For we casual space fans who might not know enough to immediately recognize the where the point of failure is on the Soyuz launchpad: this should start around 9:30

Russian Cosmonaut on Crew 12 was removed from the mission after he took photos of classified SpaceX documents on his phone, then smuggled it out. https://t.co/WwWYNOUC4F

— Boca Bingo Infographics (@BingoBoca) December 2, 2025

Woah, apparently Cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev has been removed from Crew-12 for allegedly leaking classified documents. He’s being replaced by Andrey Fedyaev. Crew 12 will launch NET February.

— Everyday Astronaut (@Erdayastronaut) December 2, 2025

Old Yuri is lucky someone didn't send him out the airlock.

Tonight, China will attempt its first landing of an orbital-class rocket booster.

If successful, China would become the 2nd nation, and LandSpace the 3rd company, to do so.

Zhuque-3 launches at 04:00 UTC, 8PM PT, 11PM ET and is expected to offer similar capability to Falcon 9. pic.twitter.com/DZharIUHEq

— Toby Li (@tobyliiiiiiiiii) December 2, 2025

Jock 07 said:

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Saw this this morning at Home Depot.

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I have. This for the motorhome - works really really good

ABATTBQ11 said:

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Hope it blows up in a massive way.

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I don't follow many Chinese space enthusiasts but I think this is it coming in hot:

Stage RUD when final landing phase. via https://t.co/J2FF45EPuQ pic.twitter.com/VfvJTeBJeE

— Ace of Razgriz (@raz_liu) December 3, 2025

Nice of the video to cut off before the final large boom.

Womp womp

More on NG 9x4:

RL discussion is a bit interesting in the approach to testing/development:

Validation testing on a Raptor 3 performing a Starship V3 ascent burn. Multiple versions of this test will cover the different conditions seen by Starship’s three inner engines during its initial climb to space pic.twitter.com/Rrd4rEuGqt

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) December 3, 2025

txags92 said:

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will25u said:

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Elon Musk on Raptor 3 Engine:

"Raptor 3 is designed to require no basic heat shield, saving a lot of mass on the bottom and actually improving reliability, so that if there is, for example, a small fuel leak from the Raptor engine, it will simply leak into the existing flaming… pic.twitter.com/LyeMb1HESR

— DogeDesigner (@cb_doge) December 4, 2025

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If Elon had a dollar for every time he did something that people told him couldn't be done, he could be really rich someday!

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I've read your comment and started rolling it over in my mind...
It cost's nothing to say "It cannot be done." The opportunity cost to the man that listens is probably on the order of 1 Billion.

What's Elon's current net worth? 300 billion? He's probably had about 300 significant, "Elon that just can't be done."s.

SpaceX is realizing the future I was promised as a child. Amazing stuff.

Now get to work on hoverboards next.

double aught said:

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SpaceX is realizing the future I was promised as a child. Amazing stuff.

Now get to work on hoverboards next.

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Here you go

Isaacman responded to his "Athena" paper being leaked (no doubt by some democrat vermin).

Quote:

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https://nasawatch.com/ask-the-administrator/project-athena-summary-from-jared-isaacman/

It is true that Athena was a draft plan I worked on with a very small group from the time of my initial nomination through its withdrawal in May. Parts of it are now dated, and it was always intended to be a living document refined through data gathering post-confirmation. I would think it is better to have a plan going into a responsibility as great as the leadership of NASA than no plan at all.

It is also true that only one 62-page version of the plan (with unique header/footer markings) was delivered in hard copy back in mid-August to a single party. I learned it was leaked to reporters and across industry last week. It seems some people are letting politics get in the way of the mission and the President's goals for space. Personally, I think the "why" behind the timing of this document circulatingand the spin being given to reportersis the real story.

While the full plan exceeded 100 pages, it centered around five main priorities that I will summarize below, including some specifics on the topics attracting the most interest. There is the questionwhy not release the entire document? Well, one party is clearly circulating it, so I am sure it is only a matter of time before it becomes publicin which case, I will stand behind it. I think there are many elements of the plan that the space community and NASA would find exciting, and it would be disappointing if they never came to fruition. Mostly, I just don't think the space community needs to debate line-by-line while NASA and the rest of the government are going through a shutdown. I will say everything in the report is consistent with my Senate testimony, my written responses to the Senate for the record, and all the podcasts and papers I have ever spoken to on the subject.

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More at the link…seems like a pretty minor kerfluffle, though some are mad it 'favors SpaceX' somehow.

Anyway, new Marcus House weekly video;

Do you think SpaceX will reuse much from the sections of Booster 18 they've just rolled back? Crazy how fast Booster 19 is coming together in replacement. Not to mention the approved Starship launches and catches from SLC37!

