** The Official Space Flight Thread - The Space Station and Beyond **

[The_Abyss]

Live in one hour

 

[Colonel_Klinck]

Launch is a go!

 

[The_Abyss]

I will never get tired of watching those rockets land in sequence like that!

 

[steve45]

That will never get old, So impressive!!!

Edit*
All three first stage sections successful

 

[Colonel_Klinck]

They make it look easy! Just 10 years ago this would have sounded laughable.

 

[tuftyfella]

3/3 booster landing, incredible stuff.

 

[lookitsjonno]

And NASA keep ploughing yet more cash into SLS...

 

[Minusorange]

It's pretty cool watching the boosters do their synchronised landing

 

[steve45]

I still think its a complete travesty that its the private sector that is having to drive this innovation in space technology where the national space programs seem to have stagnated over past decades due to funding/beurocracy.
However I am also thankful that we have visionaries like Musk and his like that are willing to invest and push these technologies. It gives me hope!

 

[bliss]

I don't think watching heavy fly will ever get old.

I've always been interested in space. But never this excited.

 

[Malevolence]

That dual, synchronised landing is sexual.

 

[The_Abyss]

And that separation. Perfect, no rotation or deviation, just a controlled drift. Beautiful.

 

[Colonel_Klinck]

I still think its a complete travesty that its the private sector that is having to drive this innovation in space technology where the national space programs seem to have stagnated over past decades due to funding/beurocracy.
However I am also thankful that we have visionaries like Musk and his like that are willing to invest and push these technologies. It gives me hope!

To be fair NASA gave SpaceX a lot of tech or access to tech. They also ploughed a lot of money in. Still take nothing away from Musk and his team, what they have done is amazing!

 

[Trig]

NASA will always be bound by politics though, private companies can do a lot more with less because of it, imagine if all of the funding that NASA were given where they started things and then had funding cut by the next office so projects died...

 

[The_Abyss]

I still think its a complete travesty that its the private sector that is having to drive this innovation in space technology where the national space programs seem to have stagnated over past decades due to funding/beurocracy.
However I am also thankful that we have visionaries like Musk and his like that are willing to invest and push these technologies. It gives me hope!

The contrary view is that if you look outside space technology / exploration into other sectors, very little change or innovation is driven directly by the state. At best they provide incentives to private organisations to make progress. Space used to be different, because the scale of investment required was beyond the capability of a private organisation, but that's changed now.

 

[Flibster]

Well that was fantastic to watch. Well done to Space-X for a triple landing. Now, time to reuse them and show how quickly you can turn them around.

 

[Colonel_Klinck]

A big part of the problem in the US is every congressman and senator wants their cut. So the budget is spread around the country. One part made here, another there. It doesn't make for efficiency but when they are get a cut for their district they approve the funds. SpaceX and Blue Origin don't have that problem.

 

[bliss]

Well, it's safe to say Spacex won't be sending people to the ISS this year.

 

[Minusorange]

Well, it's safe to say Spacex won't be sending people to the ISS this year.

Better to fail during a test than a trip with crew to the ISS though

 

[bliss]

Better to fail during a test than a trip with crew to the ISS though

Oh definitely! It's just that knowing a catastrophic event like this is going to be a very long setback and you're just not used to that happening with SpaceX these days.

First the centre core toppling and now this. Probably the worst week in SpaceX history, or at least since the falcon 1 days.