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Live: SpaceX to launch four civilians to orbit in mission known as Inspiration4

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Re: Live: SpaceX to launch four civilians to orbit in mission known as Inspiration4

#31

Post by cma »

marcodiego wrote: post #26
vgchh wrote: post #20

It seems so ordinary yet surreal. So second nature. Seems as if humanity has access to another realm suddenly. It probably must have felt the same when the airplanes started carrying ordinary joe blows.

First successful powered heavier-than-air experiments happened in early 1900s, by the 1960s flying many common people inside a jet was affordable. First human in space was in 1961. We are some decades behind this time.

>We are some decades behind this time.

Well, launching these 4 people does take over a ~~million gallons of kerosene~~ (edit: million lbs of CO2 emissions), so for the environment it is probably good that it isn't as common as jet travel yet. It will probably take fusion energy or mass solar, plus hydrogen rockets (emit only water).

Re: Live: SpaceX to launch four civilians to orbit in mission known as Inspiration4

#32

Post by psyman »

teraflop wrote: post #27
psyman wrote: post #24

At 4:25:22, an object passes the behind the rocket nozzle, anyone else notice it ?

Looks fairly unremarkable to me. It's passing between the camera and the engine nozzle, so it must be very small -- maybe a speck of dust or a fleck of paint. Bear in mind that at this point in the video, the spacecraft is in direct sunlight and the background is pitch-black, so it doesn't take much to reflect enough light to be visible.

Gotta lay off them ufo vids.

Re: Live: SpaceX to launch four civilians to orbit in mission known as Inspiration4

#33

Post by FredPret »

marcodiego wrote: post #26
vgchh wrote: post #20

It seems so ordinary yet surreal. So second nature. Seems as if humanity has access to another realm suddenly. It probably must have felt the same when the airplanes started carrying ordinary joe blows.

First successful powered heavier-than-air experiments happened in early 1900s, by the 1960s flying many common people inside a jet was affordable. First human in space was in 1961. We are some decades behind this time.

To be fair it’s a lot harder!

Re: Live: SpaceX to launch four civilians to orbit in mission known as Inspiration4

#37

Post by randallsquared »

cma wrote: post #31
marcodiego wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

First successful powered heavier-than-air experiments happened in early 1900s, by the 1960s flying many common people inside a jet was affordable. First human in space was in 1961. We are some decades behind this time.

>We are some decades behind this time. Well, launching these 4 people does take over a ~~million gallons of kerosene~~ (edit: million lbs of CO2 emissions), so for the environment it is probably good that it isn't as common as jet travel yet. It will probably take fusion energy or mass solar, plus hydrogen rockets (emit only water).

There probably aren't going to be even 300 kerosene-burning Falcon 9 flights ever (this was number 127 or 128), because Starship is likely to start lifting commercial payloads by 2023 or 2024, and it burns methane, which could more easily than kerosene be part of a solar-power-to-rocket-fuel pipeline, recycling environmental CO2.

Re: Live: SpaceX to launch four civilians to orbit in mission known as Inspiration4

#38

Post by gpm »

Pulcinella wrote: post #14

I posted this in a duplicate thread, but I don’t think this is the first “all civilian” space flight? E.g. Here is a space flight where no crew members were in the military: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soyuz_MS-09

I don't know if this is the first or not (under the traditional definition of civilian), but I don't think your link is not a counter example...

Sergei Propopyev apparently commanded that mission, and per NSF immediately before becoming a cosmonaut he was the commander of an aviation group of strategic bombers with the 121st Heavy Bomber Aviation Regiment in the Saratov region.

https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2018/06/soyuz-ms-09-crew-art...

Re: Live: SpaceX to launch four civilians to orbit in mission known as Inspiration4

#39

Post by dnautics »

actinium226 wrote: post #7
LeoPanthera wrote: post #5

Maybe I'm jaded but I find no "inspiration" in one billionaire sending another one into space. I know they took along "guests" but I can't imagine there's any significant science in this.

You are too jaded. Isaacman could have taken 3 fishing buddies along and just made it a joyride. Instead he put all this work into promoting this mission as a fundraiser for St. Jude's.

Apparently isaacman also had cultured a habit of putting on airshows (and stunt flights) for charity since days when he was significantly less wealthy. I think that's a lesson a lot of aspirationally wealthy could learn.

Re: Live: SpaceX to launch four civilians to orbit in mission known as Inspiration4

#40

Post by simonh »

whoisthemachine wrote: post #13
LeoPanthera wrote: post #5

Maybe I'm jaded but I find no "inspiration" in one billionaire sending another one into space. I know they took along "guests" but I can't imagine there's any significant science in this.

I don't know, the bravery and courage it took for the "guests" to join this ride inspired me to donate to St. Jude. If it had just been billionaires (and a token scientist or aspirational astronaut), I may have agreed with your jaded opinion.

I don’t see why anyone involved in this being a billionaire is relevant at all. Billionaire is thrown about as an insult these days.

I don’t understand why being done by a very successful person detracts from the achievement. Isaacman has built a business that provides valuable services and employs a thousand people paying them a decent wage to do useful work. There’s nothing bad about that, but he’s talked about as if he was a criminal or had done something shameful.

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