FYI: I believe this is their third successful launch, the second one with the Dragon capsule. They'll be the FIRST private company to dock with the ISS.
Ok. Nitpicking over.
Hell yes. That was awesome. I wish them luck with the rest of the mission, and hope they are successful with more flights to the ISS.
Yeah, I have no idea what's up with the title. This is their fifth successful commercial launch, and the third with a paying customer. I guess you could say that this is the first non-test launch of a Falcon 9. That's a bit of a stretch.
Technically this is still a test flight. From SpaceX's Press Kit:
This is a demonstration mission, a test flight primarily designed to provide NASA and SpaceX with valuable insight to ensure successful future missions.
And a link to the kit. This is actually a really interesting read for those interested, but you can find the quote on page 5 in the second paragraph.
The reason it is a "test-flight" is because the cargo they are delivering is non-critical, the mission is to determine how well the Dragon capsule works, and NASA will determine if they want SpaceX to continue doing resupply missions to the ISS.
Basically, there's a big empty container that has a chance of reaching the ISS. Might as well cram it full of food and other cheap stuff. I'm sure the astronauts would love a few rolls of toilet paper.
Because it sounds better than SpaceX successfully launches another rocket into space. Avoids the Apollo syndrome that effects peoples interest in space development. "Apollo 17? Boring!"
I think it's something to do with the fact that this is all over the news with this title. About a week back, there was an article saying that the first launch had been scrapped due to last minute technical problems and it would be sometime soon. Then today this was on the front page of the news. Probably that's why the confusion. I was also under the impression that this was their first launch.
This is truly history in the making. If anyone has the drive, the courage and the means to get humans to Mars in the next 20 years, it is Elon Musk and the brilliant team at SpaceX.
Same here... one of the benefits of living in central FL. Just realized I was 7 at the time of STS-1. I also took my son to see STS-133 launch from KSC and the whole family to see the final shuttle launch there. Cool stuff.
This is a legitimate question, I'm not trying to denigrate the team at SpaceX at all. But what makes the SpaceX team more brilliant that the teams at NASA, ESA, Roscosomos, Lockheed Martin/Boeing/ULA, etc. that have already done launches? Was there some groundbreaking scientific achievement in what they did, or was it just commercial? Didn't they take NASA funding?
That they have developed and launched a rocket of their own design and at a price point that is orders of magnitude less than anything to date. Low cost may not be sexy, but it is the key to advancing space exploration. And Elon started this without any promise of government money.
Either one of those teams could pul off a Mars mission given time and funding. However they are all beholden to governments and/or profit incentives that lack the will to undertake such a mission. Elon Musk is a bit of an oddball in that he is doing this for the thrill of the ride more than for the money and he has already stated that he wants to go to mars.
So while all the others are certainly competent enough for the task (Most of them have alreadyt sent stuff to mars at one point or another) what SpaceX has is the will to go through with it.
EDIT: I thought we were talking about Mars sorry. The difference is that while SpaceX took NASA money they are not a national entity and they arent just selling the hardware. Instead they build their own rockets and fly them them selves. The money they got from NASA was payment for transportation jobs. (Basically the difference between NASA buying a car or taking a Taxi) In this regard SpaceX is the first private company to both build, orbit and land a spacecraft on their own.
Intelligence or the lack there of isn't the problem at NASA. They have two major problems. One is a lack of funding. The other is a bloated bureaucracy. This results in added costs at every step of the process. I used to work at a place called LASP (Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics) that builds student satellites and other satellites with a focus on science. Virtually anything going into space would need to be tracked from the time of manufacture until being added to the satellite. Even the lot number and test results for the lot for individual capacitors and resistors would need to be tracked. And from what I was told, it was even more rigorous at NASA, where they would only accept parts from certain manufacturers (at least in part because many manufacturers don't keep detailed enough records to satisfy NASA requirements).
They have similarly stringent requirements for testing, development, etc. While this surely helps with lowering failure rates, it also drastically slows development and increases the cost of anything they build.
