SpaceX makes successful rocket launch Elon Musk's SpaceX, space cargo contractor and purveyor of space rockets for the well-heeled masses, successfully launched a two-stage rocket into orbit on Saturday. The rocket lifted off from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California at 9:54am local time, carrying a satellite payload on behalf of Iridium Communications. Ten …
Depends what version of the site you're using - there are very few extras on the mobile web version, including the "Tips and corrections" link at the bottom of the articles. Unless you know it exists on the full version, and then click on the "Change to Desktop edition" link first, that won't be obvious.
Plus we need to keep up our post count, otherwise our badges disappear (like mine has at some point over the Christmas/New Year break) ;-)
If I'm making a comment I always use a PC, Kudos to you if you type all that on a tablet with good punctuation throughout. :)
Post counts can be frustrating :( Sorry you lost your badge, do you have to start from the beginning now or will you go straight back to silver once your posts are up?
Normally I comment using my phone on the mobile site, which makes it even more fun adding in hypertext elements. It doesn't show stuff like the post icons (either to add them, or those that people have chosen and then referred to "Like this ----->" as part of their message). If I do muck something up I have to switch about to the desktop version to get the 10-minute edit window too. There's probably an app or something, and hopefully a redevelopment of the system in the pipeline someday soon...
I've been contributing on this site for just over 9 years, read it for a lot longer, but not yet got to Silver (only about 60 upvotes to go). The bronze badge has vanished a few times before, but reappears when the total passes the 100 posts per year lower limit. Silver builds on that and needs 2,000 upvotes. There are only a very few worthy gold badge holders (10 when the system was first introduced 4-or-so years ago) - not sure how many now, but Lester needs his posthumous one at the very least.
Goddamnit Gareth, how many more times: IT WAS NOT A FACEBOOK SATELLITE!
Now, now, Space X needs all the positive press it can get, and blowing up a satellite in any way, shape or form even just notionally linked to Facebook will, ironically, give them a lot of thumbs up.
If they'd blown up anything important it would be different, but a Facebook satellite, well, that just brings smiles and good cheer to everyone. Well, OK, except Zuck, but that just makes it even better :).
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"There's also a regular-speed version with commentary on YouTube ..."
That's impressive in that the onboard camera functions all the way down.
Here's a side view from distance.
The side view posted here is from an earlier mission (CRS-8). The most recent launch on January 14th was IRIDIUM-1.
Interesting though that they plan to re-use the booster from CRS-8 in an upcoming mission (SES-10) somewhere around the end February/early March depending on weather and a lack of another RUD.
There's also a regular-speed version with commentary on YouTube - the SpaceX team certainly don't seem to be bored by it yet!!
I quite agree and thanks for that link. Is it me or is the camera but the rocket looks like there's a little bend just above the top of the landing legs?
I thought at first that was part of the fairing shape around the legs, but then looked again at different angles and reckoned it was the camera lens combined with looking down a very long cylinder that's visually foreshortened. Then I look more, change my mind again and decide it's a combination of these two...
On the two different side view angles at the end, the first looks curved because of the landing burn scorch marks and the unmarked shapes uncovered by the landing legs, but the later silhouetted view shows it straight.
"There's a fantastic sped-up video of the landing on their FB page."
Ok, I'll bite (I can always have a shower afterwards!) and what do I see? An effing great banner telling me to join or sign in with a little, unobtrusive "not now" link below. So I click "not now" and what happens? The banner slightly reduces in size then moves and obscures the bottom 1/3rd of the page and ***stays there***.
"See more of SpaceX by logging in to Facebook"
Not on your effing nellie!!! Zuck, you &*%$ing bastard!
At this time this sped up video is not on Youtube for some unknown reason - apologies for any trauma caused to ppl visiting FB when they don't have an account. A few folks have posted cuts of the real-time landing, which are about 3 mins long, but I can't find a sped-up variant of this landing, only one of the Falcon-9 first stage landing
@Spudley,
Won't be entirely in triplicate at the same time though. The 2 boosters would land at the same time, the core stage would land later (and probably on a barge) since, as Musk puts it: It's hauling serious ass by the time it separates. Still, looking forward to having my mind blown.
I watched the first succesful barge and RTL landings live and both times it was amazing. Really hoping I can get to watch the first Heavy launch live too. (And I'm considering taking a trip to the US at some point to experience a launch too)
The conspiracy theorists are already out there calling fake 'cos of the telemetry glitch from the barge and onboard cameras at the point of landing. They seem to have missed the long range camera shot which didn't glitch and showed the landing complete successfully. They'll probably claim it's CGI :-)
I can only assume they are so insistent they are faked because the Earth is flat so it can't be orbited so all these rocket and satellite things must be faked. Poor deluded fools!
You jest, but I really do hope that he does start naming the rockets as well soon -- if he's going to re-use them then surely they deserve to be given names.
And personally, I reckon "Pretentious? Moi?" would be an awesome name for one of them. I think you should tweet Musk and suggest it. :-D
It's an interesting note that he named the launch pads but not the rockets. It might just be because the rockets are expendable, even the first stages.
However, I'd like to think Musk is secretly using the the launch pads to test AI: that the name applies to the AI and not the hardware.
purveyor of space rockets for the well-heeled masses - that's an itsy-witsy bit snarky! It's true, but in a good way. A few years ago even the well-heeled few couldn't afford their own rocket. Now it's commonplace. The Japanese had a failure the other day for a small rocket that was trying to launch a 4kg payload, but the rocket only cost $4 million. India got a satellite to Mars for $74 million.
Space is becoming everyday - ain't that wonderful?
Am I the only one to notice the two references in describing (early on) the rocket's velocity to orbital speed as "about 8km/s or 10x the speed of rifle bullet" at 2m21sec, by SpaceX's "Materials Guy", Micheal Hammersley. He again, reiterates this at 24m23secs.
I'm guessing, but given he works in materials, you can guess what he really thinks caused the previous accident.
The camera movement at 5m is interesting as it coincides with MH describing how SpaceX implemented "all the corrective actions to cover all the credible causes for this failure", at which point the camera shakes left and right as to say 'no', then move the camera to just show the top 'dick' part of the rocket.
Internal Politics is always good to watch.
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Congratulations to the SpaceX Comm team. The live landing video was from an entirely different angle (looking down), but it was very nearly continuous. A few minor cut-outs, but not bad.
Made for a good show. Thank you.
PS: The hosts commented on this exact topic a few times. Which is amusing.
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