Spacex
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- inv0
What spacex is doing is way different. They are sending much heavier stuff to orbit (vs just space/ straight up) and landing. Requires 10 times the speed, 100 times the energy.
Also, they already acheived "suborbital" flights and landings, just not as high...
- Should say earth orbit and beyond (mars etc with the new falcon heavy)inv
- inv0
- CygnusZero40
Btw I think Musk is a genius. He isnt a guy that got lucky, fell into some money and started up some random business. Hes trying to find ways to move humanity forward which is pretty amazing, but hes not the only one running SpaceX. Its a big company now and there are investors. For them to find out they dumped fortunes into this, and for them to just realize this idea isnt working and they have to start over on something else, that wont sit well with anyone, so I just hope they are pushing on with this crazy idea because they actually think they can make it work, and do it reliably, not for political reasons.
- He's trying to get to space to find our creators and ask them for longer if not eternal life for himself and the founders of google.zenmasterfoo
- detritus0
"I don't understand it; it's a dumb idea".
It's a shame you're so limited in your appreciation of it, because it's a venture that stems directly from something close to your own heart, Cygnus, namely — computer games.
ok, i'm slightly oversimplifying here, but it's certainly true for the likes of John Carmack's space efforts, wherein he realised a long time ago that the processing power available to simulate physical environments and response loops in software and computer games were as, if not more, complex than that a 'simple' (says he) and largely quantifiable real world environment could throw him.
They say that half of the heads in SpaceX are programmers and software engineers, not the mechanical-pencil wielding atomic-thumping engineers of the space race days.
Presumably smarter minds than ours have put a lot more consideration and, more importantly, millions of their dollars, behind their conviction.
And if you still think this is all crazy, you should check out what ULA's response has been...
http://motherboard.vice.com/read…
*shrug*
There are smarter people in the world than us - best let them get on with it, I say.
- Hrm. I must've read a different article re: ULA as I thought they were doing something much grander.detritus
- inv0
- fiver0
so when do we find out if the rocket landing back on the platform is a success or not?
- face_melter-2
In about 30 years time, some alien cunt is going to rock up in this knackered Tesla, drop it off on the Whitehouse lawn with a note saying 'you left the keys in'.
- But I just realised what it reminds me of - Doolittle surfing in Carpenter's Dark Star.face_melter
- tesla doesn't have a key, it's a fob.shapesalad
- Christ. You sound like a riot.face_melter
- utopian0
How far out to sea is the launchpad?
- imbecile-2
lol at the public's expectation of private citizens that the media uses to make money off of
- utopian0
Skip to 2:15
- detritus0
ooft! Even closer than I'd imagined from the initial vines and short loops posted...
- marychain0
scrubbed
- detritus0
Also, just to clarify - they're currently only testing return and recovery on the first stage of the rocket. Perhaps in future they might recover further stages.
The meat package you're concerned about stays at the top of the rocket and gets hoyed into space, as intended (well, will do once they get their rocket human rated).
- sted0
- detritus0
Watch the video I posted on the previous page, particularly the manoeuvring of the main rocket, and the wee thrusters at the top of the stack, and the extent of control available in the last seconds before it undoes itself.
You're right, perhaps it is a pointless cause.
I'd bet it's not though.
- detritus0
Now that's a BIG FUCKING ROCKET.