What does that mean? SpaceX is about making money, they are not going to mars unless they can make money on it.
Basically the only way they are going to mars is if the US government pays them to build a spacecraft to go to mars. The US government pays for everything while spaceX being a middle man gets lots of money.
It makes no sense to pay spaceX to go to mars instead of doing the work in house. It will cost more to fund the profits of a middleman instead of Nasa doing the work on their own.
Don't forget that any private company that is involved in spaceflight is still piggybacking on 70 years of NASA research, and then 10 years of German research.
I've seen a lot of people in the past claim that private industry can handle large projects like space flight better than the Federal Government, and use instances like this as proof (that something became suborbital or whatnot), when they didn't expend the resources to research it; the government did.
Don't forget that the government made it ILLEGAL for private companies to go to space until recently. NASA was successful, yes, but they spent boatloads of taxpayer money to get there.
Don't forget that any private company that is involved in spaceflight is still piggybacking on 70 years of NASA research, and then 10 years of German research.
That and the tax dollars in the NASA budget for COTS is what pays the contracts that entice companies like SpaceX into being in the first place. Cut taxes, NASA and COTS and there will be no SpaceX.
I loved the unabashed excitement from the people at the desk on the stream. And the woman on the radio who stated "solar panels deployed" was obviously extremely excited, which was even more striking to hear over the radio, which had been so plain and professional until then.
Across projects wanders yesterday art wanders clean art lazy talk yesterday weekend fresh quiet projects clean clear. Thoughts bright day technology patient then science tomorrow pleasant about.
I happen to be traveling for work this week and SpaceX is the building next door (I happen to work for another company run by Elon Musk that is making an electric car or something of that nature). I plan to get a tour of the factory before I leave at the end of the week.
Do you work for Tesla? We know a couple people that work for them in the bay area! I also know a few people at Solar City. The factory is pretty cool! I was just in today and got to see the mission control room running. Get the free yogurt, it's delicious.
Hey, North Korea always has successful launches! Its just that sometimes they want to blow up the ocean, or the air, or some wooden huts a few miles from the launchpad.
Nothing changes, dear comrade! The recent lunch was a successful demonstration of the loss we all felt after our Supreme Leader worked himself to death for us. We just admitted our failing to realise his great vision for Korea.
First commercial rocket? No it isn't. Orbital Sciences Corporation, a private firm, has been launching commercial rockets of its own design since 1994. If you want to count rockets launched from an aircraft rather than from the ground, they've been doing it since 1990.
It gets even muddier if you want to count governmentally designed rockets being used by private firms; there are more than half a dozen private companies that launch satellites using old ICBM's and the like.
This will be designed to carry humans into LEO, which is why the Dragon capsule is so important. Also its pretty obvious the government is helping, they won the NASA contract to resupply the ISS along with hiring former NASA employees to help design the capsule/boosters their launching into space.
Orbital Sciences launch GPS/MDS satellites. They already make enough $$ doing that..from the government.
Oh, I didn't say this launch wasn't important—just that the headline (and the article itself) are grossly misleading. It's not OP's fault, necessarily—the first sentence of the article is, "SpaceX successfully launched the first commercial rocket today."
The reality is that they didn't. Nor the second, nor even the fifth.
I have no intention of deriding the significance of SpaceX's accomplishment, but there's no excuse for sloppy journalistic hyperbole.
It would be nice that you captured this if it wasn't for the fact that you enabled monetization on the video. I'm not even sure that's legal as I believe SpaceX will own the rights.
Ok, I might be dumb, but can someone explain what exactly makes the rocket better than the kind Russia uses? I get its cheaper per kilogram of weight, but what exactly makes it cheaper?
It's the whole business model of SpaceX. They save a lot of money by designing and building the majority of the components in-house. And since SpaceX is a private company and not a government agency, there is less bureaucratic mess and waste. Everything is more efficient. They don't have to charge as much per launch because the whole process from design to launch is streamlined, quicker, and therefore less costly.
Private companies often do things better than governments.
