I watched it live round my girlfriend's, and it was the coolest thing ever. I can't believe the damn thing actually worked. First it cleared the launch pad without exploding. Then it kept ascending, without exploding. Then the boosters separated, and still nothing exploded. We saw the car in space and it was so frickin' cool it was just awesome AND IT SAID "DON'T PANIC" ON THE RADIO !!! and that didn't explode either. And then the two boosters landed simultaneously in one epic camera shot which was just squeeeeeeee and even they didn't explode.
I gather that the central core crashed, but who cares ? It was a win from the moment it failed to explode on the launch pad. Prices slashed on heavy lift ! Equivalent to buy one, get five free ! We're gonna colonise Mars, people ! And do the other things, not because they're easy, but because they're affordable !
http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-42969020
Amen! I couldn't believe the number of people on Twitter bitching and moaning about it. Like, how do you look at this and not see how amazing it was?
ReplyDeleteI got tingles when the boosters separated. The double landing was freaking awesome
ReplyDeleteSeven years ago, the estimated price to launch something into space was $10,000/pound.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.npr.org/sections/money/2011/07/21/138166072/spaceflight-is-getting-cheaper-but-its-still-not-cheap-enough
The falcon heavy launch is priced at $90,000,000, and it can carry 140,000 pounds. So the price has dropped to about ~$650/pound. Musk has managed to drop the price by 15x, and it sounds like he's planning on going further.
There are a few moments in our lives, where we sit, watching, transfixed, as something wonderful and astonishing happens. Watching Falcon Heavy, rising off that historic launch pad, generating 22,819 kN of thrust, 27 engines, choreographed and kicking. A moment for the ages.
ReplyDeleteFor some reason, reading your post, I thought of this image, of the engineer and visionary Isambard Kingdom Brunel, standing in front of the drag chains of the Great Eastern. Those who achieve greatly must dream greatly.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/COaC1bkSDxQ_ubDG_vnpVdRMAL-LW2FSkHlsIPG_nMyedoizZZNZog1gUxUK-V8Af6wUuwUZWqCv2lHeFVUFdlCzch_YbTcg3TCF=s0
All that smoke and fire and power - and yet it failed to explode even once equals... I don't know, over 9000? Not long ago, I was listening to this really long radio show on some Moscow radio station about N1 - Russian attempt at basically the same thing, sending a huge rocket made of several engines, into space, some 50 years ago. They failed, several times, and politics made sure the experiment never repeated - until this visionary decided it's doable - hat down to Mr. Musk. Great success, extremely fun to watch. I completely approve all the popular media references, both David Bowie and Douglas Adams will forever be my heroes - but Musk showed us he's out there with those great humans.
ReplyDeleteA few days ago, Russians published prices on going out in space, on ISS, for 10 days. It's $100 millions. Starts in 2019. I can't possibly save that amount in two years - and I really really want to go. So, let's hope this achievement cuts that price, and all similar prices, waaaay down.
I'm not a fan-boy when it comes to Musk. I was actually getting a bit irritated by all the cheering for all the almost-nothing leading up to the countdown. "Really? You're cheering for 'cleared to launch'? That's kind of just minimal base line..." But as the launch continued... well, let's just say after the double landing I think I yelled "holy shit!"
ReplyDeleteI tuned in about a minute after launch, was like, oh it cleared the tower. Then it kept on not blowing up until I was fanboi screaming when I saw the side boosters sep.
ReplyDeleteIvan Petkovic there's also an Ark Drive in the boot (trunk) with Asimov's Foundation books on it.
ReplyDeleteTroy 'The ships hung in the sky in much the same way that bricks don’t."
ReplyDeleteI was annoyed that the speed dial was given in kilometers/hour. Like a car speedometer. ;)
ReplyDeleteIsaac Kuo I was just glad SpaceX wasn't inflicting Imperial on the rest of the world.
ReplyDeleteEver since I was a kid, I've always looked at Imperial units and those who use them as if they had bones through their septums. Why on earth does the USA still cling to these artifacts of dumbitude?
ReplyDeleteTroyI'm quite gruntled at that. It emphasizes how Elon Musk is an immigrant. (From a sh*thole country, even - the same one as Barrack Hussein Obama.)
ReplyDeleteAs they say in Hamilton:
"Immigrants - We get the job done."
Dan Weese -- We tried to change in the 1970s (I can remember one commercial that had a jingle and lyrics about "a meter is a little more than a yard; a liter is a little more than a quart...") But other than soda bottles and a few other things, it didn't really stick.
ReplyDeleteMichael J. Coffey ... and illegal drugs.
ReplyDeleteDan Weese The USA clings onto these artifacts of dumbitude because they are artifacts of dumbitude. If only you folks (everyone else) waited until we did it first, then we wouldn't have to block-headedly resist it on the principle of American exceptionalismism.
ReplyDeleteIsaac Kuo from MY sh*hole country! Granted, it was a fascist sh*hole when he left but it's not anymore :)
ReplyDeleteHere's the commercial I mentioned earlier, from 1978. And it appears the commission to convert to metric was scrapped under the first George Bush. The commission asked for a stronger mandate from the government, to which the Bush administration basically said, "Oh, you're too weak to do it on your own? Buhbye."
ReplyDeleteyoutube.com - U.S. Office Of Education - "Metric Education" (PSA, 1978)
Isaac Kuo The US military runs on metric. Even has its own internal dialect for metric units: a klik is a kilometer.
ReplyDelete