🧵 Untitled Thread
Anonymous at Sat, 15 Mar 2025 21:12:45 UTC No. 16620079
now that SpaceX has perfected their booster can't payloads be designed to take advantage of it such as a 9m diameter (x-ray, visible light, infra red, etc) telescope weighing over 100 tons that can be placed in space by said booster and a modified Falcon 9 second stage or a Centaur V? Should be especially easy to mate the two as the disposable staging ring can be modified to adapt to the "not a Starship" 2nd stage.
🗑️ Anonymous at Sat, 15 Mar 2025 21:45:48 UTC No. 16620093
>>16620079
jwst was only 6.5 tons but occupied 13m of the 4.6x16.2m ariane fairing, with a longer payload area you could fit two such 9m scopes
Anonymous at Sat, 15 Mar 2025 21:49:01 UTC No. 16620096
>>16620079
jwst was only 6.5 tons but occupied 13m of the 4.6x16.2m ariane fairing, with a longer payload area you could fit two such 9m scopes
Anonymous at Sat, 15 Mar 2025 22:23:58 UTC No. 16620109
>>16620079
Centaur uppers are for rockets with high energy first stages. Falcon 9 and Starship have relatively low energy first stages because they're flyback boosters. Basically they aren't built for each other.
also
>huge space telescope
who pays for it? there's no money to be made with space telescopes.
Anonymous at Sun, 16 Mar 2025 00:39:42 UTC No. 16620203
>>16620109
The rapidly increasing number of satellites (not just Starlink) means ground observation is not as good as it used to be. Long exposures will inevitably catch satellite streaks.
Space telescopes will probably be the only solution. If each Starlink satellite had a small radio telescope dish, these could be interlinked and form a radio telescope with a 14,000 km aperture which would beat the resolution of the best optical telescopes.
Anonymous at Sun, 16 Mar 2025 00:47:52 UTC No. 16620207
>>16620203
That doesn't change the fact that there's no money in space telescopes. There's no money in ground-based telescopes either, or in astronomy in general. Astronomers have always relied on charitable handouts from governments/etc. Virtually all the famous astronomers you've learned about in school funded their activities by doing astrological fortune telling for rich people.
Anonymous at Sun, 16 Mar 2025 04:47:28 UTC No. 16620410
>>16620109
>who pays for it? there's no money to be made with space telescopes.
OK, then a 9m diameter "honeymoon hotel" for couples who take a Dragon up for a 1 week stay.