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Watch the SpaceX Falcon Heavy Rocket Launch Today

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Re: Watch the SpaceX Falcon Heavy Rocket Launch Today

#101

Post by Parcissons »

chasd00 wrote: post #21
verytrivial wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I remember clearly thinking the whole idea of landing the booster as being completely unrealistic, verging on not possible. I'm really pleased to have been utterly wrong. And 2/3rds of the boosters in today's test have already been into space. Mind blowing. Congratulations to all the hard working engineers at SpaceX!

hah i felt the same way. I remember when the Sky Crane was used to put Curiosity down on Mars, I thought there's just no freaking way that's going to work but they pulled it off. When SpaceX started talking about landing boosters I shook my head again but then they did it. The older I get the more blown away (and humbled) I am at what people are capable of achieving. On a lighter note there's a Simpons line when Home…

In another article recently linked on HN, the author of the Unreal Engine explained how the impressive featurelist it had came to be- they simply looked on other peoples "engine" screenshots online- and decided - if other people could do that- so could they. Turns out- noone else had done it before- the "screenshots" where renderings - and they where involuntary pioneers.

So to have the ilusion of the impossible allready having been accomplished (which students usually have at some point) and the delusion of beeing stupid while entering unfamiliar territory, while beeing to shy to ask the original "author" - that is where inovation originates.

Re: Watch the SpaceX Falcon Heavy Rocket Launch Today

#102

Post by gaius »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #29
pensivemood wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I remember clearly thinking the whole idea of landing the booster as being completely unrealistic, verging on not possible Please share why you thought it was not possible. Just curious.

Not parent, but I was surprised when I first heard of it. I thought it must be infeasible - in retrospect, for no reason other than vertical-standing rockets are associated with kitschy cover arts of old sci-fi stories. It didn't fit the more modern sci-fi aesthetics I grew in. Since realizing that I became more wary of unconscious biases picked up from environment, and how they affect what I think is technologically…

The Space Shuttle was perfectly capable of carrying its main fuel tank into orbit... I always wondered why they didn’t do that as standard, then later connect up all the now empty tanks, pressurise them and hey presto, instant space station, far bigger than the ISS. Such a waste to just drop them.

Re: Watch the SpaceX Falcon Heavy Rocket Launch Today

#103

Post by JoeDaDude »

pavel_lishin wrote: post #18

Oh man, I didn't realize this was going to go into a solar orbit! I thought it was just going to stay in LEO and then eventually burn up on re-entry.

Some discussion/speculation about the orbit the Tesla will end up in this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=md0K_eRSHAE

Re: Watch the SpaceX Falcon Heavy Rocket Launch Today

#104

Post by oh_sigh »

speg wrote: post #76

Anyone know where to watch that isn't Youtube? Blocked at work :(

stream it on your phone over your own data connection.

Or, just wait until you get home tonight. I don't know if you've watched the webcasts in the past but the video footage frequently cuts out during the most exciting times(probably due to the fact that a big rocket is blasting them around). So, frequently, the replay footage is much better than the live event.

Re: Watch the SpaceX Falcon Heavy Rocket Launch Today

#105

Post by Tossrock »

Klathmon wrote: post #8

I can't put into words how excited I am for this launch today. I remember back in 2012 where spacex was still a laughingstock. The idea of landing a rocket from a private company was a joke. But SpaceX always did one thing right, they made many care about space again. They broadcast their launches, made a bit of a show of it, and they weren't ashamed of their failures. Then they started breaking milestones. They incr…

I for one already believed in their vision back in 2012 [1]

1: https://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/comment/22652180#...

Re: Watch the SpaceX Falcon Heavy Rocket Launch Today

#106

Post by cptskippy »

chasd00 wrote: post #42
pensivemood wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I remember clearly thinking the whole idea of landing the booster as being completely unrealistic, verging on not possible Please share why you thought it was not possible. Just curious.

to me it was having to carry the fuel for the landing burn. Also, an empty booster is very fragile, they're basically metal balloons. I figured the landing legs, extra support needed, and the required fuel would make it infeasible in the end.

> an empty booster is very fragile, they're basically metal balloons.

