4133

Thanks as always. Three weeks to go!

— Alan

4134

Yesterday’s Starship SN9 launch was scrubbed, but it’s about to happen now.

4135

I don’t see a launch countdown on the stream. Are the playing it by ear w/ the weather or something?

edit: aha. They’re having issues w/ FAA approvals. I guess someone put the wrong cover sheet on the TPS report again.

4136

Safety issues:

4137

Weird that they got all the way to filling the tanks if this was an FAA issue. Or, I guess it would be weird if this wasn’t a Musk company.

4138

Awesome, can’t wait!

4139

Watched the conference, can’t wait to white knuckle the whole curiosity experience again, this time with camera visuals.

4140

Now that we’re in 2021, and the James Webb Space Telescope was most recently supposed to launch in 2021, I wondered if it actually is going to launch this year or if it will be delayed again.

This pretty terrific update indicates that things are looking really good for it to launch October 31st of this year.

4141

Excellent.

4142

Some people already know this, but for those who don’t our very own @fire continues to be involved with keeping the Mars Curiosity rover alive and on-mission. Thank you @fire :)

4143

:rubs hands and snickers:

4144

stands, claps furiously

4145

Musk and his companies having problems with government oversight and regulations.

A few hours before the SN8 Starship test in December, while Musk was in Boca Chica securing approval for the FAA license that SpaceX ultimately violated, he was asked in a virtual interview with The Wall Street Journal what role government should play in regulating innovation. Musk replied: “A lot of the time, the best thing the government can do is just get out of the way.”

4146

Companies plural? Is there more than SpaceX butting heads with the FAA here?

4147

Tesla and Musk frequently have issues with government agencies and regulations.

4148

I think the Boring Company butts heads with government entities too.

4149

Surely the flame thrower company is completely safe, legit, and above board.

4150

Some people, though they aren’t industry regulators, don’t think so.

I know you were sarcastic, but I just wanted to share this recent news.

4151

Happy birthday, DSS-56! This dish is the newest Deep Space Network antenna at Madrid. I got to visit her when she was just a wee hole in the ground.

4152

If you’re keeping tabs on the upcoming NASA Mars landing (Feb. 18), then you probably also know about the Mars helicopter, Ingenuity, piggy-backing on the rover. This technology experiment is the first of its kind. In addition to the technical challenges of flying a rotorcraft in Mars’ thin atmosphere and freezing temperatures, the vehicle is lightweight engineering with off-the-shelf parts, an open-sourced software framework, and a tiny development team. If you remember SATs, you’ll understand why Ingenuity:Perseverance :: MARCO:Insight.