2 answers
3k views

Term for deformation due to gravity

18 votes
1 answer
5k views

Person falling from space

32 votes
1 answer
4k views

Apollo 13's plutonium RTG re-entry into the Tonga Trench: Good shootin' or good luck?

11 votes
5 answers
1k views

In circle orbit, give a delta V to a satellite, how to find final orbit altitude?

20 votes
1 answer
3k views

Why are the Martian poles not covered by dust?

14 votes
2 answers
1k views

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

10 votes
2 answers
2k views

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

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?

2 votes
2 answers
1k views

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

2 votes
3 answers
788 views

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

5 votes
2 answers
952 views

Object slowest at periapsis - despite correct position calculation

3 votes
1 answer
2k views

Space craft and interstellar objects

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?

6 votes
1 answer
2k views

Did Starship Ship 25 burn up on re-entry?

4 votes
1 answer
1k views

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

2 votes
3 answers
185 views

Disposing of Obsolete Satellites by Propelling to the Sun

6 votes
1 answer
769 views

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

5 votes
2 answers
462 views

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

4 votes
2 answers
449 views

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

5 votes
2 answers
231 views

Is a brachistochrone the best ascent profile?

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?

3 votes
2 answers
300 views

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

4 votes
1 answer
258 views

Why Spacex Starship is not a modular rocket?

8 votes
1 answer
125 views

Understanding and breaking down pointing requirements

0 votes
2 answers
158 views

Which satellite is this very bright object? - part 2

4 votes
2 answers
228 views

Does swimming experience help to adapt to weightlessness?

3 votes
1 answer
193 views

Who is manufacturing the solar panels for Starlink satellites?

-3 votes
1 answer
100 views

Artifical Gravity central core [duplicate]

3 votes
1 answer
96 views

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

2 votes
1 answer
118 views

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

3 votes
2 answers
101 views

Typical external temperature profile for a LEO satellite

2 votes
2 answers
118 views

What is ascent venting?

2 votes
2 answers
111 views

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

3 votes
1 answer
135 views

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

3 votes
2 answers
102 views

sun pointing coordinate system design

2 votes
0 answers
230 views

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

2 votes
1 answer
170 views

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

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?

2 votes
1 answer
108 views

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

3 votes
0 answers
169 views

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

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?

1 vote
0 answers
109 views

Scattering of exhaust gases during Starship IFT-2 hot staging

1 vote
0 answers
108 views

Does an overexpanded nozzle behave like a suction cup?

0 votes
1 answer
80 views

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

1 vote
0 answers
98 views

Are smaller rockets easier to land? [closed]


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