If you think about it that's not really the case. Post launch the boosters are empty and must sustain their own weight and that of the payload sitting upright on the launch pad prior to fueling.

During the launch the full force of the engine is exerted on everything and it must withstand that force even as the tanks empty. If the boosters were not able to withstand these forces then as the rocket climbed into the sky you'd see it start to compress like a tin can the higher into the atmosphere it climbed.

Re: Watch the SpaceX Falcon Heavy Rocket Launch Today

#107

Post by adventured »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #87
thaumaturgy wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure I've ever thought it was impossible -- I've learned to be more circumspect about that kind of thing as I'm nearing 40 -- but I tried imagining the fine detail engineering that would be required to do it and was totally overwhelmed. I mean, take a yardstick or short rod or something, and try to balance it upright on the tip of your finger. That's basically what they're doing, but with a -rocket-. It's ama…

The rocket has its center of mass very low during landing, as it's mostly an empty shell by this point, with heavy engines at the bottom. So take a meter tape, pull it out a bit, lock and try to balance that. Much easier, right? The magic is in a) ensuring the whole construct survives reentry, and b) timing the landing burn - even a single Merlin engine is too powerful for the almost empty rocket to hover, so they ne…

> So take a meter tape, pull it out a bit, lock and try to balance that. Much easier, right?

While you drop your hand toward the ground at mach 5.

Re: Watch the SpaceX Falcon Heavy Rocket Launch Today

#108

Post by TeMPOraL »

greenhouse_gas wrote: post #99
sitkack wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This whole thread should review Clarke's Three Laws[0] 1. When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, they are almost certainly right. When they state that something is impossible, they are very probably wrong. 2. The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible. 3. Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishabl…

The (counter) corollary to rule #1: They laughed at Columbus, they laughed at Fulton, they laughed at the Wright brothers. But they also laughed at Bozo the Clown.

AFAIK Columbus should be grouped together with Bozo the Clown - his plan was rightfully laughed at; he only survived because he lucked into discovering a new continent halfway through the trip...

Re: Watch the SpaceX Falcon Heavy Rocket Launch Today

#109

Post by TeMPOraL »

adventured wrote: post #107
TeMPOraL wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The rocket has its center of mass very low during landing, as it's mostly an empty shell by this point, with heavy engines at the bottom. So take a meter tape, pull it out a bit, lock and try to balance that. Much easier, right? The magic is in a) ensuring the whole construct survives reentry, and b) timing the landing burn - even a single Merlin engine is too powerful for the almost empty rocket to hover, so they ne…

> So take a meter tape, pull it out a bit, lock and try to balance that. Much easier, right? While you drop your hand toward the ground at mach 5.

This actually helps stabilize the rocket. Lawn dart, and all that ;).

Re: Watch the SpaceX Falcon Heavy Rocket Launch Today

#110

Post by Diederich »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #87
thaumaturgy wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure I've ever thought it was impossible -- I've learned to be more circumspect about that kind of thing as I'm nearing 40 -- but I tried imagining the fine detail engineering that would be required to do it and was totally overwhelmed. I mean, take a yardstick or short rod or something, and try to balance it upright on the tip of your finger. That's basically what they're doing, but with a -rocket-. It's ama…

The rocket has its center of mass very low during landing, as it's mostly an empty shell by this point, with heavy engines at the bottom. So take a meter tape, pull it out a bit, lock and try to balance that. Much easier, right? The magic is in a) ensuring the whole construct survives reentry, and b) timing the landing burn - even a single Merlin engine is too powerful for the almost empty rocket to hover, so they ne…

> even a single Merlin engine is too powerful for the almost empty rocket to hover

Indeed. For their last launch, they decided to try landing the booster with three engines rather than one, which brings the whole 'hoverslam' concept to the next level.

This was considered so risky that they didn't try landing it on the barge, for fear of damaging it. Instead, they soft landed on the ocean.

But much to everyone's surprise, it actually worked! There's a picture of the Falcon 9 booster floating awkwardly. Musk said they'll try to tow it to shore.

And all that is really the core of why I love SpaceX: continuous improvement. It's a grand thing!

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