Firefly lunar lander touches down on the moon

POSTED BY: second
UPDATED: Wednesday, August 5, 2026 17:26
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SECOND

Friday, July 10, 2020 6:37 AM

Firefly Aerospace uses rocket engine to light birthday candles in epic cake video

Was the result tasty? The team doesn't say while sharing the charred cake, but their enthusiasm radiates nonetheless. "Happy Birthday, Max!" they cry.

www.space.com/firefly-aerospace-lights-birthday-cake-with-rocket-engin
e-video.html

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

SECOND

Sunday, October 25, 2020 10:42 PM

The Firefly Alpha Flight 1 Stage 1 passed its Final Acceptance Test. After a final inspection, it will be transported to Vandenberg Air Force Base in preparation for launch.
www.space.com/firefly-aerospace-alpha-rocket-testing-video.html

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

SECOND

Tuesday, January 5, 2021 3:50 AM

Firefly Alpha Stage 2 Flight 1 Acceptance Test

Firefly Aerospace has completed acceptance testing of Alpha Flight 1 Stage 2! The stage will now ship to Vandenberg and be integrated with Stage 1 in preparation for the first Alpha launch!

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

THG

Thursday, January 7, 2021 9:00 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by second:
Firefly Aerospace uses rocket engine to light birthday candles in epic cake video

Was the result tasty? The team doesn't say while sharing the charred cake, but their enthusiasm radiates nonetheless. "Happy Birthday, Max!" they cry.

www.space.com/firefly-aerospace-lights-birthday-cake-with-rocket-engin
e-video.html

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

It worked

T

THG

Thursday, January 7, 2021 9:02 AM

Second, any updates?

T

SECOND

Thursday, January 7, 2021 3:50 PM

Firefly Aerospace is getting ready for their first ever launch of their Alpha rocket. If the launch is successful, it would be a breakthrough moment for small rockets everywhere.

Firefly Aerospace currently plans for its maiden Alpha rocket launch to happen as early as Dec. 22, co-founder and CEO Tom Markusic told CNBC, as his company prepares for the next major milestone in its plan to offer a variety of space transportation services.

Markusic is confident in the launch date because of the “rigid” requirements of Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, where Firefly is finishing up work to prepare the launchpad at SLC-2. While “everything is susceptible to surprises,” with room in the schedule to launch as late as Jan. 31, 2021, Markusic said the “full gamut of rules” at Vandenberg means the company has put extra work into certification for Alpha’s first launch.

“We took the hard route to flight, and that was by going to a launch range that has very strict requirements,” Markusic said. “So our design has been highly vetted, as we have a lot of requirements that are put on us by the range and that makes the rocket ultimately more reliable.

“I think it’s very reasonable for us to expect complete success on the first launch,” Markusic added.

More at https://www.cnbc.com/2020/10/21/firefly-aerospace-aims-for-first-rocke
t-launch-in-late-december.html

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

THG

Friday, January 8, 2021 1:41 AM

There talking a 2,204.6 payload. Very cool Second. Do we remember what Serenity's payload was?

T

SECOND

Friday, January 8, 2021 3:29 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by THG:
There talking a 2,204.6 payload. Very cool Second. Do we remember what Serenity's payload was?

Empty weight
282,500 lb (128.1 metric tonne)

Maximum weight
585,000 lb (265.4 metric tonne)

Maximum payload
164,900 lb (74.8 metric tonne)

Unless 74.8 tonne is structural, where the designers are worried that the cargo deck will collapse if there is more than 75 tonne static weight, I think the max payload is 137 tonne. (265 tonne - 128 tonne = 137 tonne.) That is if Serenity has the minimum amount of fuel of about 0.3 tonne -- just enough to make a short distance hop from the city center to the suburbs. This ain't a helicopter, airplane, or rocketship. It can hover with zero thrust because it controls gravity. How much weight can an ocean going ship carry? Depends on the weight of water the ship's volume displaces. How much weight can a space going ship carry? Depends on how much weight its anti-gravity generators can hold in a hover.

https://firefly.fandom.com/wiki/Serenity

or page 7, sheet 5 of the Serenity blueprints reference pack
http://blog.quantummechanix.com/backgrounders/Serenity_Ref_Pack_Backgr
ounder.pdf
https://firefly.fandom.com/wiki/Serenity_Blueprints

What is a Plimsoll line?
https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/plimsoll-line.html
(It's on sea ships. Spaceships that float on artificial gravity have something similar to prevent shipwreck from too much cargo weight. If Wash hadn't died, he'd explain it. Mal can't because he doesn't understand it.)

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

THG

Saturday, January 9, 2021 6:16 AM

Even the cows never came close to them having much of a payload. Quite an impressive ship.

T

WISHIMAY

Saturday, January 9, 2021 12:13 PM

How did I miss this thread??

Oh yeah, there's a lot to argue about these days.
Be nice if we were arguing about scientific stuff, eh?

It has REAVER rockets, lol.
I thought that was an Onion article or something.

I found this. They are still go for this year.

https://blog.executivebiz.com/2020/12/als-firefly-aerospace-ink-contra
ct-for-four-alpha-rocket-launches/

The rocket manufacturer has been preparing its Vandenberg Air Force Base Space Launch Complex 2 launch site for the Alpha's maiden flight in 2021. Firefly has also passed both Stage 1 and Stage 2 acceptance tests for the rocket's Flight 1.

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