Any Rocketry Fans or Space Launch Fans?

Over the past three years I have been getting into watching as many rocket launches on video as I possibly can. I'd like to see one in person, but that can wait until after the pandemic. Whenever I see a launch by Blue Origin, SpaceX, Rocket Lab, Northrop Grumman, or anything NASA has contracted - I try to watch it. If you don't know we are living in an amazing age of private and corporate spacecraft and exploration - for good or for bad. Some could be seens as troubling, but I think it is exciting to see more than just nations going into space for more than just satellites.

I have three main channels I watch for launches, and other stuff I enjoy.

- Everyday Astronaut
- SpaceX (Falcon9 and Starship)
-Rocket Labs (Electron Rocket Launches)

- Scott Manley
- NASA TV

If you also watch launches or just are intered in space, call out in teh comments. What has been teh mission or launch that cpatured your imagination. I woudl have a hard time just point out one. In teh last few weeks Jpan returned material from a Asteroid Ryugu, China returned lunar rocks and dist from the damn moon, and SpaceX *nearly* landed their "building sized" rocket to and upright landing after it skydiving to the ground not under power! Three amazing scientific events that happened within the last few weeks. Also, I would be remiss if I didn't mention how close India came to landing its Chandrayaan-2 rover on the moon last September 2019.. They were SO CLOSE with a very ambitious mission! A successful soft landing would have made India the fourth country after the Soviet Union, United States and China to land on the moon. I think they will land with their next Chandrayaan-3 mission.

I subscribe to Mr. Manley for my updates on the field in general, and enjoy watching the progress of SpaceX insanity. Despite the fact they've done it over 100 times, it's still thrilling to see a booster rocket land on a barge with precision. It's almost so routine it's dull, until you think about landing something as tall as a 10 story building on a boat... from the edge of space. The recent Starship test flight was kind of amazing, fiery crash included. Can't wait until the roll the next prototype out and give it a go.

I just dunno I had hoped for legitimate flying cars. Lots of em. Dodging in and out of traffic. Firing off tiny gamma rays. But I just don't see that. I want the dog to learn to love the intricacies of personal ion drives. I want bigger, badder, bolder. Flames on the fairings of my thermonuclear rocket plane. If you can't already tell I'm going for a bit of retro flare with this new technology. All I want is 3.9% apr on my first outgoing purchase and 5000 back if I decide to sign on with the federation. Anyway, peace be with you all.. it is the least we can ask for.

I usually don't watch the launches, but mainly catch the recaps and info posted by Manley and Everyday. and Matt Lowne started posting space this week videos which recap everything happening that week, and also historic stuff that happened that week in history. There where a good bit of Apollo videos last year because of the 50th anniversary. Linus had a nice video on one of the computers in the Saturn V, and CuriousMarc had some very in depth stuff with the AGC that even tho i don't really understand most of what they are doing, its cool to see how a cutting edge computer from that time was made. And Vintage Space has some good stuff on it as well.

and if you ever get the chance to visit Huntsville Alabama, where they keep a Saturn V, i highly recommend it.

It is crazy how tall the SpaceX boosters are that land back on bargest on or pads. Like you said, ist like a building landing on the ground! When the full first stage Starship lands, that has a mission on board, it will be WILD! If a variant of Starship is chosen by NASA to land on the moon - "mind blowing". And, given SpaceX's track record for successful launches and completed missions; I think it is VERY likely Starship will be chosen. And, I say that thinking the Blue Origin Descent Element lander is the more likely choice.

About 42 and 35 years ago, I went to Smithsonian Air & Space. That was fun and I went to Kennedy Space Center about 30 years ago. I'd to see U.S. Space & Rocket Center Huntsville, AL and Space Center Houston, TX. I'd like to go to JPL - Jet Propulsion Laboratory, in California too.

I thought this video by Scott Manley was super interesting. Rocket engines get a lot of press for the big engines, but there are so many workhorse small engines that are used on many rocket and satellites. So the sale of Rocketdyne to Lockheed Martin is big news.

