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SpaceX successfully launches two humans into orbit

nasa.gov

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Re: SpaceX successfully launches two humans into orbit

#621

Post by philwelch »

jhgb wrote: post #596
dleslie wrote: post #475

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is definitely a hindsight is 20/20 moment. In an age where radio was new, where televisions were even newer, where transcontinental news took hours, days or even weeks to travel, the knowledge that the Nazis were engaging in mass murder was not readily available. When allied troops liberated the concentration camps they filmed everything that they saw because they were concerned that without footage no one would…

Wait, are you saying that people didn't notice that Nazis were mass-killing people until 1945? What had they been doing since 1939?

The Nazis were in power for six years before 1939 and existed as a political movement since 1920.

Re: SpaceX successfully launches two humans into orbit

#622

Post by londons_explore »

asdfasgasdgasdg wrote: post #573
wongarsu wrote: post #511

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On the ISS you can produce higher quality optical fiber than on earth [1]. A demonstration fabrication unit is already on the ISS, and NASA has recently published prices for using the ISS for commercial tasks such as this. I suspect many other manufacturing methods can also benefit from zero gravity, and as launch costs drop more of these will be explored. 1: https://upward.issnationallab.org/the-race-to-manufacture-…

How pressing of a problem is the quality of optical fiber? Something tells me tells me that even if you imagine that all the capacity already existed, the mere shipping of raw goods up and finished goods down would probably eat any marginal profits over earth-manufactured fiber.

For regular data transmission, I can't imagine it to be worth it - far bigger gains could be made by just making repeaters smaller and cheaper by iterative design improvement.

Perhaps there are scientific uses where loss in fiberoptics makes a project infesible? Or perhaps quantum entangled photons, which one can't amplify?

Re: SpaceX successfully launches two humans into orbit

#623

Post by burntoutfire »

kenneth wrote: post #594
Chathamization wrote: post #510

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> A human astronaut could probably accomplish as much in a week as a Mars rover can in a year. The estimates I've seen for a human mission to Mars are about 100-500 times the budget for Curiosity. So even if astronauts could accomplish things 52X faster (and I'm skeptical they would), it still wouldn't be as cost efficient. And that's even before you factor in the fact that the Mars Rover is going to be doing work on…

We (well, Europeans) explored the earth when it looked quite similar to space exploration today. Year-long journeys with very little chance of survival, and no idea what was waiting on the other side. We ended up making some amazing discoveries (the new worlds) that turned out to be of vast economical benefits. Who says space exploration can't be similar. (Yes, there is a lot of controversy over colonialism that I wo…

> Who says space exploration can't be similar.

We can see into the space through telescopes, while the seafaring explorers needed to literally go to some place to see what it was like.

Re: SpaceX successfully launches two humans into orbit

#625

Post by londons_explore »

xjlin0 wrote: post #528
Rebelgecko wrote: post #363

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know much about the intricacies of asteroid mining, but human beings are very capable entities. As great as machines like the Mars rovers are, there's no comparison. A human astronaut could probably accomplish as much in a week as a Mars rover can in a year. When I was reading the daily diaries of one of the rover drivers, it was incredible how much effort and thought went into the most trivial activities. A…

Once the job finished, the machine is dispensable, but the astronaut definitely wanna go home, which will cost much much more.

Has nobody considered sending an older astronaut and not bothering with a return trip?

I could imagine a lot of volunteers if you promised 5 years worth of dried food, comms back to earth and lots of fame.

Re: SpaceX successfully launches two humans into orbit

#626

Post by navaati »

kenneth wrote: post #594
Chathamization wrote: post #510

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> A human astronaut could probably accomplish as much in a week as a Mars rover can in a year. The estimates I've seen for a human mission to Mars are about 100-500 times the budget for Curiosity. So even if astronauts could accomplish things 52X faster (and I'm skeptical they would), it still wouldn't be as cost efficient. And that's even before you factor in the fact that the Mars Rover is going to be doing work on…

We (well, Europeans) explored the earth when it looked quite similar to space exploration today. Year-long journeys with very little chance of survival, and no idea what was waiting on the other side. We ended up making some amazing discoveries (the new worlds) that turned out to be of vast economical benefits. Who says space exploration can't be similar. (Yes, there is a lot of controversy over colonialism that I wo…

We didn't have robots at the time, though...

Re: SpaceX successfully launches two humans into orbit

#627

Post by lutorm »

nojvek wrote: post #605

It blows my mind how SpaceX stared a decade ago and is making history, pushing the edge and making science fiction come true. And here I am fighting webpack to not take minutes to compile a bunch of js files. Everytime I watch SpaceX rockets fly, I ask myself “Am I wasting my life? Is what I am doing even worth it?” I hope we start a huge manufacture economy here that rivals the software economy. We’ve gotta move fro…

Actually, SpaceX was founded in 2002, so closer to two decades than one.

Re: SpaceX successfully launches two humans into orbit

#628

Post by millhouse_ams »

kenneth wrote: post #594
Chathamization wrote: post #510

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> A human astronaut could probably accomplish as much in a week as a Mars rover can in a year. The estimates I've seen for a human mission to Mars are about 100-500 times the budget for Curiosity. So even if astronauts could accomplish things 52X faster (and I'm skeptical they would), it still wouldn't be as cost efficient. And that's even before you factor in the fact that the Mars Rover is going to be doing work on…

We (well, Europeans) explored the earth when it looked quite similar to space exploration today. Year-long journeys with very little chance of survival, and no idea what was waiting on the other side. We ended up making some amazing discoveries (the new worlds) that turned out to be of vast economical benefits. Who says space exploration can't be similar. (Yes, there is a lot of controversy over colonialism that I wo…

Those journeys usually had an economic motive, e.g. find a quicker route to Indonesia, and accidentally discovered new lands (to Europeans).

Re: SpaceX successfully launches two humans into orbit

#629

Post by zoom6628 »

This mission bring to life, literally, "per ardura ad astra". Congratulations to all from someone who gets tears in eyes everytime i see a rocket launch. Its an amazing beautiful thing that goes beyond the science and engineering. Safe journey guys and thank you to everyone that got your there and inspire everyone from small kids to oldies like me.

Re: SpaceX successfully launches two humans into orbit

#630

Post by unixhero »

fasteddie31003 wrote: post #569
aeturnum wrote: post #205

How wonderful! Congratulations to the entire Space X team, this is a real accomplishment and I'm sure not one that came easily. It's exciting to see relatively small companies fulfilling roles that people thought might require massive military contractors. Elon is an interesting figure. He is, I think, a paradigmatic example of the imperfect creator. His undeniable success in difficult endeavors can create an aura of…

I think it's hilarious how HN dislikes Elon. Elon is edgy, non-pc, and speaks his mind. All traits I see looked down upon in Silicon Valley.

What's non-pc?
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