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SpaceX can't test fire its Falcon Heavy rocket due to the government shutdown

floridatoday.com

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Re: SpaceX can't test fire its Falcon Heavy rocket due to the government shutdown

#161

Post by Clanan »

jernfrost wrote: post #158
Clanan wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

FYI this is a great neutral explanation up until the last paragraph, which is politically charged. This attempts to imply the Republican party sought the shutdown. In fact, the shutdown was caused by the Democratic party not voting for the Continuing Resolution (pseudo-budget). 60 Senate votes are required, but the majority party (Republicans) only has 51. It's a big slimy ball of politics all-around. Also, more on p…

Clanan, to my knowledge this is ALL Trump and the republican's fault. Until 3 weeks ago they could have passed anything they wanted. It is just because they wasted time and Trump sabotaged everything the republicans came up with that so much time passed that they reached a stage where a 60 senate vote was needed. You can't blame this on democrats when republicans could have handled this exclusively themselves and had…

Citations are far more helpful than ranting. If you want a productive conversation, you should provide some. Democratic leaders have made the current budget/CR about DACA, which was not relevant to it. (Ironic because they're in favor of everything in the CR, but they voted against it anyway!) Here's House minority leader Pelosi promising to block any funding that does not include DACA [0]. Yes, the Trump admin could have avoided the shutdown by giving in to minority demands, but that doesn't mean they're at fault, logically.

As for opinions, my political golden rule is "never trust a politician". We're veering far off-topic, though.

Edit: as further evidence of the cause of the shutdown, Senate Minority Leader Schumer just caved. The shutdown was a political gamble for both sides; I'm assuming internal Democrat polling found that they were receiving the most blame. Continuing the disruption would be disastrous. (Obvious, considering they effectively blocked the CHIP children's health insurance.)

[0] http://thehill.com/homenews/house/363778-pelosi-were-not-lea...

Re: SpaceX can't test fire its Falcon Heavy rocket due to the government shutdown

#162

Post by yardie »

schiffern wrote: post #131
Animats wrote: post #38

Space-X was supposed to be building their own launch facility in Brownsville, TX, and it was supposed to be open now, but it's still just a vacant lot. They brought in some tracking antennas and some dirt fill; that's it.[1] [1] http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/news/local/spacex-progress-...

>They brought in... some dirt fill; that's it. They're doing soil surcharging, so that's intentional. Don't want the castle sinking into the swamp (it's on 300+ feet of silt[1]). The steps for soil surcharging are: 1. Pile extra dirt on top of your fill. 2. Wait a sufficient amount of time (usually months/years; it's important to wait long enough[2]) as the dirt compresses and squeezes out water. 3. Remove the extra…

Thank you. I wasn't aware of that.

This has been going on in South Florida for sometime. A dirt lot is filled with soil sometimes 20-30ft high. And then just as mysteriously, a few years later, it disappears.

I just assumed this was temporary storage of backfill for a construction project elsewhere.

Re: SpaceX can't test fire its Falcon Heavy rocket due to the government shutdown

#164

Post by nimos »

jernfrost wrote: post #158
Clanan wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

FYI this is a great neutral explanation up until the last paragraph, which is politically charged. This attempts to imply the Republican party sought the shutdown. In fact, the shutdown was caused by the Democratic party not voting for the Continuing Resolution (pseudo-budget). 60 Senate votes are required, but the majority party (Republicans) only has 51. It's a big slimy ball of politics all-around. Also, more on p…

Clanan, to my knowledge this is ALL Trump and the republican's fault. Until 3 weeks ago they could have passed anything they wanted. It is just because they wasted time and Trump sabotaged everything the republicans came up with that so much time passed that they reached a stage where a 60 senate vote was needed. You can't blame this on democrats when republicans could have handled this exclusively themselves and had…

Why could they pass anything up until 3 weeks ago? I though filibustering meant the senate always needed 60 votes if the opposing party wants to block the legislation.

Re: SpaceX can't test fire its Falcon Heavy rocket due to the government shutdown

#165

Post by shmerl »

robryan wrote: post #53
Animats wrote: post #38

Space-X was supposed to be building their own launch facility in Brownsville, TX, and it was supposed to be open now, but it's still just a vacant lot. They brought in some tracking antennas and some dirt fill; that's it.[1] [1] http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/news/local/spacex-progress-...

