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Someone asked about it on the live stream, and that's basically what they said (I am not an optical engineer). They also mentioned the support struts for the secondary mirror as a contributing factor. It was also stated that they had achieved "diffraction-limited" focus, so can't really do any...

They connect Starlink to the rest of the Internet. A Starlink satellite with no laser interlink will be a single hop between an end user with a dish and a ground station. Satellites with laser interlinks can send traffic along a satellite chain to find a better (less congested, faster) ground...

Permitting Dashboard for SpaceX Starship/Super Heavy Launch Vehicle Program at the SpaceX Boca Chica Launch Site in Cameron County, Texas. Shows 2 of 5 processes completed. Estimated completion date 2022-03-28.

Looks like it's now bumped to tomorrow, Feb 3 at either 1:13 p.m. or 4:30 p.m. EST.

Bumped to Feb. 2 at 2151 GMT (4:51 p.m. EST), so it will be about 90 minutes after NROL-87 (from Vandenberg). Busy afternoon for SpaceX!

New feed for tomorrow:

Spaceflight Now reports February 2 launch at 2018 GMT (3:18 p.m. EST; 12:18 p.m. PST).

Looks like this will launch tomorrow, January 30 at either 2:39pm EST or 5:56pm EST per Spaceflight Now.

New webcast for today.

Delayed 24 hours.

Webb Begins Its Months-Long Mirror Alignment

Today, SpaceX seemed to do a test of full stacking with the chopsticks on the Starship launch/catch tower.

Launch time is 15:25 GMT (10:25 a.m. EST) according to SpaceflightNow.

Deployment complete! There's a live Q & A: Next steps are deploying (moving slightly forward) each of the 18 hexagonal mirror segments, which takes several days. Then they will be fully aligned over the course of 4 months, during which time the scientific instruments will also be tested and...

Both primary mirror wings have deployed successfully! Now the need to latch in place.

Another cool development... Next up is unfolding the primary mirror wings over the next couple days.

Successful secondary mirror deployment!

Tomorrow it is:

Sunshield fully deployed. Next up is secondary mirror deployment (tomorrow?).

Super cool. The neighbor's kids love it! P.S. Long standing bug that may fall in your domain: If a sentry alert is triggered, auto-high beams are turned off when you return to the car. Happens every time. Simple flick of the stalk turns them back on. I can provide more detail, if needed.

You can swipe down on the video window, and it goes away.

There's a 4.4.1 version out now.

SpaceX webcast

Per SpaceflightNow, seems to be delayed until tomorrow (12/2 at 6:28 p.m. EST).

In the second half of last year, we had a 5:1 stock split (2020-08-31) and TSLA joining the S&P 500 (2020-12-21). From the split announcement on 2020-08-11 to 2021-01-08 the stock went from about $275 to $880, more than tripling (3.2x). What are the chances something similar could happen if...

I assume/hope that also includes pixel depth (i.e., distance from camera). If they can get that to work reliably (99.999%), it should really help avoid running into unknown/unclassified objects. Obviously, this is rule #1 of driving: Don't hit anything. Elon mentioned they need a reasonable way...

Yeah, I've been thinking that if I were a beta-tester, I'd want it to say the words "creeping" vs. "proceeding" or some such, because you cannot be looking at the screen during those risky maneuvers. People have trouble remembering too many different chimes. (How about "errr?" and "weee!"? :p)

Webcast

Credit: XKCD

SpaceX webcast is up.

Yeah, I'm thinking the squeal was from a quick swerve.

How about 2MARS or 2SPACE?

Several impressive maneuvers, but almost causes an accident at 25:37. While waiting to merge from lane blocked by cones, it starts to go too soon, with cars still travelling in the lane to its left, and seems to cause the black sedan to squeal its tires to get out of the way. Tesla driver takes...

I had some blue jeans transfer on my white seats. Tried several cleaners, including 70% isopropyl (aka rubbing) alcohol to no avail. However, what finally did work is 91% isopropyl alcohol!

I'm pretty sure at least some of that (e.g., the COPVs) will be covered before they fly the booster.

Looks like Booster 4 is now sitting on the orbital launch mount.

The trailer's description says "LIVE LAUNCH: WATCH ON NETFLIX YOUTUBE ON SEPT 15". Not sure exactly what that means, but maybe on Netflix's YouTube channel.

Starbase 360 degree video

Artemis 1, which would be the first (uncrewed) flight of SLS, is currently NET November 22, 2021. Seems likely to slip into 2022, though.

They're trying to find a foam sledgehammer to replace the real one.

Spaceflight Now showing this as delayed.

Well, that's the way it happened. Perhaps the windows were thicker back then, but the basic principle still applies. It's much easier to break the window when the force is applied to a small area (point). Also better to hit the corner of the window where it's stiffened by the frame. Apparently...

I think that is practically impossible, at least for the side windows, since they are too strong. You might have better luck with the windshield, but still difficult. About 30 years ago, a friend and I happened upon a car that had driven off the road and through a parking lot, only to run into...

I take this as better news than some kind of design flaw where, for example, the engine doesn't have enough pressure (or some other issue) due to the landing flip maneuver. I would think a leak has relatively straightforward fixes that can be implemented quickly. Also, it seemed from watching...

Not at all. I just can't remember what source I had at the time. No offense taken. :)