Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

SpaceX launches mission for 2 NASA astronauts who are stuck on the ISS

apnews.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

121–130 of 372 posts

Re: SpaceX launches mission for 2 NASA astronauts who are stuck on the ISS

#121

Post by tw04 »

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #97
tw04 wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Mars??? That’s more than a bit of a stretch. The astronauts in the ISS right now weren’t up there for a significantly longer period of time compared to their peers. Absolutely no way it would disqualify them from a mission happening a decade from now which is an absolute best case scenario for mars and frankly even the moon the way the current political climate is in the US.

> Absolutely no way it would disqualify them from a mission happening a decade from now Astronauts have lifetime radiation limits. Crewed Mars missions already push the envelope; the margins are especially meaningful.

Ignoring the fact that, again, the astronauts in question weren’t in space for any appreciably longer time than anyone else on the ISS.

They’ll be too old to participate in the mars mission a minimum of a decade from now.

You have literally no idea what the radiation exposure allowances will be for a manned mission to mars when it happens, or what advancements we’ll make to radiation shielding should we ever actually send a manned mission to mars.

Re: SpaceX launches mission for 2 NASA astronauts who are stuck on the ISS

#122

Post by 14 »

colordrops wrote: post #117
iterance wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Following the analogy... you're on an island. A ferry has showed up at the island every six months or so for the last 40 years. The last ferry that showed up broke before it could leave the harbor. No need to worry, though. Another ferry's coming in six months and there are plenty of supplies on the island. Is it rescue? Maybe in the sense that you can't leave when you wanted to and now you have to wait. But not in t…

It sounds like everyone in this thread is in complete agreement about the complex parameters and details and yet we are arguing on the scope of the label.

That is what is great about HN. We discuss a broad range of topics which sometimes brings us discussing off subject matter but that are still relevant to the heart of HN. Media reporting and how they influence people is definitely a topic appropriate for HN so I can see how it was brought up.

Re: SpaceX launches mission for 2 NASA astronauts who are stuck on the ISS

#123

Post by tedunangst »

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #93
ghodith wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Only seems like a rescue if you specify that they're alone on the island to be honest. If you had said that they were left at an outpost with other people for six months it somewhat loses it's "rescue" vibes.

> If you had said that they were left at an outpost with other people for six months it somewhat loses it's "rescue" vibes When a country pitches into instability and nations evacuate their citizens, are they not rescuing them? I suppose I’d invert the question: why does framing the mission as a rescue bug you?

I think rescue implies a higher degree of imminent peril.

Re: SpaceX launches mission for 2 NASA astronauts who are stuck on the ISS

#124

Post by panick21_ »

sneak wrote: post #88
neverrroot wrote: post #8

Thank you Elon!

How much of SpaceX’s boring day to day stuff (including ~all of the F9 stuff) do you think he has a hand in anymore? Isn’t he running Tesla, Twitter, Neuralink, The Boring Company, Starlink, and the Starship R&D, including its first-of-it’s-kind Raptor engine design which just hit major version 3? And also raising the remainder of his 12 kids (~8?) that are still speaking to him? I’m fairly certain that most of the “…

In literally every thread about SpaceX people who don't like Musk (and sometimes others), people bring up Shotwell. Of course her name doesn't come up as often as Musk, Musk is literally one of the most famous people on earth, a highly controversial public figure and one of the richest people on the plant, who also owns and leads the company.

For most other tech companies people done even know the Nr.2 person in the company, and that includes companies much bigger then SpaceX. So if anything Shotwell comes up more often then literally any other Nr.2 person in a major tech company. I couldn't tell you the relevant people at Nvidia, or Google, or Microsoft.

Also the letter was more about the external image, that Musk reflected on them. There was no actual argument in the later work inside SpaceX was slowed down because of it. And from the continued progress SpaceX has made before and after that, there is no evidence of that it actually did.

But of course its also self evident that the CEO isn't doing 'boring day to day stuff', but neither is Shotwell.

Re: SpaceX launches mission for 2 NASA astronauts who are stuck on the ISS

#126

Post by panick21_ »

unit149 wrote: post #61

Starbase, TX is rapidly overtaking Cape Canaveral, FL. This "extended work opportunity" of sorts is being milked for maximum instrumental utility.

This is facutally false. Starbase has no license to launch even 1/10 of the flights that are legal from the Cape. SpaceX just majorly invested into a second crew launch facility at the LC40. And SpaceX is building a Starship launch site at 39A. They have publicly stated that Starbase is for production and experimental development mostly. Please actually inform yourself before posting.

