Space-X does it

[mmrmnhrm]

Elon's crew has successfully landed on a barge. Just wish Slashdot had actually let us know they were putting a rocket up today so I could have watched the live stream.

[2highpsi]

6th time's a charm!!!

 

 

Joking aside, this was definitely bad ass and impressive. I'm not sure if I should be happy for SpaceX or sad for NASA.

[mmrmnhrm]

Joking aside, this was definitely bad ass and impressive. I'm not sure if I should be happy for SpaceX or sad for NASA.

 

Happy for both, really... the Shuttle was, in many ways, an albatross hanging around NASA's neck. Requirements imposed on it by Congress to spend $X dollars in congressional district Y made it a financial disaster that could never live up to the "Cheap and reusable" hype. Passing off routine cargo and transport missions to commercial ventures lets NASA focus on things that a commercial venture would never undertake simply because there's no obvious payout (of which, Mercury/Gemini/Apollo is a perfect example).

[C-Mart]

Does anyone know why they have it come in on an angle instead of straight down?

 

I am sure they have a reason, but it seems much more challenging.

[Furloaf]

Does anyone know why they have it come in on an angle instead of straight down?

 

I am sure they have a reason, but it seems much more challenging.

 

Reaching orbit is going sideways just as much or more as it is going up.

 

And cross winds. If they killed all horizontal movement higher up, they would need to be correcting random crosswinds. Keeping the horizontal velocity in one direction means only (mostly) correcting in one direction.

[justinwebb]

They could have done it every time correctly if they tried to land it back on solid ground. There are so many extra variables on a moving barge. Props to space x.

[HotCarl]

So cool. So did the rocket reach orbit then come right back down? And why choose to land at sea?

 

EDIT: never mind found the answer on google http://www.theverge.com/2016/4/8/11392312/spacex-launch-success-iss-cargo-falcon-9-rocket

 

the video at the bottom of the page explains it all, really interesting stuff.

[Sledhead36]

6th time's a charm!!!

 

 

Joking aside, this was definitely bad ass and impressive. I'm not sure if I should be happy for SpaceX or sad for NASA.

 

Hooray for us the taxpayers! NASA is a joke, build shit on a unlimited budget. The USA is paying someone to put Satellite's up and now Space X can do it cheaper than anyone. Saving us cash....or letting them do more for less. Elon is a Rock Star.

[El Karacho1647545492]

Hooray for us the taxpayers! NASA is a joke, build shit on a unlimited budget. The USA is paying someone to put Satellite's up and now Space X can do it cheaper than anyone. Saving us cash....or letting them do more for less. Elon is a Rock Star.

 

Taxpayers have been and will continue to fund all of Musk's adventures. Whether it's via policies that allow him to supply pollutant-belching companies to buy carbon credits instead of paying fines to the EPA for environmental damage they do, direct government subsidies or payments, or tax incentives for putting his plants in Random Patch of Desert X instead of Random Patch of Woodland Y.

 

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-hy-musk-subsidies-20150531-story.html

 

Hooray for taxpayers indeed. Not that NASA isn't out of control, but Musk's marketing team are the real rock stars, Musk is just the fancy boy frontman dancing around in leopard pattern tights for the world's fanbois to fellate.

 

EDIT: This post wasn't meant to comment on the amazing feat in the OP, just meant to express my thoughts on people who jump at any opportunity to suggest Musk is the savior of the universe.

[zeitgeist57]

NASA is a joke, build shit on a unlimited budget. The USA is paying someone to put Satellite's up and now Space X can do it cheaper than anyone. Saving us cash....or letting them do more for less. Elon is a Rock Star.

 

I agree about NASA: in the past, space/military exploration could only be accomplished by governments with the ability to generate revenue from taxes and manage monetary markets for nearly unlimited funding sources. The sort of access to technology and exotic materials needed for such high-cost development was prohibitively expensive to the private sector; in order to protect our way of life, the gubmint had to fund that sort of development, assisted by contracted arrangements with colleges/universities and very strong corporations.

 

Now, with open (<<relatively) global communications and access to technology - as well as utilization of proven materials (ceramics, composites, engineered alloys), the private sector can play ball with the space race.

 

NASA hates competition, and has to resort to such development methods as partnering with CTD for Lamborghini modifications. #thestruggleisreal

[Sledhead36]

Taxpayers have been and will continue to fund all of Musk's adventures. Whether it's via policies that allow him to supply pollutant-belching companies to buy carbon credits instead of paying fines to the EPA for environmental damage they do, direct government subsidies or payments, or tax incentives for putting his plants in Random Patch of Desert X instead of Random Patch of Woodland Y.

 

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-hy-musk-subsidies-20150531-story.html

 

Hooray for taxpayers indeed. Not that NASA isn't out of control, but Musk's marketing team are the real rock stars, Musk is just the fancy boy frontman dancing around in leopard pattern tights for the world's fanbois to fellate.

 

EDIT: This post wasn't meant to comment on the amazing feat in the OP, just meant to express my thoughts on people who jump at any opportunity to suggest Musk is the savior of the universe.

 

 

 

So you are saying that without Elon putting up his own personal money to start Tesla, long before any government funding, that this would have happened with the Marketing team would have made all of this happen??