We see lots of video from mission control during ISS operations and at the front of the room there are big screens displaying things which are important to all the controllers. One of the most prominent displays is the map which shows the location of the ISS & other spacecraft as well as a bunch of cryptic, wavy lines. So, let's explain what all these mean and why they're important to the control room staff when operating the most complicated machine ever flown. Image Credits: NASA Roscosmos James Blair Bill Ingalis ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zFAme3SQAo

Lots of Launches already in 2023, China and SpaceX are both throwing lots of rockets up there. Virgin Orbit and ABL Space Systems both attempted launches which ended in failure, with ABL only rising a few hundred feet before all the engines shut down and the rocket fell back onto the launch site. Elsewhere there are a pair of small NASA spacecraft having trouble getting to the moon due to engine problems, and some amazing images of the permanently shadowed regions of the moon from the Shadowcam payload on Korea's Danuri spacecraft. Astronomy Live's Falcon Heavy Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLxlLslhGxU Follow me on Twitter for more updates: https://twitter.com/DJSnM I have a discord server where I regularly turn up: https://discord.gg/zStmKbM If you really like what I do you can support me directly through Patreon https://www.patreon.com/scottmanley ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4i9BAepLUU

A small spin-prime test turned into a bit more of a violent conflagration than expected yesterday, leading to questions about potential damage to Booster 7 Once again, I'm indebted to the Tank Watchers down in Texas who have been monitoring development at Boca Chica NASASpaceFlight bringing the raw footage and scintillating commentary https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AfGjPhgz0Lc LabPadre's Rover Cam - thankfully undamaged by this event. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWeeWMu10A0 Follow me on Twitter for more updates: https://twitter.com/DJSnM I have a discord server where I regularly turn up: https://discord.gg/zStmKbM If you really like what I do you can support me directly through Patreon https://www.patreon.com/scottmanley ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dU4B9Xk7x7c

Last Monday NASA announced that Doug Loverro, head of human spaceflight at NASA was resigning only 6 months after starting the job, and just over a week before the historic return to flight for the human spaceflight program. We know it's not related to the Commercial Crew Program and is going to have no effect on the upcoming launch, but we don't have much in the way of concrete information to go on. Right now the theory is that this is related to the procurement of the Human landing system, but we could be wrong. Update: An article in the Wall Street Journal has confirmed that NASA’s Inspector General is investigating information shared with Boeing as part of the Human Landing System proposal - confirming my speculation. https://www.wsj.com/articles/nasa-investigating-former-officials-contacts-with-boeing-on-lunar-contracts-11591538265 ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHV14Tc2Jmw