NEXT LAUNCH: An Arianespace Soyuz rocket will launch the second Composante Spatiale Optique (CSO-2) military reconnaissance satellite for the French space agency CNES and DGA, the French defense procurement agency. It will lift off from the Guiana Space Center in French Guiana, Dec 29th (a reschedule) at 11:42 a.m. EST (1642 GMT).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxBdnuD6Ji0

I'm always fascinated that the Europeans send satellites all the way to South America to launch from French Guiana. Guiana is real jungle that is damn hot & wet in the Robin Williams sense.

I do like watching the odd rocket launch here and there, when Space X was starting to do their thing i was watching most launches to find out if they would be successful or not, now they're reliable i don't watch as much. I watched them litter the skies with their internet satellites, which is insane, and i've watched the others do their launches to see what they're up to, so while i'm caught up with events surrounding space i wouldn't say i'm that knowledgeable about it, Manley's videos are too long for me :P.

I am very excited to hear about when SpaceX will test STARSHIP SN20.

When SpaceX gets environmental approval for StarShip launch, the mission should be as follows. The Starship on top of Super Heavy Booster-4 will take off. Then after stage separation, Booster 4 to splash down in the Gulf of Mexico, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) offshore. Meanwhile, SN20 will continue into orbit, make one circuit of Earth and then come down in the Pacific Ocean roughly 90 minutes after liftoff, near the Hawaiian island of Kauai.

Then Starship w/ Booster 4 will be tallest USA origin rocket that has taken off from the US. The Saturn 5 rocket that took the USA to the Moon was 363.0 ft (110.6 m), so ist was 31 feet shorter than the StarShip's whole package. Starship w/ Booster-4 will be taller than the SLA Artemis 1 that will be tested this Fall, which will be 322 ft or 98 meters. I'm sure five years ago SLA thought their rockets would be the biggest since the Saturn 5 to take off, but Elon moved fast!

I actually wonder if Starship will be ready to moving cargo into space before Boeing & Lockheed can even test an SLS Block 2?

I kinda keep an eye on it from a distance, i caught a few shuttle launches on TV back in the day, the novelty of SpaceX landing rockets upright had me tuning into their tests, then i watched Starship belly flop which was so unbelievable i'm still convinced it was CG.
I'm only really interested in seeing new things around it, most launches look identical.
Edit: I didn't realise this was an old thread, but seeing myself give basically the same answer twice is reassuring.

Yeah, I agree SpaceX is so good at it while launching so often, that it is a bit less interesting. So the major launches are what catching my eye lately.

The day we go back to the Moon in 2024/25 I will drop the 20 ft projector screen at work to watch the live steam on with full volume. No muting the audio in the library that day! In fact, I will spearhead a "watch party" at our library for the community to enjoy. We have a pretty decently respected observatory on the island, so we have some astronomers, astronauts, and NASA people come through.

I've been following the channels @monkeyking1969 mentioned for a while and have in general been interested in astronomy and rocketry since I was a kid. My long time dream has been to go see a rocket launch in Baikonur or one of the facilities in the USA.

My most memorable astronomy moment of the last few years was watching the first manned Crew Dragon launch with my family on an island in the Baltic Sea. My father and uncle have vivid memories of watching the Apollo landings, but haven't really kept up with astronomy since. The launch was clearly a revelation to them. They had a hard time believing that rockets can now make safe landings on ships or landing pads. Also the fact that we were able to watch a live stream from space on our mobile phones kilometres away from the mainland was still amazing to them. Sometimes it's easy to forget how much technological progress we've made even though nobody has set foot outside of the Earth in half a century.

I think if anything what has improved with current space launches in the coverage. There have always been ammature enthusasts wtaching teh lanches, but now they cna film & stream their reactions across the globe. We can watch with only a slight delay launches from French Guiana, Kenya, Russia, Australia, Japan, China, and India. SpaceX has shown that the more cameras you put on your launch area, rockets, stages, and even space the more people watch.

I'm old enough to have likely seen all teh Apollo missions, but too young to remember watching them on TV. I was just a bit too young to have a recollection. I do remember having Apollo toys! The first Christmas I remember is one where I got a battery operated Apollo rocket where the astronaut woudl lift out of the metal rocket body on a scissor lift contrapption.

