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SpaceX Floating Launch Platform
SpaceX's Starship offshore platforms—''Deimos'' and ''Phobos''—are former Deepwater drilling, deepwater Oil rig, oil drilling rigs. In January 2021, SpaceX began modifying them to support launch and landing of their next-generation launch vehicle, SpaceX Starship, Starship. Both platforms are part of the Ensco 8500 Series Semi Submersible-type. History SpaceX CEO Elon Musk first showed offshore launch and landing platforms for Starship in a 2017 animation of the Earth-to-Earth passenger-carrying use case. More recently, Musk clarified in June 2020 that offshore platforms would be used both for launches into space, post-launch landings, and for the more long-term Earth-to-Earth transportation. In July 2020, Lone Star Mineral Development LLC, a subsidiary of SpaceX, bought two semi-submersible platform, semi-submersible oil drilling rig, drilling rigs from Valaris plc for each. They were renamed ''Deimos'' and ''Phobos'' after the two moons of Mars. The drilling platforms had ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pascagoula, Mississippi
Pascagoula ( ) is a city in Jackson County, Mississippi, United States. It is the principal city of the Pascagoula Metropolitan Statistical Area, and is part of the Gulfport–Biloxi–Pascagoula Combined Statistical Area. The population was 22,392 at the 2010 census, down from 26,200 at the 2000 census. As of 2019 the estimated population was 21,699. It is the county seat of Jackson County. The city is served by three airports: Mobile Regional Airport, to the northeast in Alabama; Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport, about west of Pascagoula; and the Trent Lott International Airport, to the north in Jackson County. The current mayor of the city is Jay Willis. History Early history The name ''Pascagoula'', which means "bread eater", is taken from the Pascagoula, a group of Native Americans found in villages along the Pascagoula River some distance above its mouth. Hernando de Soto seems to have made the first contact with them in the 1540s, though little is known o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oil Drilling Rig
A drilling rig is an integrated system that drills wells, such as oil or water wells, or holes for piling and other construction purposes, into the earth's subsurface. Drilling rigs can be massive structures housing equipment used to drill water wells, oil wells, or natural gas extraction wells, or they can be small enough to be moved manually by one person and such are called augers. Drilling rigs can sample subsurface mineral deposits, test rock, soil and groundwater physical properties, and also can be used to install sub-surface fabrications, such as underground utilities, instrumentation, tunnels or wells. Drilling rigs can be mobile equipment mounted on trucks, tracks or trailers, or more permanent land or marine-based structures (such as oil platforms, commonly called 'offshore oil rigs' even if they don't contain a drilling rig). The term "rig" therefore generally refers to the complex equipment that is used to penetrate the surface of the Earth's crust. Small to mediu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Semi-submersibles
Semi-submersible may refer to a self-propelled vessel, such as: *Heavy-lift ship, which partially submerge to allow their cargo (another ship) to float into place for transport *Narco-submarine, some of which remained partially on the surface *Semi-submarine, which cannot fully submerge *Semi-submersible naval vessel, which partially submerges to minimize being observed *Semi-submersible platform, which is typically transported to a location where it is placed in service *Oil platform An oil platform (or oil rig, offshore platform, oil production platform, and similar terms) is a large structure with facilities to extract and process petroleum and natural gas that lie in rock formations beneath the seabed. Many oil platfor ..., a large structure with facilities for well drilling to explore, extract, store, and process petroleum and natural gas, in deeper water (more than 1,500 metres (4,900 ft)), the semisubmersibles or drillships are maintained at the required drilling loc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
SpaceX Maritime Vessels
Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) is an American spacecraft manufacturer, launcher, and a satellite communications corporation headquartered in Hawthorne, California. It was founded in 2002 by Elon Musk with the stated goal of reducing space transportation costs to enable the colonization of Mars. The company manufactures the Falcon 9, Falcon Heavy, and Starship launch vehicles, several rocket engines, Cargo Dragon and Crew Dragon spacecraft, and Starlink communications satellites. SpaceX is developing a satellite internet constellation named Starlink to provide commercial internet service. In January 2020, the Starlink constellation became the largest satellite constellation ever launched, and as of December 2022 comprises over 3,300 small satellites in orbit. The company is also developing Starship, a privately funded, fully reusable, super heavy-lift launch system for interplanetary and orbital spaceflight. It is intended to become SpaceX's primary orbit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blue Origin Landing Platform Ship
''Jacklyn'', formerly known as ''LPV'', ''Stena Freighter'', ''Stena Seafreighter'', RFA ''Sea Chieftain'', and ''Stena Hispanica'', was a roll-on/roll-off cargo ship which was purchased by Blue Origin in 2018 for use as a Floating launch vehicle operations platform, landing platform ship. Ultimately, Blue Origin abandoned their plans to use the ship as a landing platform, and in August 2022, the ship was towed to the Port of Brownsville for ship breaking, scrapping. History ''Stena Freighter'' was built by Società Esercizio Cantieri of Viareggio, Italy, and completed in 2004 by Elektromehanika d.o.o. at Kraljevica Shipyard, Croatia, for Sweden, Swedish operator Stena Line. The ship was initially laid down in February 1997 as ''Stena Hispanica'' for Stena Line, but on 5 May 1998 was renamed after the Government of the United Kingdom, British Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom), Ministry of Defence (MoD) contracted with Stena for a long-term charter of the vessel for fre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Autonomous Spaceport Drone Ship
