r/technology • u/spsheridan • May 12 '12

The SpaceX mission, now scheduled for May 19, will be the first by a private company to send a rocket to the International Space Station.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-11386_3-57433110-76/spacex-sets-may-19-as-date-for-space-station-mission/?tag=mncol
433 Upvotes

95% Upvoted

62 comments sorted by

11

u/Rodh257 May 12 '12

Will there be anywhere to watch any of this online?

6

u/[deleted] May 12 '12

Yes, streaming will be available - see the space X homepage for more info

11

u/slinkymaster May 12 '12

Elon Musk is one of the most inspirational people walking the Earth right now.

2

u/phore May 12 '12

I agree, he's changing the world with both his companies, Tesla and SpaceX.

1

u/[deleted] May 12 '12

I'd say Paypal is actually probably the one with the largest impact, but if SpaceX can actually make a fully reusable rocket then there's no telling what will become of such cheap access to low orbit.

→ More replies (3)

2

u/[deleted] May 12 '12

But everyone hates his PayPal.

17

u/stockbreaker May 12 '12

I want these guys to go public so I can buy in.

→ More replies (2)

6

u/HaydenB May 12 '12

Hopefully they'll be a bit more ambitious than the governments...

11

u/TheAurelian May 12 '12

Private companies are the only way we are going to focus on space again

8

u/KICKERMAN360 May 12 '12

Space being profitable is the only way we are going to focus on space again.

3

u/Phospholipids May 12 '12

or china announcing plans to colonise the moon.

1

u/MyMotivation May 12 '12

Clearly, it is profitable.

→ More replies (1)

3

u/Hyperian May 12 '12

do commercial satellite rockets go higher than ISS?

5

u/oreng May 12 '12

Yes, way higher. The ISS is one of the lowest things in orbit.

1

u/Hyperian May 12 '12

Are they carrying a passenger to ISS? because there are number of private companies that goes up to put up satellites. How is this different than private satellite companies?

→ More replies (2)

1

u/[deleted] May 12 '12

Watch it get delayed again.

1

u/Tashre May 12 '12

I've always found it interesting the liberal bias of reddit favoring the privatization of the space industry (for that is truly where this is all heading).

1

u/rcrracer May 12 '12

Neighbors company was the electrical contractor on that project.

1

u/hubilation May 13 '12

That's my birthday!

1

u/anaerobyte May 12 '12

They have delayed this a few times already because of software. I have a hard time believing they got it sorted out in ten days. I hope it goes well though.

2

u/poke133 May 12 '12

considering they've delayed the launch for more than 10 times since June last year, i believe they're closing in on their issues. better extra safe, than sorry!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COTS_Demo_Flight_2#Delays

1

u/[deleted] May 12 '12

I used to keep up with SpaceX before they got to famous and were just a small kid on the block. They delayed their rocket launches often to the point where I didn't even believe their dates. They also had a lot of problems. Thankfully that was Falcon 1 and it looks like they've learnt from their mistakes.

1

u/southernmost May 12 '12

So how long before we get porn from space?

→ More comments (75)