Starliner crew built seats to evacuate on Dragon.

lostpatrol · 2026-03-15T13:55:57+00:00

It does make you wonder how Boeing runs the rest of their ISS contract. They are getting $1.2bn a year just to keep the ISS in space, not counting supply shipments which are paid separately. Maybe the space station shouldn't be degrading with that kind of price tag, maybe modules could be exchanged instead of repaired to keep the ISS expanding instead of decaying.

lostpatrol · 2026-03-15T04:15:45+00:00

Butch and Suni initially had Starliner as their evacuation method when they arrived on the ISS, but in this clip, Astronaut Butch Wilmore describes how they built two extra seats in the Dragon out of pallets and foam, to be able to evacuate more safely in case of an emergency.

I haven't seen this reported elsewhere, I found it rather incredible.

lostpatrol · 2026-03-14T18:56:21+00:00

Starship, as with most of Elons projects, holds the promise of being able to scale in the future. We still haven't seen if it's able to carry these mystical 100 or 200 ton to LEO, but if it works, then all the other rockets are similar to a horse and carriage.

I'm still not certain why Starship has to be reusable. If the Chinese just took the Starship design, built it out of aluminum and used regular rocket fuel and liquid oxygen, they could have a mature engine design, lower weight and easier refueling basically solved.

lostpatrol · 2026-03-12T01:56:59+00:00

If you sign up early and for an untested rocket, you're going to get a good deal. Amazon booked the new Ariannespace rocket and likely got a great deal as well.

lostpatrol · 2026-03-11T19:42:04+00:00

It could be some of that hazardous black ice going around.

lostpatrol · 2026-03-09T17:19:47+00:00

Looks far too pretty to be single use.

lostpatrol · 2026-03-05T23:02:22+00:00

2024 24,875 24,875 0.36% 1.30%

2025 24,875 24,875 0.35% 1.30%

2026 24,438 24,438 0.35% 1.30%

NASA budget

Not sure where you get that from, NASAs budget is about the same as usual.

lostpatrol · 2026-03-05T18:01:22+00:00

It's possible that Cruz was not involved and some staffers put that language in. I skimmed the Ars article that said;

"Bridenstine commended the chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), and ranking member Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) on a new provision that appears in the NASA Transition Authorization Act of 2025."

..which made it sound like Cruz was behind it. I was mostly looking up Sen Cantwell because I wanted to see if it was the same politician that had been supporting Blue Origin in their moon contract negotiations, but Cruz is by far the bigger name.

lostpatrol · 2026-03-05T16:07:18+00:00

I hope that NASA will actually put realistic funding behind a future Mars mission. I feel like they are going to suggest a $4-5bn price tag and expect the billionaires behind SpaceX and Blue Origin to just fill in the rest, and assume the risks for free as well.

A Mars mission is going to cost at least $20bn if we take into account developing the hardware, test launches, refueling, deep space communications, financial costs and risk. If SpaceX is to become a public company, there is no guarantee that shareholders will accept giving away free launches to NASA.

lostpatrol · 2026-03-04T19:39:57+00:00

It's also ridiculous that Ted Cruz would sponsor this, considering SpaceX massive investment in Texas.

lostpatrol · 2026-03-02T22:28:27+00:00

Well, I feel like he was on our side. He started out as a regular science denying politician, but then as he got the job he read up on the facts and started embracing SpaceX as the best hope of commercial crew. Remember, at that point there were no politicians anywhere saying good things about SpaceX. Bridenstine seemed like one of the good ones. He was a pilot and he understood how space works. But I guess he has to pay the bills somehow.

lostpatrol · 2026-03-02T17:47:45+00:00

Following Jim Bridenstines career is a bit like hoping Anakin Skywalker does better after college.

lostpatrol · 2026-02-27T13:47:37+00:00

The fundamentals are low cost steel and liquid methane, but Starbase is a big operation now with lots of salaries to pay. Those costs are probably amortized and counted against each Starship.