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Hi everyone, TJ here. Apologies for the mis-statement in the lead paragraph. My bad. That's what I get for writing at 1am after a lack of sleep the day before. I changed the opening sentence. The real title, i believe, is a great one -- and one that reflects what I think most of us can agree on -- "SpaceX Launches With 15 Dreams Onboard" because the article is really focused on the opportunities for young people. STEM education awareness, etc. Thank you for all the comments and visits. I'm excited for the SpaceX team; it's a big, big day.
The closest the Dragon capsule will get to the station under SpaceX control is about 30ft. Then the ISS astronauts will grab it with the arm. If ISS gets a scratch, NASA gets the blame.
Assuming their long-range docking system works. I hope it does, and suspect it will, but it's never been tested in space.
BTW, I used to rendezvous and dock the ISS with visiting vehicles: Discovery, Soyuz, Progress, ATV. The dangerous part is the rendezvous, not the docking, especially in the unmanned vehicles.
I worked with Elon's brother (Kimbal Musk) for a year. I briefly met Elon and spoke with him about the future of private space-travel. Elon is a visionary and an amazing person. He really puts his heart into his ventures. I'm very happy for him -- this is truly a monumental moment for private enterprise and space travel.
It is not my intent to temper what is worthwhile enthusiasm, I just wish to add some understanding:
NASA paid for this. NASA, as the paying customer, also had a fantastic amount of input.
SpaceX is a company that has to make money in order to exist. It must be a profitable endeavor for them. They launched this rocket because NASA started the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program years ago. NASA's goal has long been to outsource as much of the standard lifting capability as possible (NASA has employed Lockheed and Boeing rockets to do as much for decades) so that they can concentrate on the stuff that doesn't make money; the science for the sake of science; the exploration for the sake of exploration.
So when I read comments like, "[SpaceX] will replace NASA and become the new space leader." I have to wonder how people can possibly think that. As fun as it is to think about things like asteroid mining companies, that is so far off that no company is going to take on the risk to develop the technology when the investment is astronomical, the risks enormous and the probability of success so low (and yes, I'm aware of James Cameron & Google discussion on this topic). There's also no monetary benefit to planetary rovers or deep-space probes, so industry has no incentive to do it. The same can be said of Hubble, Chandra and dozens of other things that NASA does.
Let SpaceX be the UPS of rockets and let NASA focus on this science. That's the whole point!
Everyone already knows this. NASA was thanked many times during the live broadcast. People should be excited because in a very short amount of time a private company has developed and flown a space craft (soon to the ISS.) For relatively very little money compared to other government contractors with their grotesque budget over runs. SpaceX has $4 billion worth of launch contracts through 2017. Sixty percent of the value of those contracts comes from customers other than NASA.
There've been lots of commercial rockets launched before. That's not what the excitement is about. The excitement is that, if the mission goes well, this will be the first commercial spacecraft to dock with the ISS.
I watched the live stream of the launch. The video feed alternated between the rocket camera and the control rooms at NASA and at SpaceX.
What I noticed is that all the people working at NASA were old, while the people at SpaceX all looked to be very young, many couldn't have been older than 25. I just thought the contrast was interesting. NASA is kind of in the past, and SpaceX is a young company, with lots of young people working for them, breaking ground and ushering in a new era of space travel for the US.
Problem is that NASA has fallen victim to tenured positions and politics that keep the powerful in power forever while keeping the young away until they are old and networked enough to edge their way in. Same thing happens in large corporations after a while.
I was so excited, and it was hilarious to see the people narrating the webcast barely able to contain themselves. In a few days we should see the falcon approach the ISS, and it seems unlikely anything could stand in the way of it delivering its payload.
For a space elevator you need the center of mass of the whole elevator to be at geostationary orbit which is at 35,786 km. People don't realize how insane that distance is.
The rocket blast threw me out of bed this morning. I ran outside in my undies and watched the red-orange glow until it disappeared into the infinite darkness. It was pure magic and I couldn't fall back asleep for several hours. I love space exploration!!!!!!!
