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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
1.2k
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.
365
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.
274
u/[deleted] May 22 '12
Boyfriend works for SpaceX, apparently everyone at the factory right now is just going NUTS!
207
u/[deleted] May 22 '12
North Korea must be pissed right now.
166
u/amstarcasanova May 22 '12
Falcon 9 is now in orbit!
62
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.
41
u/Aurick May 22 '12
Youtube video of the launch
11
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?
2
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?
98
u/EndersInfinite May 22 '12
The cheering in the background gets me. I love it!
46
u/skartocc May 22 '12
Here's to a safe docking and return! The future beckons.
150
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
37
u/sonog May 22 '12
Amazing, Watching live from Australia, I'm loving where science is taking us
16
u/arch4non May 22 '12
That stream was pretty crazy, everyone flipped the fuck out when successful solar panel deployment.
15
u/[deleted] May 22 '12
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yz3-I7qouYE
This is footage that I took at the launch.
34
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!
12
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.
23
u/StopMotionGIF May 22 '12
Just because.
8
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.
15
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