Big Day for SpaceX

[Mark1T]

Perfect. Not as dramatic as a Space Shuttle launch, but it will do

[ElrondHubbard]

I am guessing Elon Musk is pretty excited, as he should be.

History was made

So is Elrond Hubbard!

[ElrondHubbard]

Perfect. Not as dramatic as a Space Shuttle launch, but it will do

Making it look easy is the hardest job of all.

[Mark1T]

Making it look easy is the hardest job of all.

Oh, yes, I agree. SpaceX is much more efficient and truly a major step forward.

[thebigzakbowski]

this was awesome. Ever since I was a kid I have been fascinated by space. I think scrapping the shuttle without a plan to replace it was horrible. Amazing to see this happen

*And yes I did get made fun of for liking Star Trek the Next Generation as kid, still like it

[ElrondHubbard]

this was awesome. Ever since I was a kid I have been fascinated by space. I think scrapping the shuttle without a plan to replace it was horrible. Amazing to see this happen

*And yes I did get made fun of for liking Star Trek the Next Generation as kid, still like it

"Make it so, Number 1!"

[mtpockets]

*And yes I did get made fun of for liking Star Trek the Next Generation as kid, still like it

Most of us have skeletons in the closet

Spoiler!

[Mark1T]

The astronauts are NASA test pilots. There have been test pilots for many decades for fighter jets and other aircraft.

So, these astronauts were pilot testing a rocket.

Marinate on that.

[IronCharles]

Perfect. Not as dramatic as a Space Shuttle launch, but it will do

The booster landing was the best part, shame the video cut out.

I did notice the actual liftoff was on a delay, when they showed the first frames of the liftoff several seconds after it happened, T count had magically fast forwarded several seconds. It's as if they were prepared to snuff the video before it went public in case anything went wrong.

[Mark1T]

The booster landing was the best part, shame the video cut out.

I did notice the actual liftoff was on a delay, when they showed the first frames of the liftoff several seconds after it happened, T count had magically fast forwarded several seconds. It's as if they were prepared to snuff the video before it went public in case anything went wrong.

Yeah, I agree. The video cutting out was a let-down. But, very cool pinpoint accuracy.

They hid those few seconds very well. I honestly did not notice it. But, it makes sense.

[mtpockets]

Here is the spaceX link if anyone is interested


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIZsnKGV8TE

[NearlyBigAngus]

That was fantastic - brought back memories of the feeling when Columbia first went up.
Wishing them a safe return.

[OldFartTom]

this was awesome. Ever since I was a kid I have been fascinated by space. I think scrapping the shuttle without a plan to replace it was horrible...

According to the Wikipedia entry the shuttle launches costs varied greatly by mission but cost between $450Mill to over $1Bn per launch! In terms of satellite launch cost $ per lbs it was ridiculously uneconomic. Plus since they only made 6 (5 spaceworthy) and the 4 survivors (3 spaceworthy) were getting elderly they'd have had to make more at vast cost. X-33 failed, X-34 was metaphorically and literally going nowhere. I mean to extend the shuttle program would have meant the US would have run up an eye wateringly gigantic national debt and become eternally in debt to China... Hey wait a minute!!????

The shuttle program was partly replaced by the current mini shuttles. Sure the public/pr side of Space Shuttle, ISS taxi service, satellite launch and public research wasn't covered by the replacement, but that stuff could in part be offloaded to ISS. You could argue it was replaced, in a way... Now as long as the Chinese don't develop their own X-37 copy mini shuttles... What!!??? Already?????

OK, Dragon due to dock with ISS in about 85 minutes from now, hope they'll broadcast some live footage on NASA YouTube channel, I'll be watching

[mtpockets]

OK, Dragon due to dock with ISS in about 85 minutes from now, hope they'll broadcast some live footage on NASA YouTube channel, I'll be watching

The link I have above is the live spaceX site, it's active now and they will probably be showing it, but I bet it's on many sites

[OldFartTom]

The astronauts are NASA test pilots. There have been test pilots for many decades for fighter jets and other aircraft.

So, these astronauts were pilot testing a rocket.

Marinate on that.

That's the glamorous side of testing!

Many years ago I was toured around the UK's test pilot centre (Empire test pilot school, Boscombe Down) and the test pilot with me showed me the windshield wipers testing on a helicopter and a lot of other very useful but not so exciting work. I went up in an airliner test bed to fly about for 4 hours and land in the same place with a bunch of electronics racks in front of me recording data to be analysed later, not much to do beyond drink coffee and look out of the window, did get a great arial tour of the Scilly Isles. Not all of that test stuff is adrenaline. Utmost respect to the pilots who do it in all it's variations!

[OldFartTom]

Capture seemed smooth - all looked smooth

[Cass40]

Capture seemed smooth - all looked smooth

They were like yay we're getting out of here..

[ElrondHubbard]

The booster landing was the best part, shame the video cut out.

I did notice the actual liftoff was on a delay, when they showed the first frames of the liftoff several seconds after it happened, T count had magically fast forwarded several seconds. It's as if they were prepared to snuff the video before it went public in case anything went wrong.

I think the NASA channel was delayed compared to the SpaceX channel. They had so many live streams from different sources it's tough to say what the relative timings were.

[ElrondHubbard]

Anybody want to dock the Dragon to the ISS themselves? Now you can!

https://iss-sim.spacex.com/


It's probably a good idea to read the instructions first. Just sayin'. Not like I would know, though.

[deadwoodgregg]

An F-22 and two P-51s did a flyover at the Bristol racetrack today. They circled over the airport adjacent my house several times before and after. No pics, but those P-51s were tucked up tight on the F-22. Pretty cool to see. The F-22 goes back to Langley and the P-51s return to Manassas.

[mtpockets]

An F-22 and two P-51s did a flyover at the Bristol racetrack today. They circled over the airport adjacent my house several times before and after. No pics, but those P-51s were tucked up tight on the F-22. Pretty cool to see. The F-22 goes back to Langley and the P-51s return to Manassas.

Nice, would have liked to have seen that.

[NearlyBigAngus]

I suspect like many of you I was glued to the live stream, itching for the moment when they docked and let out a sigh of relief when it happened. To be honest it's been a breath of fresh air having something to focus on that is not a) related to that virus b) not about riots and violence.

It's months away but I'm already thinking about the return journey... I re-watched Demo-1 splash down and have to say the 'chute deployment is mesmerising.

[IronCharles]

Hard to believe this was over 50 years ago.

[OldFartTom]

The sequel is here! "Return of the Dragon". The original had Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris, remake Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley. Watching with great interest...

Fingers crossed. Splashdown approx 14:40 EDT 18:40 UTC (19:40 BST)

[mtpockets]

12 minutes till first maneuver


Live link below if anyone is interested




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSJIQftoxeU

[NearlyBigAngus]

12 minutes till first maneuver


Live link below if anyone is interested




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSJIQftoxeU

I am glued to this right now - have been checking in on them through the day.

[mtpockets]

I am glued to this right now - have been checking in on them through the day.

Me too, It went very well!

[NearlyBigAngus]

Me too, It went very well!

Yes, textbook stuff - fantastic, America is back in the manned space flight game!

It's felt too weird since the shuttle program ended with America relying on Russia for a space Uber service.

[Corbi]

The way this year is going I was actually half expecting to see this once the capsule opened up.

[mtpockets]

The way this year is going I was actually half expecting to see this once the capsule opened up.

LMAO












wearing masks of course