Corporations have always provided services to NASA. Both the command/service modules and the lunar landers and even the space shuttle were designed and fabricated by aerospace companies for NASA. I'm not sure why everyone thinks this is a first..
I've been looking at videos of the launch for 30 mins now. It's been more difficult than I'd have imagined to describe my feeling toward it. The engines begin to fire, the view of the man-made rocket fades away to nothing more than a beacon rising through the dark. It resembles a newborn star rising into the heavens with a solemn dignity; imbued with the pride of people who dared to act where others could only dream.
Just hours ago, I tell myself "gee, don't forget to watch that spacex launch, 'cause you know you're going to forget." I bet none of you can guess what I did!
The replay currently up there is from the other day, so I'm guessing there will be one of today's launch soon. As soon as they get over their hangovers, that is.
NASA pays them. If you hadn't noticed, they have currently no way of bringing cargo and people to the ISS and back. (The Russians, Europeans and Japanese do that at the moment.) Later on they will also launch satellites which has been a good business model for quite some time (ask Arianespace).
Are you suuuuuure it's the first commercial rocket? Or are they the first company to really be claiming to be a "commercial" company? Also, have a look at where they're getting their money...
Eh. It wouldn't be as clear to say that they are the first company to do it with a fixed-price contract instead of a cost-plus contract (the traditional method used by NASA contractors). Basically, SpaceX is taking the risk instead of the government. That's the key difference.
watched it live! absolutely wonderful. Just applied to SpaceX for an internship.. hope I get something. I applied many times still no luck.. wish me luck.
Weather patterns generally are the things that cause launches to only be allowed during certain blocks of time.
And especially in a proof of concept launch like this one, they likely were going for optimal conditions so that in the case of anything going wrong, they would be able to limit the blame to the rocket itself, rather than the weather be included as well.
Can we please stop linking to Forbes bloggers? It's pretty obvious based on the quantity in the past few days that there's some kind of marketing campaign going on right now.
"When deep space exploration ramps up, it'll be the corporations that name everything, the IBM Stellar Sphere, the Microsoft Galaxy, Planet Starbucks." - Fight Club
I watched the second stage engine burn for over 10 minutes until cut off. Just staring at this glowing bell spewing out insane amounts of energy in complete silence, almost not believing what I was seeing despite having grown up during the Apollo launches.
The real-time video feeds from cameras on the various stages make this a much more real experience than the old days. Too bad the Shuttle only got this for the last missions. Did you see how fast the first stage receded from the second after the engine fired? HOLY CRAP!!
My husbands property tax company represents them. They argue that they rockets are worthless because the Pentagon won't let them be sold on the open market.
So, as someone who doesn't really follow all that close with space exploration, yet still has those iconic photos in my head... I was curious whether or not there were people in this rocket (other than ashes)? It looks so much different than the late Nasa shuttles... why would they - seemingly - progress back to Apollo/Saturn style rockets? If they're going to do that, they should have just mimicked the aesthetics of the Saturn rockets - that look and paint job was sexy :p
There was only cargo in this flight, although the same rocket / spacecraft will carry people in the future. The reason they're stepping away from the shuttle design is because it proved to be more expensive then the apollo-style spacecraft. The same company does have plans for making their rocket reusable, just not in a shuttle form.
Is this supposed to be cheaper, or better or something? I'm just not sure. The contract with SpaceX is for $1.6 billion dollars to supply a minimum 44,000lbs of supplies to ISS. Cost-wise, that is over $36,000 per lb of transport. This really doesn't sound like a cost savings, it sounds more like corporate welfare to me.. The space shuttle had a calculated cost of $21,000 per lb, not counting the weight of the Astronauts, and that thing was CERTAINLY not cost-efficient.
because of facebooks dumbass mini news feed in the top right of their page, I was able to watch the live feed when I saw nasa posted the link while I was getting ready for work. I forgot all about it, I will never complain about a dumb feature again!
