Since a number of cool things are happening in space exploration these days, we'll widen the scope of this thread a smidge. Conversation about all things space exploration are welcome, whether it be from NASA, SpaceX, ULA, Blue Origin, or anyone else. Chances are most of the discussion will still be about SpaceX since they love to make things public and fun, but nothing's off limits. I'll eventually get around to modifying the OP to include resources for other companies too, but in the meantime, feel free to post any cool stuff you run across.
Tim Dodd (Everyday Astronaut) - A "random dude" who got really into space (particularly SpaceX). He's a great resource for simple explanations of this stuff, as well as live hosting launches.
USLaunchReport - Lost of videos of the more mundane stuff (e.g., booster recovery operations). Not a ton of commentary.
NASASpaceFlight - Live hosting of most launches including a ton of video of Starlink operations.
Glossary
Spoiler!
Space discussions tend to get a little bogged down in jargon, so here's a list of terms you might encounter. (Others, please let me know of others that should be added.)
ASDS - Autonomous Spaceport Droneship - The "barges" that they sometimes land rockets on.
Dragon - The cone-shaped capsule that sits at the top of the rocket for ISS-bound launches that holds the cargo (or, in the future, humans).
F9 - Falcon 9, the name of the rocket itself.
FH - Falcon Heavy, the three-booster version.
GTO - Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit, a type of orbit that will eventually result in the satellite orbiting the earth as it turns so that it seems to be in the same spot from the ground (such as DirecTV or Dish satellites). These types of launches are particularly challenging because they require a lot of power to get them into the right orbit, leaving very little fuel left for landing.
HIF - Horizontal Integration Facility - the building near the launch pad where they put all of the pieces of the rocket together before rolling it out to the pad.
ISS - The International Space Station
JRTI - Just Read The Instructions, the name of the "barge" that they land on for west-coast launches.
LEO - Low Earth Orbit, a fairly low orbit shared by many satellites and ISS. These launches usually require less power to achieve the proper orbit, so the first stage can often be landed back on land rather than on a drone ship.
LZ1 - Landing Zone 1, basically a big open slab of concrete at Cape Canaveral where the first stage will attempt to land (for some launches).
NET - No Earlier Than, basically the date they're hoping to launch, but rocket launches have a tendency of getting delayed.
OCISLY - Of Course I Still Love You, the name of the "barge" that they land on for east-coast launches.
RTLS - Return to Landing Site, a mission where the first stage comes back and lands at LZ1.
Starship - SpaceX's next-generation rocket (and spacecraft) that will hopefully one day take us to Mars. Starship is the "second stage" that will carry cargo or people, but also refers to the whole system. (It's confusing, but think of it like the Space Shuttle, which was both the shuttle itself and the entire launch system.)
Super Heavy - The giant booster that will carry Starship to space.
The current location is 88,052,181 miles (141,706,293 km, 0.947 AU, 7.88 light minutes) from Earth, moving toward Earth at a speed of 40,203 mi/h (64,700 km/h, 17.97 km/s).
The car is 30,361,937 miles (48,862,817 km, 0.327 AU, 2.72 light minutes) from Mars, moving toward the planet at a speed of 20,476 mi/h (32,953 km/h, 9.15 km/s).
The car is 147,518,492 miles (237,408,074 km, 1.587 AU, 13.20 light minutes) from the Sun, moving toward the star at a speed of 7,745 mi/h (12,465 km/h, 3.46 km/s).
The car has exceeded its 36,000 mile warranty 33,842.3 times while driving around the Sun, (1,218,324,205 miles, 1,960,703,356 km, 13.11 AU) moving at a speed of 47,333 mi/h (76,175 km/h, 21.16 km/s). The orbital period is about 557 days.
It has achieved a fuel economy of 9,669.2 miles per gallon (4,110.8 km/liter, 0.02433 liters/100 km), assuming 126,000 gallons of fuel.
If the battery was still working, Starman has listened to Space Oddity 246,805 times since he launched in one ear, and to Is there Life On Mars? 332,560 times in his other ear.
Starman has completed about 1.6309 orbits around the Sun since launch.
A telescope about 20,797 ft (6,339 m) in diameter would be required to resolve the Upper stage from Earth. A smaller one could see him as an unresolved dot, about 40.0 ft (12.2 m) in diameter, in ideal conditions.
The vehicle has traveled far enough to drive all of the world’s roads 53.9 times.
