why is spacex ship called of course i still love you

by Dr. Theodore Grady 10 min read

“Of Course I Still Love You” and “Just Read the Instructions” If these colorful names have you scratching your head, you’re not alone. SpaceX’s fleet of drone ships are named to honor the science fiction author Ian M. Banks. Specifically, his novel The Player of Games, in which OCISLY and JRtI are sentient spaceships.

Full Answer

Where is the SpaceX drone ship of course I Still Love You?

The SpaceX drone ship, Of Course, I Still Love You (OCISLY), has arrived in the Panama Canal. It reached its destination ten days and one unforeseen detour after departing Port Canaveral, Florida, for what could be the last time ever.

Is SpaceX's drone ship fleet prepping for future rocket recoveries?

^ "SpaceX's drone ship fleet spied prepping for future rocket recoveries". Teslarati. 26 March 2018. Archived from the original on 18 December 2019. Retrieved 27 March 2018. ^ Potter, Sean (30 May 2020). "NASA Astronauts Launch from America in Test of SpaceX Crew Dragon". NASA. Archived from the original on 23 March 2021. Retrieved 30 May 2020.

Why did SpaceX build a ship at sea?

Construction of such ships was commissioned by aerospace company SpaceX to allow recovery of launch vehicle first stages at sea for missions that do not carry enough fuel to return to the launch site after boosting spacecraft onto an orbital or interplanetary trajectory.

How did SpaceX get its drone ship name?

Elon Musk Names SpaceX Drone Ships in Honor of Sci-Fi Legend. For example, he named the company's rockets after the Millennium Falcon, Han Solo's spaceship in the "Star Wars" films. Dragon, meanwhile, got its moniker from "Puff the Magic Dragon," the 1963 hit song by the folk group Peter, Paul and Mary.

How far in advance of launch will OCISLY leave?

OCISLY and the tugboat will leave Port Canaveral up to 7 days in advance of the launch date, with other accompanying support ships leaving later. After traveling to the landing zone the thrusters and other equipment will be engaged. Support vessels and the tugboat will then retreat to a safe distance to observe the landing. ...

What is the Falcon 9 securing robot?

A robot, officially named the Falcon 9 Securing Robot, but universally known as Octagrabber lives on the droneship and is deployed shortly after a booster landing. The robot is remotely driven from its blast-proof shelter and positioned underneath the Falcon 9.

Where is the OCISLY drone?

Of Course I Still Love You (OCISLY) is an autonomous spaceport droneship (ASDS) that is operated out of Port Canaveral, Florida. The droneship is a modified barge that is outfitted with a large landing platform, station-keeping thrusters, and other equipment to allow SpaceX to land boosters at sea on high-velocity missions that cannot carry enough fuel to allow for a return-to-launch-site landing.

Why are SpaceX drones named?

If these colorful names have you scratching your head, you’re not alone. SpaceX’s fleet of drone ships are named to honor the science fiction author Ian M. Banks. Specifically, his novel The Player of Games, in which OCISLY and JRtI are sentient spaceships.

What is SpaceX in the commercial space industry?

On the commercial space scene, SpaceX is the kid who rolls around on a skateboard, always sits in the back of the classroom, and still makes straight A’s. The company makes a point of reminding the world that space is still fun—because we all wanted to be astronauts as kids. And they name their gadgets like enthusiastic eighth ...

Why is the Dragon capsule named after a song?

That’s right, the Dragon capsule was named for a Peter, Paul and Mary song about a boy and an imaginary dragon that has long been associated with smoking marijuana. Moreover, it was a very public clap back at SpaceX doubters. With 15 successful missions under its belt, it’s safe to say the Dragon does, in fact, work.

What is a Merlin rocket?

A merlin is a variety of medium-sized falcon. Since the Merlin engine is currently used to power Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy, that fits nicely. SpaceX’s other rocket engines have equally avian monikers: Kestrel and Raptor.

What are some of the most famous names for space exploration?

That’s probably why rockets and spacecraft tend to have serious-sounding names. Atlas, Saturn, Delta, Soyuz (which means “union” in Russian), and a host of other spacefaring machines have some very authoritative names.

How many astronauts can a Falcon rocket carry?

Until recently, the ambitious extra, super-duper, great big launch system that Musk says will be able to carry 100 astronauts to Mars was called the Big Falcon Rocket. But that name has recently changed to simply “Starship.”.

Is life really just working a 40 hour work week to savor a precious weekend over and over again until you die?

I just turned 18, and from my understanding, being an adult means: working a meaningless and grueling job 5 days a week to have enough money to pay for livable accommodations, while having little to no time for relationships, hobbies, or really anything that makes life worth living.

How do I become less stupid?

My parents homeschooled me, and by homeschool I mean teach me English and let me fuck around on the internet for a decade, and as a result, I am dumb and I would like to fix that.

I'm going to ask my 80 year old grandmother to teach me how to knit, I'm a 30 year old man but it looks relaxing af. Is it difficult to learn?

Edit: This has blown up. It's been fun replying to as many people as I can, thanks guys :)

Where is the SpaceX drone ship going?

It is unclear how long the SpaceX drone ship will have to wait to pass through the canal and begin the final leg of its journey to the Port of Long Beach, California. The Panama Canal Authority needs special approval to (slightly) exceed its standard size limitations due to the huge proportions of MS1's droneship cargo.