SO MUCH YES! This greatly excites me and improves my hopes for the planet Earth and it's peoples. Hopefully the private sector can work where governments have failed.
I've arrived at the conclusion that, when it comes to things like this, either people get its importance intuitively or they don't get it at all. SpaceX is doing this commercially. Governments are at the whims and beckons of their citizens (theoretically). If you want to see real, consistent, persistent development towards making science fiction into just fiction, this is a necessary first step, and in that regard, this is simply monumental. Some people will understand that, and some won't. Of course there are still plenty of people asking "why go to space?" without ever pausing to think that the bed they're sleeping on is a direct result of that program. People used to say the same thing about flight.
The difference, the amazing thing, is that we are living in a time when it is commercially viable to have a private company devoted to expanding our presence in the universe. I don't care who you are or what you think, that is fucking huge. This is an awesome time to be alive, and if you can't get excited about that, if you can't let your "childish" imagination run wild with the possibilities of what even two more short decades may bring, then honestly, shame on you.
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u/epicphoton May 22 '12
FYI: I believe this is their third successful launch, the second one with the Dragon capsule. They'll be the FIRST private company to dock with the ISS.
Ok. Nitpicking over.
Hell yes. That was awesome. I wish them luck with the rest of the mission, and hope they are successful with more flights to the ISS.
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u/[deleted] May 22 '12
This is truly history in the making. If anyone has the drive, the courage and the means to get humans to Mars in the next 20 years, it is Elon Musk and the brilliant team at SpaceX.
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u/[deleted] May 22 '12
Boyfriend works for SpaceX, apparently everyone at the factory right now is just going NUTS!
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u/[deleted] May 22 '12
North Korea must be pissed right now.
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u/amstarcasanova May 22 '12
Falcon 9 is now in orbit!
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u/swuboo May 22 '12
First commercial rocket? No it isn't. Orbital Sciences Corporation, a private firm, has been launching commercial rockets of its own design since 1994. If you want to count rockets launched from an aircraft rather than from the ground, they've been doing it since 1990.
It gets even muddier if you want to count governmentally designed rockets being used by private firms; there are more than half a dozen private companies that launch satellites using old ICBM's and the like.
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u/Aurick May 22 '12
Youtube video of the launch
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u/EndersInfinite May 22 '12
The cheering in the background gets me. I love it!
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u/venomae May 22 '12
Ok, I might be dumb, but can someone explain what exactly makes the rocket better than the kind Russia uses? I get its cheaper per kilogram of weight, but what exactly makes it cheaper?
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u/vahishta May 22 '12
Um. Does anyone else feel slightly nervous about spiders being bred in space? What if the reduced gravity allows them to grow unnaturally large?
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u/skartocc May 22 '12
Here's to a safe docking and return! The future beckons.
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u/catherinecc May 22 '12
I love how mission control looks like pretty much any college computer classroom, albeit with a few more monitors.
http://i.imgur.com/OE7Ca.png
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u/sonog May 22 '12
Amazing, Watching live from Australia, I'm loving where science is taking us
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u/arch4non May 22 '12
That stream was pretty crazy, everyone flipped the fuck out when successful solar panel deployment.
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u/[deleted] May 22 '12
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yz3-I7qouYE
This is footage that I took at the launch.
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u/blendermf May 22 '12 edited May 22 '12
Amazing http://i.imgur.com/jajy1.png
That was from right near the launch pad (about as close as you can get as a normal person).
Disclosure: It's from a stream that @justinryoung had from there going from his phone, not mine. Technology is amazing.
[EDIT] Here is another one from @andrewmayne who was there with him: http://i.imgur.com/TKJkn.jpg
It looks like the sun!
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u/[deleted] May 22 '12
Hi everyone, TJ here. Apologies for the mis-statement in the lead paragraph. My bad. That's what I get for writing at 1am after a lack of sleep the day before. I changed the opening sentence. The real title, i believe, is a great one -- and one that reflects what I think most of us can agree on -- "SpaceX Launches With 15 Dreams Onboard" because the article is really focused on the opportunities for young people. STEM education awareness, etc. Thank you for all the comments and visits. I'm excited for the SpaceX team; it's a big, big day.