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. 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. SpaceX has three operational drone ships: ''Just Read the Instructions (II)'' (JRTI) and ''A Shortfall of Gravitas'' (ASOG), operating in the Atlantic for launches from Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, and ''Of Course I Still Love You'' (OCISLY), operating in the Pacific for supporting missions from Vandenberg Space Force Base. JRTI operated in the Pacific Ocean for Vandenberg Air Force Base launches from 2016 to 2019 before leaving the Port of Los Angeles ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
List Of SpaceX Starship Flight Tests
Prototypes of the upper stage of the SpaceX Starship have been flown nine times. Designed and operated by private manufacturer SpaceX, the flown prototypes of Starship so far are ''Starhopper'', SN5, SN6, SN8, SN9, SN10, SN11, and SN15. Starship is planned to be a fully-reusable two-stage super heavy-lift launch vehicle. Unusual for previous launch vehicle and spacecraft designs, the upper stage of Starship is intended to function both as a second stage to reach orbital velocity on launches from Earth, and also eventually be used in outer space as an on-orbit long-duration spacecraft. It is being designed to take people to Mars and beyond into the Solar System. Prototypes Low-altitude flights High-altitude flights Planned orbital launches Starship test flights Eight prototype Starship second stage vehicles, each with different vehicle configurations, have flown nine suborbital test flights in the period between July 2019 and May 2021. SpaceX testing i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ensco Plc
Valaris Limited (previously ENSCO-Rowan plc) is an offshore drilling contractor headquartered in Houston, Texas, and incorporated in Bermuda. It is the largest offshore drilling and well drilling company in the world, and owns 52 rigs, including 36 offshore jackup rigs, 11 drillships, and 5 semi-submersible platform drilling rigs. In 2022, the company's largest customer was BP (15% of revenues). History In 1975, after the 1973 oil crisis, John R. Blocker bought Choya Energy, a six-rig contract drilling company based in Alice, Texas, and renamed the company Blocker Energy. In 1980, the company became a public company via an initial public offering. In 1981 and early 1982, the company borrowed heavily to expand its fleet to 54 rigs. However, in late 1982, the price of oil plunged and, to avoid bankruptcy, Blocker Energy restructured, giving 64% of the company to its banks in exchange for $240 million in debt forgiveness. By 1983, the company was only operating 6 rigs, although ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Port Of Brownsville
The Port of Brownsville is a deep water seaport in Brownsville, at the southern tip of Texas. Geography The port is the southern terminus of the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway. The port is located near the river mouth of the Rio Grande and Lower Rio Grande Valley plain, only north of the Mexico - United States border. Brownsville Ship Channel The deep water Brownsville Ship Channel, to/from the Gulf of Mexico, passes between Padre Island and Brazos Island, Barrier islands of the Gulf Coast. The channel also passes the old harbor of Los Brazos de Santiago, the landing place of the Spanish explorer Alonso Álvarez de Pineda in 1519 and subsequent colonizers from the Viceroyalty of New Spain. The channel is dredged to handle ships of draft at high tide, and can support ships up to overall length and a beam. Service The port serves South Texas and, via rail connections, much of northeast Mexico including the large industrial city of Monterrey in Nuevo León Nuevo León () i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Port Of Galveston
The Port of Galveston is the port of the city of Galveston, Texas. It was established by a proclamation issued by the Congress of Mexico on October 17, 1825, while the land known today as Texas was still part of Mexico. The Port of Galveston is the oldest port in the Gulf of Mexico west of New Orleans. Overview Located on the upper Texas Gulf Coast on the eastern end of Galveston Island, it is from the open Gulf or approximately 30 minutes sailing time. The port is municipally owned by the City of Galveston and is managed by the board of trustees of the Galveston Wharves. The port is self-sustaining, and does not receive any taxpayer funding. The Port of Galveston consists of the Galveston Ship Channel, the south side of Pelican Island, the north side of Galveston Island, and the entrance to Galveston Bay. The Galveston Channel has an authorized minimum depth of and is wide at its narrowest point. The port has 15–20 lines of business. In 2015, the eastern section of th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Moons Of Mars
The two moons of Mars are Phobos and Deimos. They are irregular in shape. Both were discovered by American astronomer Asaph Hall in August 1877 and are named after the Greek mythological twin characters Phobos (fear and panic) and Deimos (terror and dread) who accompanied their father Ares into battle. Ares, god of war, was known to the Romans as Mars. Compared to the Earth's Moon, the moons Phobos and Deimos are small. Phobos has a diameter of 22.2 km (13.8 mi) and a mass of 1.08 kg, while Deimos measures 12.6 km (7.8 mi) across, with a mass of 2.0 kg. Phobos orbits closer to Mars, with a semi-major axis of and an orbital period of 7.66 hours; while Deimos orbits farther with a semi-major axis of and an orbital period of 30.35 hours. History Early speculation Speculation about the existence of the moons of Mars had begun when the moons of Jupiter were discovered. When Galileo Galilei, as a hidden report about his having observed two bumps on the si ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Valaris Plc
Valaris plc is an offshore drilling contractor headquartered in Houston, Texas, and incorporated in the UK. It is the largest offshore drilling and well drilling company in the world, and owns 56 rigs, including 40 offshore jackup rigs, 11 drillships, and 5 semi-submersible platform drilling rigs. In 2021, the company's largest customers were BP (11% of revenues) and Total S.A. (9% of revenues). History In 1975, after the 1973 oil crisis, John R. Blocker bought Choya Energy, a six-rig contract drilling company based in Alice, Texas, and renamed the company Blocker Energy. In 1980, the company became a public company via an initial public offering. In 1981 and early 1982, the company borrowed heavily to expand its fleet to 54 rigs. However, in late 1982, the price of oil plunged and, to avoid bankruptcy, Blocker Energy restructured, giving 64% of the company to its banks in exchange for $240 million in debt forgiveness. By 1983, the company was only operating 6 rigs, although ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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