What ship is OCISLY on?

Unlike its twin, the drone ship Just Read The Instructions (JRTI), which did the same journey in reverse roughly a year and a half ago, OCISLY was placed onto the deck of the Mighty Servant 1, a massive semi-submersible transport ship (MS1).

How long does it take for Mighty Servant 1 to reach Los Angeles?

If Mighty Servant 1 maintains its outstanding average speed on the final part of its journey, the trek from Panama City to Los Angeles might be completed in under ten days, with an arrival in the first few days of July. After that, SpaceX would have several weeks to inspect the drone ship and prepare it for its maiden West Coast booster retrieval.

Where is the OCISLY drone?

The SpaceX drone ship Of Course I Still Love You (OCISLY) has arrived in the Panama Canal. It reached its destination ten days and one unforeseen detour after departing Port Canaveral, Florida for what could be the last time ever.

Who is the founder of SpaceX?

Banks. Late last month, SpaceX's billionaire founder and CEO Elon Musk announced that he had named the company's first spaceport drone ship "Just Read the Instructions.". The second autonomous boat, which is ...

What is Musk's name for the rockets?

Musk has drawn inspiration for names from sci-fi before. For example, he named the company's rockets after the Millennium Falcon, Han Solo's spaceship in the "Star Wars" films. Dragon, meanwhile, got its moniker from "Puff the Magic Dragon," the 1963 hit song by the folk group Peter, Paul and Mary.

Who is Michael from Space.com?

13, 2018. Before becoming a science writer, Michael worked as a herpetologist and wildlife biologist . He has a Ph.D. in evolutionary biology from the University of Sydney, Australia, a bachelor's degree from the University of Arizona, and a graduate certificate in science writing from the University of California, Santa Cruz. To find out what his latest project is, you can follow Michael on Twitter.

Where is the Falcon 9 rocket positioned?

10, SpaceX tried to bring the first stage of its Falcon 9 rocket back for a soft landing on the ship, which was positioned in the Atlantic Ocean a couple of hundred miles off Florida.

What is SpaceX's drone named after?

The autonomous drone ships used by SpaceX are named after the sentient ships in Banks’s The Player of Games, first published in 1988 Here’s the relevant passage from the book: He had a sudden, paranoid idea. He turned to Chamlis urgently. ‘These friends of yours are ships.’. ‘Yes,’ Chamlis said.

Who is the CEO of SpaceX?

See, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk is a pretty big fan of science fiction. One need look no further than his adoration for The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy for proof. He literally named his company’s future Mars-bound spacecraft Heart of Gold for this reason.

What is pacex rocket?

S paceX is a spaceflight company focused on building big-ass rockets capable of taking people to Mars, but it’s also a strangely famous purveyor of so-called “drone ships,” autonomous platforms floating in the ocean. By now, the world has seen the company manage to vertically land several rockets on one its two ocean drone ships.

What are the drone ships named for?

That’s what the drone ships are named for, the late Iain M. Banks’ Culture novels. The Culture — a human/machine symbiotic society — has thrown up many great Game Players, and one of the greatest is Gurgeh.

Who is the CEO of SpaceX?

In 2009, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk articulated ambitions for "creating a paradigm shift in the traditional approach for reusing rocket hardware". In October 2014, SpaceX publicly announced that they had contracted with a Louisiana shipyard to build a floating landing platform for reusable orbital launch vehicles. Early information indicated that the ...

When did the Dragon SpaceX CRS-8 launch?

The ship was in place for a first-stage landing test on the SpaceX CRS-7 mission, which failed on launch on 28 June 2015. On 8 April 2016, the first stage, which launched the Dragon SpaceX CRS-8 spacecraft, successfully landed for the first time ever on OCISLY, which is also the first ever drone ship landing.

What is an ASDS rocket?

The ASDS are a key early operational component in the SpaceX objective to significantly lower the price of space launch services through "full and rapid reusability", and were developed as part of the multi-year reusable rocket development program SpaceX undertook to engineer the technology.

Where is the second ASDS barge?

The second ASDS barge, Of Course I Still Love You ( OCISLY ), had been under construction in a Louisiana shipyard since early 2015 using a different hull — Marmac 304 — in order to service launches on the East Coast of the United States. It was built as a replacement for the first Just Read the Instructions and entered operational service for Falcon 9 Flight 19 in late June 2015. As of June 2015, its home port was Port of Jacksonville, Florida, but after December 2015, it was transferred 260 km (160 mi) further south, at Port Canaveral .

What is an ASDS ship?

Active, expected usage in few months. An autonomous spaceport drone ship ( ASDS) is an ocean-going vessel derived from a deck barge, outfitted with station-keeping engines and a large landing platform and is autonomously controlled when on station for a landing.

What was the first stage of the Falcon 9?

Starlink L4. Falcon 9 first stage B1056.4 made a water landing following the launch of Starlink L4, which was the fifth batch of 60 Starlink satellites. The first stage booster failed to land on the drone ship making it the first landing failure of flight proven booster.

Where was the first ASDS landing?

The ASDS landing location for the first landing test was in the Atlantic approximately 320 km (200 mi) northeast of the launch location at Cape Canaveral, and 266 km (165 mi) southeast of Charleston, South Carolina.

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