Successful landing by Falcon 9 rocket on dry land, on the first return to commercial flight.

Made of Stars wrote:Successful landing by Falcon 9 rocket on dry land, on the first return to commercial flight.

It was awesome watching that webcast live.

Amazing achievement.

Now, we just need Scot Dutchy to come along to tell us all what a waste of money and resources it all was, to put us back in our place.

*Only In America TM

patient zero wrote:

Made of Stars wrote:Successful landing by Falcon 9 rocket on dry land, on the first return to commercial flight.

It was awesome watching that webcast live.

It was - talk about 'nail-biting' though...

Better angle - they nailed it:

Weaver wrote:Amazing achievement.

Now, we just need Scot Dutchy to come along to tell us all what a waste of money and resources it all was, to put us back in our place.

*Only In America TM

It is but I afraid some how you cant see it. It is still "toys for boys".

Hmm, not. That flight launched 11 satellites into orbit, and proved new technology that could help substantially reduce the cost to boost stuff and people into space.

Made of Stars wrote:Hmm, not. That flight launched 11 satellites into orbit, and proved new technology that could help substantially reduce the cost to boost stuff and people into space.

Not to mention being the culmination of developing, testing and proving an advanced landing capability which none of the big state-driven space agencies pursued - major advancements on the technology and engineering of spaceflight without the national cost.

Horrible idea. These things should be reserved for national governments so they can avoid pursuing them for everyone's best interests.

Only In AmericaTM would people think they have a right to do what Scot Dutchy declares must be left for governments.

A nice layperson-friendly write-up by Phil Plait: http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astronom ... aunch.html

Weaver wrote:Not to mention being the culmination of developing, testing and proving an advanced landing capability which none of the big state-driven space agencies pursued - major advancements on the technology and engineering of spaceflight without the national cost.

Also not to mention that they probably delivered it for a fraction of the cost of a government department, or one of their traditional contractors.

In case anyone were interested, here's a comparison of the Falcon 9 commercial mission trajectory (the smaller dotted line is the second stage continuing on to satellite deployment), and the earlier trajectory of Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket:

Nice graphic.

Corrected and expanded:


Image by reddit user 'zlsa'.

Brill.

Stabilised video of the landing by reddit user tosha. This is even cooler when you realise that the Falcon 9 rocket can't hover, that is, it's engines can't dethrottle enough to allow a sustained zero vertical velocity. If it doesn't land and cut the engine, it heads back up again.

SpaceX finally lands a first stage at sea.

http://gizmodo.com/spacexs-falcon-9-roc ... socialflow

From the article:

Now that SpaceX has succeeded in landing a rocket on a drone ship, however, the implications for how we launch and land spacecraft will be huge.

Not sure I can appreciate the implications but its damn cool that is for sure.

tuco wrote:From the article:

Now that SpaceX has succeeded in landing a rocket on a drone ship, however, the implications for how we launch and land spacecraft will be huge.

Not sure I can appreciate the implications but its damn cool that is for sure.

1) Massive cost savings - being able to recycle and reuse the first-stage booster could be very significant.
2) Opens possibilities for more launch windows - not trying to come back to a land-based recovery site means many more launch windows and fewer safety concerns.
3) - and this may be the most important in the long run - reduced orbital debris. Near Earth space is getting absolutely littered with booster trash - reducing the amount of crap left as impact risks for future spacecraft is vital.
4) Allowing us to watch Scot Dutchy eat crow as Space X succeeds as a private space corporation, doing what he decrees must only be done by nation-states for success.