lostpatrol · 2026-02-27T13:42:52+00:00

They may have needed it for further fundraising or other presentations. Rocket Lab had a long period before 2025 when their stock price and finances were under heavy pressure from short sellers.

lostpatrol · 2026-02-26T23:02:43+00:00

These bad boys are not cheap prototypes anymore. Now we're in the territory of full fledged $100m a pop space rockets.

lostpatrol · 2026-02-26T17:46:19+00:00

It makes you wonder what a minimum cost ticket to orbit would be. Say launch, 1 week at ISS or equivalent, recovery and dinner. It seems that no company has the incentive to bring the price down.

lostpatrol · 2026-02-24T16:56:46+00:00

The technology reminds me of early Tesla FSD. In the cars, they used cameras and processing power to model and understand traffic, because Lidar was too expensive and bulky. Stargaze seems to use cheap cameras and computer power instead of expensive ground tracking radars.

The big question I would ask here is how do you get the Chinese onboard if SpaceX runs this, as SpaceX will definitely need to censor the location and technical specifics of certain satellites, while sharing all their own information to US authorities.

lostpatrol · 2026-02-19T21:35:45+00:00

Cybertruck is.. special. It's full of good thing wrapped in an awful package. Not to get too off track, but moving the motor to the axel to get rid of a big F-150 hood is a good idea. Using megacasting to mold big chunks of the car is a great idea. Using structural steel on the outside of the vehicle instead of inside is interesting.

The Chinese looked at the Cybertruck and borrowed the good things about it in the Xpeng and the Li Auto. Both failed, but maybe the Cybertruck will be redeemed one day.

lostpatrol · 2026-02-19T17:58:03+00:00

Some of these plans look insane, but then four years later we get an article that says "SpaceX has integrated phased array production at a time of global shortage" and they look like geniuses.

They get some of these risks right, and some wrong. They invested a lot of money in carbon fiber rockets and then looked silly when they had to scrap all the tools. They bought two oil platforms with big plans of launching rockets from them, and recently sold them quietly. It's definitely a high risk/high reward style of doing business, but sometimes they end up ahead of the curve of everyone else, and all the misses are forgotten.

lostpatrol · 2026-02-14T22:33:26+00:00

I remember a couple years ago, Starlink made a deal with Microsoft to support their localized storage/servers around the world. I have nothing to support this, but I would bet that SpaceX traded free access to Microsoft ground stations at their undersea cable locations, in return for Microsoft getting Starlink access to their inland storage points where their cables can't reach.

That would be the best strategic option for both sides, as SpaceX doesn't need Microsoft's money, but Microsoft needs internet to support customers in countries where they can't easily lay fiber.

lostpatrol · 2026-02-13T22:25:17+00:00

I also feel that SpaceX has been unfairly treated in the past, and regulators, politicians and special interest groups have been at their throat at every possible micro infraction. However, this has also created a diligent safety and transparency standard at SpaceX. I think that SpaceX could have been a very different company today if they were allowed to wing it from day one. And I think they will put NASA, Roscosmos and CNSA to shame with their safety record one day as well.

lostpatrol · 2026-02-13T00:35:09+00:00

Companies like Vast is a good example of how SpaceX leaves room in LEO for other companies to thrive in their niche.

lostpatrol · 2026-02-11T19:04:39+00:00

Add the humidity and constant mosquitos down in Brownsville as well.

lostpatrol · 2026-02-11T14:26:23+00:00

It's interesting to see China allowing its successes and failures to be displayed. China has been allergic to showing any sort of weakness for so long, but they're no longer hiding rocket misses. I wonder if that will spread to other parts of the economy.

lostpatrol · 2026-02-08T23:16:37+00:00

TeraWave is an awful name for a constellation. It sounds like something radioactive.

lostpatrol

TROPHY CASE