SpaceX Sends Dragon Soaring To the ISS

A Falcon 9 rocket launched on Thursday from Florida, delivering its Dragon spacecraft into orbit. From a report: The first stage then made a safe landing on a drone ship stationed in the Atlantic Ocean. The company's webcast ended without any coverage of the second stage's six-hour coast to demonstrate a capability for an unnamed customer. This was the tenth Falcon 9 launch of 2019. Overall the rocket has now launched 76 times. Sometime in 2020, among rockets in active service, the Falcon 9 will almost certainly become the U.S. booster with the most launch experience, surpassing the Atlas V. That rocket has launched 80 times, with one more mission scheduled for later this month -- a test flight of Boeing's Starliner spacecraft.

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[garyisabusyguy]

Maybe the 'fading memories' is due to some sort of dementia

Impressive!

[110010001000]

Next stop...Mars!

Re:Impressive!

[DontBeAMoran]

Now this is the plan: Get your ass to Mars. Then go to the Hilton and flash that Brubaker ID at the desk. That's all there is to it. Just do what I tell you, and we can nail that son of a bitch who fucked you and me. I'm counting on you, buddy. Don't let me down.

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[110010001000]

Yeah, "The Fifth Element" was one of my favorite movies.

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[DontBeAMoran]

Still, it doesn't beat when Picard beat the Daleks in the last Star Wars movie.

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[nospam007]

Corbin Dallas Multipass!

BTW, you can buy an actual prop one on Amazon.

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[Empiric]

You see, that's my body you have there, and I want it back.

Oh wait. Wrong advocacy.

Maybe.

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[Empiric]

Jesus said to them, "When you make the two one, and when you make the inside like the outside and the outside like the inside, and the above like the below, and when you make the male and the female one and the same, so that the male not be male nor the female female; and when you fashion eyes in the place of an eye, and a hand in place of a hand, and a foot in place of a foot, and a likeness in place of a likeness; then will you enter the kingdom."

--Thomas 22

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[sysrammer]

Personally, I just think he's misunderstood. "Uh, what sarcasm?" is clearly a cry for help.

I don't like Musk but I respect him.

[jellomizer]

Musk is the type of guy I normally feel repulsed by, and isn't really someone who I want to share a beer with or be friends with... That said, he is one of the few people in the world who has these big visions and works to make them reality.

We thought only a government has the resources to make a space craft.
We thought electric cars are under powered compared to Gasoline
We thought solar panels are not effective and too expensive for normal use.

He helped fund and manage the companies to make the risk to brin

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[jellomizer]

SpaceX seems to show that private industry seems to be doing a good job with space flight. I hope this success brings cheaper and safer space travel in time. Because in my lifetime I would love to see a Manned mission to Mars.

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[rogoshen1]

You start out with a government/public funded entity to work out the kinks and absorb the costs while climbing that learning curve; and then once there becomes the potential for profit, turn it over to private business.

It seems to be the best way to break new ground.

Obviously without nasa/apollo and all those thousands of discoveries made along the way since the 1950's/1960's; none of what spacex does would be possible for a private company to even dream about doing. They really are standing on the shoulde

Love the landings

[Pascoea]

I still get chills watching them land the rockets, especially on the drone ships. Twenty-ish time they've successfully landed, and it's still impressive every time. I still wish they would bring back the technical webcast where all they had for audio was the chatter from inside launch control.

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[idji]

there was a technical live stream today as well.

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[Pascoea]

Well, shit. I thought I saw that when I was watching the launch yesterday, but then I goofed on the time and missed the live stream today. I didn't see a replay of the technical webcast.

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[sysrammer]

I still get chills watching them land the rockets, especially on the drone ships. Twenty-ish time they've successfully landed, and it's still impressive every time. I still wish they would bring back the technical webcast where all they had for audio was the chatter from inside launch control.

I was talking with my son about Spacex, and mentioned the first televised landings where the two boosters landed together. He couldn't remember it, which I thought was curious. So I showed him the video and he said "oh yeah, I saw that. I thought it was CGI". I explained as we watched it a few times, and he was duly impressed by the feat.

I have to say that they don't land like movie rockets. In a movie, any spaceship going fast and approaching ground *is* going to crash. That's just Hollywood. And we do lov

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[Pascoea]

Not going to lie, watching them fail the first couple times was reasonably amusing as well... There is something satisfying about a $70M fireball. And, just how close they got it on the first try... Good stuff.

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[sysrammer]

Absolutely. Though the failed landing strut was unfortunate.

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[mdm-adph]

I used to play Moon Lander and remember wondering myself which was more efficient: a careful landing, or freefall and a solid burn at the last minute. My experimentation, now confirmed by Spacex, indicates that the minimal-fuel approach is indeed...

The Suicide Burn(tm).

But only if a computer is flying! It can afford to wait until the very last minute -- its reaction time will always be quicker, and it doesn't feel stress or apprehension.

Us humans (forgive me for assuming, but I feel it's safe to do so) always need to do the careful landing.

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[sysrammer]

Nah, give the helm to a teenager. Their reaction times are fast, and they don't know they can't do that.

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[Megane]

Try more like forty-five successful landings. I was surprised when I heard that the other day and just now counted them myself on a list of F9 missions. More than half of the cores launched have successfully landed. Mind. Blown.

Re: Love the landings

[Pascoea]

You are correct. I must have misheard the commentator. From Wikipedia: "Since then, Falcon 9 first-stage boosters have been landed and recovered 46 times out of 54 attempts, including synchronized recoveries of the side-boosters of the Falcon Heavy" https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wik... [wikipedia.org]

First sta [connection lost]

[Forty Two Tenfold]

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