On December 22 2015 15:09 Taf the Ghost wrote: It seems like something fairly insignificant, since we've been putting things into Orbit for nearly 60 years, but if the booster is easily setup to be returned to space, this really is a world changer. (It's also an insanely impressive technical achievement)
Congratulations to everyone responsible.
Blue Origin already did it earlier this year. so umm, ya.
With a way smaller rocket that didn't put a payload into orbit. It's not the same class. Still very impressive of course, but this is a bigger achievement imo.
This is beautiful landing. Now I wonder when will we see the first rocket with "second-hand" first stage to be launched. Anyway, amazing achievement by spaceX.
History in the making. I got chills watching its successful launch and landing. Sort of wish there was a wider, larger coverage for it. Slightly disappointing when checking the news site how little coverage and attention seems to have been given. Still, such awesomeness.
Didn't the space shuttle have re-usable boosters as well in 1986? Curious how often this rocket can be re-used and how much it costs to prepare it for the next launch.
the first ever shuttle flight was in 1981 i think. the only 1986 shuttle flight blew into a million pieces. i don't think it got "re used"
is the Falcon9 better than the 1981 Space Shuttle? the devil is in the details. if the Falcon9 costs as much as the shuttle did to make a return flight then Musk's accomplishment means very little. If ,on the other extreme, SpaceX can put the Falcon9 back up into space a few days later with as much maintenance as a 747 requires THEN this is a major accomplishment.
the actual technical feat does not mean a lot. what means a lot is the maintenance costs of re-usability.
Another technical milestone that is not completed is putting actual cargo into space the way the Shuttle did.
At one point in the SpaceX webcast of the launch the moderator had to remind viewers looking at SpaceX employees whooping and hugging after the landing that the mission’s main objective, after all, was to deploy the Orbcomm fleet.
But it is the second stage’s performance that will position SpaceX to conduct commercial operations the way it has long intended. SpaceX said the second stage engine performed the full re-ignition and burn sequence needed for geostationary satellites.
spectacular video footage means very little. The celebrating occurs in the CEO's office as they look at spreadsheets outlining the costs of this stuff.
there was lots of engineers celebrating during the Shuttle and Apollo Era.. and where are we after all that?
This launch literally just put cargo in space lol also the space shuttle had some parts that were NOT fully reuseable (the big orange tank burned up) and some parts that had to be rescued to be reused (the solid boosters fell into the ocean and required considerable effort to be functional again) etc. Much higher cost.
And in truth, we aren't comparing the same things. The shuttle wasn't a reuseable launch system, it was a reuseable orbiter. Most of the launch system was not reuseable or at least difficult and expensive to reuse. Falcon 9 is completely different in that it's an entirely reuseable launch system. What it launches is somewhat irrelevant (although the payload does have fairly specific parameters).
the other thing that needs to be examined is the probability of failing to land. It appears a Falcon9 is destroyed when a landing fails. The shuttle was successful 133 of 135 times + the Enterprise landings. So far, how is the Falcon9 doing?
any way you slice it its all about lowering costs. if it costs me $50,000 to rebuild a completely new entity that can stick heavy cargo into space then we have a winner. it does not matter how good or how bad it looks in a video, it does not matter how much of the thing gets re-used. its all about a low cost solution.
when a rocket can fly into space and land as many times as i start my car.. lemme know.
and also raw # of re-uses is another factor. how "re usable" was the shuttle?. 1 shuttle got what? 30 flights maximum. and didn't 2 out of 6 fail. if 50% of the Falcon9's fail to land properly are they "re usable"?
if a Falcon9 can take off and land as reliably as a 747 we have a winner.
if its just another 30 max re-use product that fails regularly then i'll borrow a famous american saying " its deja vu all over again "
I find simplistic to say that 30 max re-use product is a deja-vu. Everything depends on the cost of refurbishment. If the stage is fully functional and all it needs is just some functional tests and being placed back at the launch site, then SpaceX is in a win position even if the stage 1 landing fails 10% of the times.
On December 23 2015 04:19 arbiter_md wrote: Everything depends on the cost of refurbishment.
ya, and that's exactly what i said in my previous posts about "re usability".
also this is a PR exercise so that US tax payers who fund NASA will be happy with NASA giving money to SpaceX.. all the celebrating etc.. its just PR so taxpayers can feel good about NASA money going to SPaceX.
the real accomplishment ( if there is one at all ) occurs when the CEO examines the cost spreadsheets and discovers its way less expensive to put stuff in space than it was say .. 10 years ago. this type of conclusion can't be arrived at after a proof-of-concept flight and landing.
these videos are designed to grease the skids for an influx of taxpayer cash.
On December 23 2015 04:19 arbiter_md wrote: Everything depends on the cost of refurbishment.
ya, and that's exactly what i said in my previous posts about "re usability".
also this is a PR exercise so that US tax payers who fund NASA will be happy with NASA giving money to SpaceX.. all the celebrating etc.. its just PR so taxpayers can feel good about NASA money going to SPaceX.
the real accomplishment ( if there is one at all ) occurs when the CEO examines the cost spreadsheets and discovers its way less expensive to put stuff in space than it was say .. 10 years ago. this type of conclusion can't be arrived at after a proof-of-concept flight and landing.
these videos are designed to grease the skids for an influx of taxpayer cash.
You literally repeated yourself twice on this page of the thread alone. We get it, you are not impressed.
It's pretty clear your head is far up your ass when you say something like "Another technical milestone that is not completed is putting actual cargo into space the way the Shuttle did." when this exact launch put 11 satellites in LEO. Previous falcon 9 launches sent cargo to ISS (6 times) and plenty other sats to LEO, GEO and even a L point. "proof of concept flight" is 10 years late buddy, when they started flying the falcon 1 and their first merlin engines. You might get that vibe from all the boundaries they keep pushing with each flight, like being the first time they used LOX this cold and dense, but that's just how they do business.
Comparing what SpaceX accomplished live for the world to see to BO's secret project is simple ignorance. The technical feat is orders of magnitude apart.
You should also be happy if Nasa spends less money in their projects and funnel it to private companies (Spx, ULA, BO, SNC, BA) because they are clearly capable of spending that money better. All the money they got in the last 30 years didn't accomplish anything as ground breaking for spaceflight as Musk's little fortune did. Unless you're happy with SLS costs for what it actually does. Or maybe you think that money is better spent on the DoD.