Re: SpaceX launches mission for 2 NASA astronauts who are stuck on the ISS

#127

Post by aylmao »

karlgkk wrote: post #108
Dylan16807 wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you took a different boat separate from the normal ferry, intending to leave right away but now stuck unable to use it, I would say the next ferry is rescuing you.

No? Because if you’re not in danger, you’re not being rescued. You’re just being transported. If I miss the last train across the bay, my uber isn’t rescuing me. I can always stay up to 5am by making a shady deal at the endup. But yeah, this is a black eye on boeing and definitely something that nobody wants to have to deal with.

Looked up two definitions of rescue. First, is the default that shows on Google (via Oxford Languages) [1]:

> verb. 1. save (someone) from a dangerous or distressing situation. 2. informal, keep from being lost or abandoned; retrieve.

Per this one, if you miss the last train across the bay the the Uber _would_ indeed be "rescuing" you if you felt distressed. If we consider the informal definition, I'd say you're also being rescued since one could say you were abandoned by the train and thus being retrieved by the Uber. Next, Merriam Webster [2]:

> transitive verb. to free from confinement, danger, or evil

Similarly, if you understand "rescue" as freeing someone from danger, this isn't a rescue. The astronauts aren't in danger really— they have all the supplies and support they need. Nonetheless, they certainly are in confinement, so this could still be called a rescue.

I personally do see how the fact this mission was already scheduled, and the little danger around all this, can make "rescue" feel like a little much. It's the same word used in The Martian, after all. But nonetheless I would still call it a rescue mission. These two astronauts are confined up there not by will but by circumstance, and the taxi flight was modified to sending only two people instead of the usual four, specifically to make space for these two astronauts to come back [3].

[1] https://www.google.com/search?q=rescue%20meaning

[2] https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rescue

[3] https://apnews.com/article/boeing-spacex-nasa-astronauts-sta...

Re: SpaceX launches mission for 2 NASA astronauts who are stuck on the ISS

#128

Post by JumpCrisscross »

tw04 wrote: post #121
JumpCrisscross wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Absolutely no way it would disqualify them from a mission happening a decade from now Astronauts have lifetime radiation limits. Crewed Mars missions already push the envelope; the margins are especially meaningful.

Ignoring the fact that, again, the astronauts in question weren’t in space for any appreciably longer time than anyone else on the ISS. They’ll be too old to participate in the mars mission a minimum of a decade from now. You have literally no idea what the radiation exposure allowances will be for a manned mission to mars when it happens, or what advancements we’ll make to radiation shielding should we ever actually…

> You have literally no idea what the radiation exposure allowances will be for a manned mission to mars when it happens

These are well known and documented, to the degree we know things about human deep spaceflight.

> what advancements we’ll make to radiation shielding should we ever actually send a manned mission to mars

These are unknown. But they will, barring new technology, require mass. Which means more shielding comes at a cost. Which incentivises low-rad experienced astronauts.

Re: SpaceX launches mission for 2 NASA astronauts who are stuck on the ISS

#129

Post by ethbr1 »

gwbas1c wrote: post #72
mannyv wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well hmm. NASA decided Starliner wasn't safe enough to use for the return journey, so the astronauts stayed on the ISS until the next ride became available. Originally the astronauts were supposed to go back on Starliner. Now they're taking another ride back. Is that considered a rescue? Well, it depends. If you get left behind on an island because your ride wasn't safe and another boat picks you up, is that a rescue…

> Is that a rescue? Well, was there an accident? It seems like the astronauts staying extra long is to avoid an accident. Does their need to be an accident to call it a rescue?

There was not, considering Starliner landed safely about a month ago.

NASA was uncomfortable with the amount of risk in a new vehicle exhibiting anomalous behavior, for its first crewed re-entry.

The headline here should be: "US glad to have two separate suppliers for crewed transport"

Re: SpaceX launches mission for 2 NASA astronauts who are stuck on the ISS

#130

Post by wh-uws »

iterance wrote: post #73
mannyv wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well hmm. NASA decided Starliner wasn't safe enough to use for the return journey, so the astronauts stayed on the ISS until the next ride became available. Originally the astronauts were supposed to go back on Starliner. Now they're taking another ride back. Is that considered a rescue? Well, it depends. If you get left behind on an island because your ride wasn't safe and another boat picks you up, is that a rescue…

Following the analogy... you're on an island. A ferry has showed up at the island every six months or so for the last 40 years. The last ferry that showed up broke before it could leave the harbor. No need to worry, though. Another ferry's coming in six months and there are plenty of supplies on the island. Is it rescue? Maybe in the sense that you can't leave when you wanted to and now you have to wait. But not in t…

Your analogy might (and even that's a stretch ) work for 6 hours not for 6 months!
Post reply on HN