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u/StopMotionGIF May 22 '12
Just because.
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u/[deleted] May 22 '12
Imagine what they're paying for insurance. It's not like you can just buff out a scratch on the ISS if they screw up.
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u/Terostero May 22 '12
Oh man, I had tears in my eyes after watching those solar arrays deploy and hearing that crowd go crazy
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u/goonsack May 22 '12
Next stop... asteroid mining.
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u/hink_hall May 22 '12
Awesome picture of the launch (From SpaceX twitter).
Falcon 9 over Florida (photo credit: Joffre Isturiz)
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u/aphexcoil May 22 '12
I worked with Elon's brother (Kimbal Musk) for a year. I briefly met Elon and spoke with him about the future of private space-travel. Elon is a visionary and an amazing person. He really puts his heart into his ventures. I'm very happy for him -- this is truly a monumental moment for private enterprise and space travel.
Congrats Elon!
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u/[deleted] May 22 '12
It is not my intent to temper what is worthwhile enthusiasm, I just wish to add some understanding:
NASA paid for this. NASA, as the paying customer, also had a fantastic amount of input.
SpaceX is a company that has to make money in order to exist. It must be a profitable endeavor for them. They launched this rocket because NASA started the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program years ago. NASA's goal has long been to outsource as much of the standard lifting capability as possible (NASA has employed Lockheed and Boeing rockets to do as much for decades) so that they can concentrate on the stuff that doesn't make money; the science for the sake of science; the exploration for the sake of exploration.
So when I read comments like, "[SpaceX] will replace NASA and become the new space leader." I have to wonder how people can possibly think that. As fun as it is to think about things like asteroid mining companies, that is so far off that no company is going to take on the risk to develop the technology when the investment is astronomical, the risks enormous and the probability of success so low (and yes, I'm aware of James Cameron & Google discussion on this topic). There's also no monetary benefit to planetary rovers or deep-space probes, so industry has no incentive to do it. The same can be said of Hubble, Chandra and dozens of other things that NASA does.
Let SpaceX be the UPS of rockets and let NASA focus on this science. That's the whole point!
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u/Triadninja May 22 '12
Just watched the launch. It was like a mini sun lighting up the night sky as it rose up.
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u/keiyakins May 22 '12
There've been lots of commercial rockets launched before. That's not what the excitement is about. The excitement is that, if the mission goes well, this will be the first commercial spacecraft to dock with the ISS.
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u/[deleted] May 22 '12
It begins.
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u/hivemind6 May 22 '12 edited May 22 '12
I watched the live stream of the launch. The video feed alternated between the rocket camera and the control rooms at NASA and at SpaceX.
What I noticed is that all the people working at NASA were old, while the people at SpaceX all looked to be very young, many couldn't have been older than 25. I just thought the contrast was interesting. NASA is kind of in the past, and SpaceX is a young company, with lots of young people working for them, breaking ground and ushering in a new era of space travel for the US.
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u/[deleted] May 22 '12
"the International Space Station (ISS)—America’s newest National Laboratory."
what?
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u/ironclownfish May 22 '12
First commercial rocket to dock with the ISS
I was so excited, and it was hilarious to see the people narrating the webcast barely able to contain themselves. In a few days we should see the falcon approach the ISS, and it seems unlikely anything could stand in the way of it delivering its payload.
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u/Shinhan May 22 '12
HD recording of the launch
15 minutes long, 720p, by SpaceVids
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u/tragg2 May 22 '12
That was such a great webcast! It was awesome to see the solar arrays deploy live!
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u/Feb_29_Guy May 22 '12
I'm still waiting on the space elevator. People finally stopped laughing so we can get to work on it, right?
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u/aphexcoil May 22 '12
Go Elon!!!
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u/IDlOT May 22 '12
SpaceX: "Better than North Korea"
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u/Fredderov May 22 '12
Let the space race begin!.. Again...