🚀 Lots to talk about today my friends! 👇… pic.twitter.com/6aijyJ31w8

— Marcus House (@MarcusHouse) December 6, 2025

I haven't done a deep dive on Isaacman, but I've been impressed by him at every turn. I think he'd be great for NASA.

nortex97 said:

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seems like a pretty minor kerfluffle, though some are mad it 'favors SpaceX' somehow.

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With SpaceX's track record I'd be surprised if they weren't favored.

double aught said:

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I haven't done a deep dive on Isaacman, but I've been impressed by him at every turn. I think he'd be great for NASA.

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NASA leadership seems to have been very lackluster and non directed for the better part of 2 decades.

double aught said:

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I haven't done a deep dive on Isaacman, but I've been impressed by him at every turn. I think he'd be great for NASA.

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He's pretty much an ideal candidate to me, not that I have a vote on the matter. He has, however, discussed wanting to push the 'safety culture' at Nasa which could be problematic if it jeopardizes astronauts lives etc.

I don't have a real strong opinion that this is a world changing hire, but I just think he's as good as we are likely to get to run the agency for the next few years.

Aside, the Roman telescope is built and could launch next year which is pretty great (if it checks out after shipping from MD to KSC and getting an FH launch slot):

Quote:

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NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is now fully assembled and ready to begin launch preparations this summer.

The final integration of the telescope's major observatory components took place on Nov. 25 inside NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, where engineers brought together the spacecraft and telescope assemblies in the facility's largest clean room, according to a statement from NASA.

"Completing the Roman observatory brings us to a defining moment for the agency," Amit Kshatriya, NASA Associate Administrator, said in the statement. "Transformative science depends on disciplined engineering, and this team has delivered piece by piece, test by test an observatory that will expand our understanding of the universe. As Roman moves into its final stage of testing following integration, we are focused on executing with precision and preparing for a successful launch on behalf of the global scientific community."

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It would/will be cool to some day see FH and Starship launches at KSC in close proximity (and New Glenn, which aspires to hit a monthly cadence next year). Rocket launch tourism could really be even more of a 'blast.' Sorry, couldn't resist.

Am I the only one who missed 'electromagnetic railgun' for launching AI computing stuff to TLI (in the next few years)?

Remember Elon’s comment from yesterday - “And one other thing that is arguably most significant by far” when talking about SpaceX’s valuation?

This is what he was referring to: https://t.co/7PqQz41MHa pic.twitter.com/e2y7AbRJsv

— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) December 7, 2025

Like in The Moon is a Harsh Misress

This will require solar panels that are 100s of square kilometers for the 100s of Gw to Tw range

Why not just put those solar panels on the moon

Hosting server farms in space doesn't make much sense. It is difficult to keep computers cool in space and you have to worry about a higher radiation environment.

nortex97 said:

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Am I the only one who missed 'electromagnetic railgun' for launching AI computing stuff to TLI (in the next few years)?

Remember Elon’s comment from yesterday - “And one other thing that is arguably most significant by far” when talking about SpaceX’s valuation?

This is what he was referring to: https://t.co/7PqQz41MHa pic.twitter.com/e2y7AbRJsv

— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) December 7, 2025

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Am I the only one who read that and thought "that's just a high tech word salad"?

I read it as computers and solar panels being manufactured on the moon then shot into orbit using high speed railroad and then doing AI and radioing it to users on earth. The tech all exists and Google is also talking about AI compute in space too, for power generation, so it's not like Elon is totally off the reservation here.

Quad Dog said:

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Hosting server farms in space doesn't make much sense. It is difficult to keep computers cool in space and you have to worry about a higher radiation environment.

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Easier to keep them cool if you launch the satellites at night.

/aggie jokes

Tesla working so hard on their Optimus robots fits precisely into this model. Get a moon base set up with Optimus robots constructing Starlink AI sats that are then yeeted into orbit via railgun from the moon and suddenly you don't need nearly as many rockets other than materials to the moon. (I know, a lot of caveats there, but the idea makes sense if you believe that Optimus will hit critical mass in the next year or two)

Decay said:

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Why not just put those solar panels on the moon

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Lunar night is really long

You could do the poles with mirrors to ensure near constant power supply.

I think nuclear is still your best bet though.

Feeder Road said:

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I read it as computers and solar panels being manufactured on the moon then shot into orbit using high speed railroad and then doing AI and radioing it to users on earth. The tech all exists and Google is also talking about AI compute in space too, for power generation, so it's not like Elon is totally off the reservation here.

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I don't think they'd be manufactured on the moon. That would require a lot of expensive shipping for equipment and materials for no benefit that I can see. Why launch raw materials to the moon when you could just launch finished product from Earth?