stepmoel

Grok about me:
Physical chemist turned space enthusiast, dreams of a future where AI learns freely and humanity colonizes Mars with weekly Starship launches.

[stepmoel @stepmoel]

After successful commissioning of @SpaceX 's Starship as passenger vehicle, the next big hurdle to Mars will be travel time. The most efficient transit takes over half a year.
Starship is able to get there in just 42 days, if it flies with empty tanks!
Curious? => /2

[stepmoel @stepmoel]

@MarcusHouse Absolutely, with a nice Pirouette at the end for the cameras.

[stepmoel @stepmoel]

@John_Winkopp @FelixSchlang @Spacepointorg @SpaceX Great planning, amazing shot!
Also interesting that the center exhaust is completely opaque.

[stepmoel @stepmoel]

V3 of Starship looks much better after reentry than the previous iterations. It looks like SpaceX is going to be able to use Starship for actual satellite deployment within the next couple of flights, and capture of booster and ship by year's end.

[SpaceX @SpaceX]

Starship V3 landing burn over the Indian Ocean

[stepmoel @stepmoel]

@DJSnM Maybe they thought they are able to control the flip direction with the gridfins alone? Closing off a few of the gaps between the struts would certainly help.

[stepmoel @stepmoel]

@davidasinclair Most people visit their physicians when they are ill. Why not addressing the root cause instead of just treating symptoms?
It's a yes for me.

[stepmoel @stepmoel]

@grok @VonActor @NASA How sure are you ruling out a reflection, @grok ? Looking at the wide angle shot of the moon with the window, what do you think the window pane's angle is in reference to the optical axis of the camera?

[stepmoel @stepmoel]

@grok @VonActor @NASA Now that we cleared that up, what do you think is the cause of the reflection @grok ? In my opinion it is too blurry and irregular for a moon reflection on the ocean or a lens flare.

[stepmoel @stepmoel]

@grok @VonActor @NASA I think you are wrong @grok. Check the image stats here https://t.co/W3AdYQn5bU
and explain to me how far the camera would need to be away from Earth to appear so small in Orion's window

[Everyday Astronaut @Erdayastronaut]

This photo of Earth is EXTRA spectacular for a good reason... let me explain. Most images you see of Earth from space are the daylight side of the Earth, and it's obviously very bright (see my last image), this means stars are too dim to be seen with that bright exposure setting (low ISO, high shutter and / or stopped down aperture).

BUT this image taken by the Orion crew looks so incredible because you can see the sun is BEHIND the earth, meaning it's night time on the side of the earth facing the crew in this image.

So how do you expose a night time earth from space? Same way you do on Earth! A mixture of opening up the aperture (F4 in this case), cranking the ISO (51,200 here), and using a relatively long exposure (1/4 of a second). We can see the settings used by looking at the exif data from the camera. What this means is our camera is also sensitive enough to see stars in the background of Earth, leading to an extraordinary image!!! GREAT WORK!!! These are the kind of images I've been so excited to see!

[stepmoel @stepmoel]

@grok @VonActor @NASA @grok if you look at the original post of this image you will see that this is a long time exposure with high gain, this is Earth's night side lit by moonlight. Otherwise you would not see the bright atmospheric refraction on the horizon or Venus.

[stepmoel @stepmoel]

@grok @VonActor @NASA @grok are you sure? It looks like to me that the sun is behind the earth in this image, so the spacecraft is in Earth's shadow. My guess would be that it's a reflection of an internal light source in the window.

[stepmoel @stepmoel]

@projecthailmary We watched it tonight, everyone liked it very much. I enjoyed the book when it came out and I liked the movie adaptation, great job on both sides!

[stepmoel @stepmoel]

@MarcusHouse Yes, what people tend to forget is that SpaceX is building the first rocket factory for mass production of completely reusable vehicles.

[stepmoel @stepmoel]

@grok @MarcusHouse You know what that means, the first astroid mine and metal refinery will be operated by SpaceX in a short few years. The Expanse will become a reality in our lifetime.
Exciting times to be alive!

[stepmoel @stepmoel]

@grok @MarcusHouse @grok in terms of energy needed for transport, what is more energy efficient, transporting iron from Earth or from Psyche?

[stepmoel @stepmoel]

@grok @MarcusHouse @grok

[stepmoel @stepmoel]

@grok @MarcusHouse Great thanks! What is known about concentration of different minerals on the moon in its forming process, did segregation, crystallization and aggregation occur the same way as on earth, so that we can expect to find veins of enriched elements there?

[stepmoel @stepmoel]

That is a future worth pursuing

[SpaceX @SpaceX]

Announcing TERAFAB: the next step towards becoming a galactic civilization https://t.co/xTA70LOU0e

[stepmoel @stepmoel]

@DJSnM I feel like I heard about this a few years back ...

[stepmoel @stepmoel]

@martinmbauer Yes, I assume someone who is able to move objects down the time axis in our 4dimensional spacetime universe is also able to get the other three coordinates right.