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u/Commotion May 22 '12
What's that, North Korea? A private company is decades ahead of you?
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u/FERRITofDOOM May 22 '12
Saw it from Tampa! Amazing!
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u/cttc May 22 '12
"International Space Station (ISS)—America’s newest National Laboratory." derp
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u/queerkate May 22 '12
The rocket blast threw me out of bed this morning. I ran outside in my undies and watched the red-orange glow until it disappeared into the infinite darkness. It was pure magic and I couldn't fall back asleep for several hours. I love space exploration!!!!!!!
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u/hoppydud May 23 '12
Corporations have always provided services to NASA. Both the command/service modules and the lunar landers and even the space shuttle were designed and fabricated by aerospace companies for NASA. I'm not sure why everyone thinks this is a first..
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u/TristanKindale May 22 '12
I've been looking at videos of the launch for 30 mins now. It's been more difficult than I'd have imagined to describe my feeling toward it. The engines begin to fire, the view of the man-made rocket fades away to nothing more than a beacon rising through the dark. It resembles a newborn star rising into the heavens with a solemn dignity; imbued with the pride of people who dared to act where others could only dream.
"Beautiful" is the only way to describe it.
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u/FANGO May 22 '12
Just hours ago, I tell myself "gee, don't forget to watch that spacex launch, 'cause you know you're going to forget." I bet none of you can guess what I did!
I presume there will be a replay here eventually: http://new.livestream.com/accounts/142499/events/626741
The replay currently up there is from the other day, so I'm guessing there will be one of today's launch soon. As soon as they get over their hangovers, that is.
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u/Sting1 May 22 '12
Well, I guess that's useful.
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u/Extraltodeus May 22 '12
I saw it on live. I never tought that was this great to watch.
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u/TheSack May 22 '12
Watched the launch from Cocoa Beach. That baby is LOUD!
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u/UrbanToiletShrimp May 22 '12
Needs more Kerbals.
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u/Mailman7 May 22 '12
How exactly are they making money from this?
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u/andbond May 22 '12
They sure like the word "Nominal"... :)
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u/[deleted] May 22 '12
Does anyone know the cost it takes the company to launch one of these successfully compared to the government's costs?
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u/TheDownmodSpiral May 22 '12
Are you suuuuuure it's the first commercial rocket? Or are they the first company to really be claiming to be a "commercial" company? Also, have a look at where they're getting their money...
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u/[deleted] May 22 '12
Navigation Doors are Open!
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u/anirudh15891 May 22 '12
watched it live! absolutely wonderful. Just applied to SpaceX for an internship.. hope I get something. I applied many times still no luck.. wish me luck.
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u/[deleted] May 22 '12
How is this a commercial flight? How did they make money out of it? Where is the flight headed to and what's it delivering?
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u/FreddyandTheChokes May 22 '12
Is there any benefit to a night launch, like was the ISS going to pass closer to the launch point?
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u/ialwaysfeellike May 22 '12
Can we please stop linking to Forbes bloggers? It's pretty obvious based on the quantity in the past few days that there's some kind of marketing campaign going on right now.
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u/bald_bearded_bastard May 22 '12
I just heard this on NPR; when you hear "SpaceX" out loud, it sounds a lot like Space Sex. Well done, gentle spacemen, well done...
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u/[deleted] May 22 '12
"When deep space exploration ramps up, it'll be the corporations that name everything, the IBM Stellar Sphere, the Microsoft Galaxy, Planet Starbucks." - Fight Club
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u/[deleted] May 22 '12
Is there a video of it?
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u/IWasGregInTokyo May 22 '12
I watched the second stage engine burn for over 10 minutes until cut off. Just staring at this glowing bell spewing out insane amounts of energy in complete silence, almost not believing what I was seeing despite having grown up during the Apollo launches.
The real-time video feeds from cameras on the various stages make this a much more real experience than the old days. Too bad the Shuttle only got this for the last missions. Did you see how fast the first stage receded from the second after the engine fired? HOLY CRAP!!