At their current rate of launches it probably just doesn't make any sense to put a lot of resources into it. There has been upgrades in automation for the ranges last year which allow a higher frequency of launches. Plus they started launching again from their second Cape Canaveral pad. I read that even with their own facility they would still be affected by a shutdown.

> I read that even with their own facility they would still be affected by a shutdown.

In what way?

Re: SpaceX can't test fire its Falcon Heavy rocket due to the government shutdown

#166

Post by ogre_magi »

jernfrost wrote: post #158
Clanan wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

FYI this is a great neutral explanation up until the last paragraph, which is politically charged. This attempts to imply the Republican party sought the shutdown. In fact, the shutdown was caused by the Democratic party not voting for the Continuing Resolution (pseudo-budget). 60 Senate votes are required, but the majority party (Republicans) only has 51. It's a big slimy ball of politics all-around. Also, more on p…

Clanan, to my knowledge this is ALL Trump and the republican's fault. Until 3 weeks ago they could have passed anything they wanted. It is just because they wasted time and Trump sabotaged everything the republicans came up with that so much time passed that they reached a stage where a 60 senate vote was needed. You can't blame this on democrats when republicans could have handled this exclusively themselves and had…

Senate Democrats initiated the shutdown by opposing the continuing resolution. You can blame Trump if you want, but only in the sense that you could say it's his fault for not giving the Senate Democrats what they wanted.

Tea Party types found rationalizations for why the 2013 shutdown led by Cruz was really Obama's fault, so I'm not surprised #resistance types are blaming Trump.

Re: SpaceX can't test fire its Falcon Heavy rocket due to the government shutdown

#167

Post by protomyth »

nosequel wrote: post #137
TheAceOfHearts wrote: post #32

I find this article very frustrating. What do they even mean by "key members of the civilian workforce"? I wish they'd include examples of what kind of people aren't working. Since I have absolutely no connection to this industry, I have no way of understanding the impact of a government shutdown on the space industry. Why is it considered reasonable or unreasonable that they halt certain space-related activities due…

If no on is getting paid, they aren't going into work, simple as that. This can be anyone. Fire personnel, security, gate guards, flight-line / launch pad techs & engineers, anyone. Most civilian companies barely function if the office manager is out of the building. The launch pad is private property with a ton of personnel, they can't just launch without the workers.

> If no on is getting paid, they aren't going into work, simple as that.

Well, my buddy in the weather service isn't getting paid, but he is required to go into work.

https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/furlough...

Re: SpaceX can't test fire its Falcon Heavy rocket due to the government shutdown

#168

Post by bsimpson »

bonesss wrote: post #96
mcv wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why would a lack of funding for the government suspend a rent agreement? That's actually money flowing into the government. Why does that need to be shut down?

Without knowing the specifics: renting land from the feds inside a national park is not entirely the same as renting land from a private person in a commercial zone. From a park-management perspective services offered inside a national park close when the park closes. The park-restaurant doesn't get to reopen that park or its services any more than the hotdog vendors force Wrigley Field to open on the weekdays... Jus…

The weird part is that there's not exactly a toll plaza - it's totally integrated into the city.

I presume they made some argument about rangers not being available or something, but there was really no reason it needed to close. It's on a public street, and in a city with emergency services.

Re: SpaceX can't test fire its Falcon Heavy rocket due to the government shutdown

#169

Post by ziedaniel1 »

rsbartram wrote: post #163

Is SpaceX using a recycled rocket like they have in the past? https://latechnews.org/spacex-launches-bulgariasat-1-recycle...

The center core is new, but the side boosters are both recycled. See https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Falcon_9_and_Falcon_...

Re: SpaceX can't test fire its Falcon Heavy rocket due to the government shutdown

#170

Post by gojomo »

rlanday wrote: post #153
freeflight wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Weird persons exist, just like persons who don't include checking news during their breakfast routine, then there's also a subset of weird people who might just like doing their job and don't mind working that one Saturday without pay.

It’s not legal for non-essential federal workers to choose to work for free: http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2013/10/01/federal_worke...

That looks to be a recent interpretation of an 1884 law that could be reversed by the current administration, if it wanted to make shutdowns smoother, as easily as it was adopted in the 1970s.

(And, if there were a general consensus/expectation within an agency/administration, it could be a 'dead letter' law even without explicit re-interpretation. OK, so you "break the law" by answering an email, sending an official tweet, or staffing a booth during the shutdown. Which of your fellow federal employees is going to prosecute you once the shutdown ends?)

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