Did any of y'all watch the SpaceX hign altitude test yesterday? I was amazed by the whole thing. It's quite a feat for private enterprise.
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Just out of curiosity - Airplane Guys
- Thread starter Downeaster
- Start date
He could be our generation's Howard Hughes. (Let's hope he's a little more stable...) 
He could be our generation's Howard Hughes. (Let's hope he's a little more stable...)
I think that train left the station quite a while ago unfortunately.
was think'n that exactly last night.He could be our generation's Howard Hughes. (Let's hope he's a little more stable...)
Given the difficulty, I'm pleased it made it as far as it did.
The unplanned disassembly was just a blip to learn from.
Would you sit on top of that big firework?
Oh yeah!
where are my depends?
where are my depends?
It’s far from ready for that. If those two engines had fired, they’d have stuck the landing! Look at the incredible accomplishment. They flew that rocket to over 40,000 ft on methane & lox powered engines. Then flew it back to the exact spot it took off from. It flew horizontally and transitioned back to vertical. None of this had been done before. Amazing!
Next up, SpaceX plans to fly another prototype, SN9, and work up toward the first orbital flight.
The take away here is the power of Capitalism and the necessity of visionaries . The crony cabal of NASA and defense contractors would have taken 30 more years if ever, to reach this level of space travel research. There is still a huge constituency hoping Musk fails.
Would like to see a comparison of the SN series to the Vulcan Centaur. Capabilities vs cost and time lines.
Would like to see a comparison of the SN series to the Vulcan Centaur. Capabilities vs cost and time lines.
A lot of people have lost underestimating Mr. Musk - but he sure does make it easy to assess him as a BS-er.
To be fair.... from Kennedy's "Moon" speech to Armstrong's "one small step" was just a tad over 7 years. And that was using slide rules and pen and paper. I'd say the "crony cabal" did alright for itself.
Well I was bein' a bit tongue in cheek there Fred. In my opinion, the "crony cabal" never existed. As a direct result of NASA's work you have a camera built into your phone. Camera miniaturization tech started with NASA inventing the CMOS image sensor and shrinking 'em to fit in cramped capsules.
NASA's development of of hard, scratch resistant surfaces means my glasses don't scratch near as bad as they used to.
Need a supersonic airfoil? NASA has tons of 'em.
NASA needed a way to inspect welds and such on space capsules. As a result my Doc told me my rt knee needs surgery 'cause the CAT scan image told 'im so.
NASA tasked Goodyear with making parachute cords stronger than steel. They did... and went on to use those cord in radial tires.
GPS is grand ain't it.... NASA made it accurate.
I could go on and on but I'd say we're getting a pretty good return on investment eh?
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Just to add a bit more... I'd wager that a good 50% or more of the technology that went into Elon's rocket was tech directly from NASA's library of knowledge. There's no doubt that the young man is brilliant, but one could easily make the argument that he's riding NASA's coattails... not the other way 'round.
If Kennedy had planned on 15 years instead of 8, it might never have been done, Long-range projects lose energy and funding and get bloated. Easier to do it in 8 years than 15. Private enterprise and the profit motive might serve to keep it on track. Or a particular individual who took ownership might keep it on track. Or he might use it as a carrot on a stick... Or might just make stuff up and smoke pot on Joe Rogan. Last I heard of a potential Mars shot, it was going to be NASA, and Spacex was just a contender to build the lander.
Personally, I can’t wrap my head around having enough money to build and test a rocket like that. It’s outside my comprehension. I’m not saying it’s a bad thing. NASA had to pave the way. I can’t imagine private money kicking it off. Who could have imagined what would come from it.
"No bucks, no Buck Rogers...."
He's giving his researchers the money to work with. Other researchers, like NASA are looking for the money from the government. As long as the R&D dept. has their "Golden Goose", there's no limit to what they can accomplish. I wouldn't discredit the brilliance of Elon Musk either. The man's got some serious insight.
He's giving his researchers the money to work with. Other researchers, like NASA are looking for the money from the government. As long as the R&D dept. has their "Golden Goose", there's no limit to what they can accomplish. I wouldn't discredit the brilliance of Elon Musk either. The man's got some serious insight.
Dang - what a machine!