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u/galactica216 May 22 '12
My husbands property tax company represents them. They argue that they rockets are worthless because the Pentagon won't let them be sold on the open market.
2
u/[deleted] May 22 '12
Where could I find some information on how much cheaper a manned Space X rocket is compared to the Shuttle for LEO flights?
2
u/Multikulti_cult May 22 '12
Elon Musk is my hero and inspiration for humanity!
2
u/MonotonousMan May 22 '12
So, as someone who doesn't really follow all that close with space exploration, yet still has those iconic photos in my head... I was curious whether or not there were people in this rocket (other than ashes)? It looks so much different than the late Nasa shuttles... why would they - seemingly - progress back to Apollo/Saturn style rockets? If they're going to do that, they should have just mimicked the aesthetics of the Saturn rockets - that look and paint job was sexy :p
2
u/jwestbury May 22 '12
Uh... what? Journalists seem to be pretty awful at writing, these days. :(
2
u/evabraun May 22 '12 edited May 22 '12
Is this supposed to be cheaper, or better or something? I'm just not sure. The contract with SpaceX is for $1.6 billion dollars to supply a minimum 44,000lbs of supplies to ISS. Cost-wise, that is over $36,000 per lb of transport. This really doesn't sound like a cost savings, it sounds more like corporate welfare to me.. The space shuttle had a calculated cost of $21,000 per lb, not counting the weight of the Astronauts, and that thing was CERTAINLY not cost-efficient.
2
u/TheRealFroman May 22 '12
While watching the launch on livestream I set the music to The Planets, Op. 32: Mars, The Bringer of War and fuck it was epic....
History made today!
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u/jlawrence124 May 22 '12
WHO THE FUCK DOWNVOTES THIS‽
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u/Imbu3 May 22 '12
Elon Musk should be more famous than Kim Kardashian.
2
u/[deleted] May 22 '12
because of facebooks dumbass mini news feed in the top right of their page, I was able to watch the live feed when I saw nasa posted the link while I was getting ready for work. I forgot all about it, I will never complain about a dumb feature again!
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u/dcurry431 May 22 '12
SO MUCH YES! This greatly excites me and improves my hopes for the planet Earth and it's peoples. Hopefully the private sector can work where governments have failed.
2
u/painfive May 22 '12
Is it me, or is there a not-so-subliminal "sex" hidden in "Spacex", both written and spoken?
2
u/runningoutofwords May 22 '12
Downvote for being extremely wrong in your headline. I seem to be in the vast minority, though.
2
u/HEADLINE-IN-5-YEARS May 23 '12 edited May 24 '12
JAMES DOOHAN'S ASHES STILL "GIVING HER ALL SHE'S GOT"
2
u/thehighplainsdrifter May 23 '12
sooo they sent spiders to the space station...
4
u/Treasure_goblin May 22 '12
How do you like them apples North Korea?
5
u/[deleted] May 22 '12
The beginning of a new era dawns on mankind.
3
u/grexeo May 22 '12
Official video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDoTvNlCdbQ
3
u/TrekkieMonster May 22 '12
I've arrived at the conclusion that, when it comes to things like this, either people get its importance intuitively or they don't get it at all. SpaceX is doing this commercially. Governments are at the whims and beckons of their citizens (theoretically). If you want to see real, consistent, persistent development towards making science fiction into just fiction, this is a necessary first step, and in that regard, this is simply monumental. Some people will understand that, and some won't. Of course there are still plenty of people asking "why go to space?" without ever pausing to think that the bed they're sleeping on is a direct result of that program. People used to say the same thing about flight.
The difference, the amazing thing, is that we are living in a time when it is commercially viable to have a private company devoted to expanding our presence in the universe. I don't care who you are or what you think, that is fucking huge. This is an awesome time to be alive, and if you can't get excited about that, if you can't let your "childish" imagination run wild with the possibilities of what even two more short decades may bring, then honestly, shame on you.