I remember all the US Space Shuttle launches, and my sciences tearer allowed us to watch the on Space Shuttle Challenger launch LIVE on tv in 1986. When it blew up my teacher and I looked at each other because we were the ONLY ONES in the room that knew what they were showing was a disaster. And, while most networks did cutaway second after the disaster, TENS OF MILLIONS of people did see it live. That one of the "bits of misinformation" out there is that few people saw it happen, while most networks cut away after the explosion and gave little commentary about why they cut away...there were many people who knew immediately. Anyone who watched the other Shuttle launches knew what a successful launch looked like from the engine plume - even when they cut away quick that- was enough to see that difference.

I love space. Followed it... as long as I can remember (being that I was born right between the Friendship 7 and Aurora 7 Mercury missions).

I keep an eye on all the space stuff (not just the big new rockets, the science missions are damn cool). NASA TV is my comfort food.

Been celebrating the 50th anniversary's of the Apollo missions by watching my Spacecraft Films sets which means I just finished up the Apollo 15 six disc set: Apollo 15: Man Must Explore – SPACECRAFT FILMS (spacehistory.tv) - you want to deep dive? This is your "More is not enough, I want it all" one stop shop. They have sets on Mercury, Gemini, selected Space Shuttle missions and more (they a three disc set about the development of the Saturn I and IB, and another 3 disc set on the Saturn V - would you like to watch 15 minutes of footage of five F1 engines running a burn and gymbal test?). And then there's this: Apollo Lunar Surface Journal (nasa.gov) and the companion: Apollo Flight Journal - Index Page (nasa.gov.

Yeah, I vibrate with anticipation about space exploration. :-)

Seeing the James Webb space telescope safely take off was a big deal this past weekend.

James Webb will directly observe a part of space and time never seen before, seeing really super old light. Thus, Webb will gaze into the time when the very first stars and galaxies formed - 13.5+ billion years ago. It might take a year or two before we see pectaula picture, but I excpect we will and its sems like astromers around the worlds a existed about the prospect of Webb finally being ready.
https://www.jwst.nasa.gov/

UPCOMING:
We can hope that early next year we will see SpaceX Starship make its first orbital flight. SpaceX will also attempt this single orbit flght, likely in either January or February - if things go as planned. This reusable larger scale rocket configuration will consist of the Super Heavy Booster 4 and Starship prototype SN20, which, when combined is 394 feet (120 meters) in height. I was too young to remember any of the Staurn V rockest taking off, so seeing StarShip fully functional with cargos in 2023 and 20024 will be a thrill.

I'll always be an optimist about Boeing SLS Program - mispalced optimism puhapes. ;-) If Boeing and Northrop Grumman stay on track Artemis 1 (EM-1) will have its maiden flight in Q1 2022. The agency is now targeting a launch in March or April 2022 for its Artemis 1 flight, an uncrewed mission around the moon and the first flight of its Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. But, they have a few dress rehersla for that launch that still have to happen to even hit that date. I'm an optimst the SLS will take off eventually, but I feel like there will be more setbacks.

I was super excited that the James Webb finally launched! Now we just have to wait a month for it to get into position. I hope everything goes smoothly.

Also count me in the crowd of those absurdly excited about Webb! I first heard about this project over ten years ago and I've been hyped ever since. I'm crossing my fingers everything goes well! I absolutely cannot wait to see images of the earliest galaxies and to hear scientists explain how their theories are confirmed or destroyed.

Here's a cool, goofy video about JWST by Kevin Hainline, better known to the internet as the Mario Frustration voice, but now an astrophysicist working on Webb.

@wollywoo: OMG That was a great film about Webb! That explained so much and ist all was really facintaing about how camera parts were hand made. Thank you!

We're coming up on... what.. 50 years since humans have ventured beyond LEO? It's a weird thought that the most distantly remote human beings during my lifetime would not be astronauts but rather someone on an island in the middle of the pacific or at a polar outpost.

Excited to see what JWST brings.

@monkeyking1969: Glad you liked it :)

Here is another video on some of the other engineering challenges of Webb:

They also have a really good video on the X-15 on there channel that is probably the best i have seen on YouTube.

I am writing this over Starlink so I have a vested interest in SpaceX launches. I am not real pleased with how Starlink is cluttering up low earth orbit but we live in a world where I live half a mile from very high speed fiber and this is still the only way for me to get anything over 40-50 Mbps right now.