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SpaceX lands rocket at sea second time after satellite launch

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Re: SpaceX lands rocket at sea second time after satellite launch

#181

Post by jonknee »

leecarraher wrote: post #168

Am i missing something, is the need to land vertically a requirement of a fragile fuselage? Seems wasteful to carry extra anything (in this case rocket propellant) to space, just to avoid having to re-right the rocket when you get it back on earth for a subsequent launch. Is extra fuel payload < landing gear or parachutes?

IIRC it's the most stable position because it's a big empty tube with some really heavy rocket engines at the base. It's also precise so they can land on a tiny barge in the ocean.

Re: SpaceX lands rocket at sea second time after satellite launch

#182

Post by _dark_matter_ »

larrydag wrote: post #174
throwaway2016a wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Slightly off topic but I was watching a television show the other day and someone said they worked at NASA. The host then said "So you're literally a rocket scientist?" And the guy said emphatically "Rocket engineer, there is a big difference" I'm sure this particular task probably was a little bit of both. After all, they had to run several real world experiments to prove their calculations.

Here's a reason why that guy answered it that way. Note these are my definitions but I've heard it before. Scientist: Studies and uncovers mysteries of the universe and natural world Engineer: Applies what scientists discovers

Eh, I think it's simpler than that:

Scientist: Unknown outcome (e.g. hypothesis -> experimentation)

Engineer: Known (or should be) outcome

Re: SpaceX lands rocket at sea second time after satellite launch

#183

Post by bane »

lmm wrote: post #157
adventured wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No it's not. The French, British and Italians for example all have extreme amounts of nationalistic pride and show it throughout their economies, the pride they hold regarding their history and culture. Scandinavia is very proud of its broadly tremendous standard of living and their well run welfare states, etc. - and Scandinavians are never shy about bragging about it online in my observation, you can hardly get awa…

We British would never dream of claiming our country was the best at everything - we might grudgingly admit that we get by all right considering - and my impression is that the rest of Europe is similar. Whereas Americans seem to get offended if you suggest there might be anything that another country was better than theirs at. Not to say it's necessarily good or bad but there is a real cultural difference there.

> We British would never dream of claiming our country was the best at everything

That's kind of silly. The British are widely known for claiming to have the best in many things. And I've watched enough TV in the U.K. to know that even currently extends into Science and Technology education.

Re: SpaceX lands rocket at sea second time after satellite launch

#185

Post by [deleted] »

LocaX wrote: post #171
ino wrote: post #154

How are non-US space agencies and companies (like ESA, Russia, Japan, China, etc) reacting to the SpaceX and Blue Origin achievements? Are they also testing similar things but we aren't hearing? Or they aren't threatened by the advances?

I attended a conference from the head of the CNES (Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales, ~ French NASA) in Paris a week ago and he talked about that. Ariane 6 is going to be built with a cost effective approach and trying to focus on market needs (3D printing of parts, reusability of the first stage, etc.) At first, concerning SpaceX, his group of experts told him that the design of the rocket wasn't going to work and…

[deleted]

Re: SpaceX lands rocket at sea second time after satellite launch

#186

Post by sjtrny »

brianwawok wrote: post #95

Here is the video http://www.space.com/32811-spacex-rocket-landing-jcsat-14-la... Hopefully we won't have the typical hacker news discussion about why the employees chant USA.

What exactly is wrong with that discussion? I found the level of evangelical, employee circle jerking at these SpaceX events to be nauseating. And that was before they started chanting. Well done guys but it's just not necessary.

Re: SpaceX lands rocket at sea second time after satellite launch

#187

Post by whatever_dude »

zupreme wrote: post #115

I remain confused about why SpaceX is getting so much fanfare and praise. What have they accomplished that NASA didn't already accomplish during the Apollo missions? I know SpaceX is doing it all more cost effectively, because we have better technology, but have they actually accomplished anything tangible that NASA didn't a generation ago?

NASA accomplished amazing engineering feats while aiming at certain (mostly) one-off goals.

SpaceX (and others) are accomplishing amazing engineering feats aiming at sustainable, repeatable use of their technology, and improving as they go.

Both are amazing accomplishments. But just because "landing a rocket on a barge" is not as sexy as "landing a ship with humans on the moon" doesn't mean it's that much less of an accomplishment. Remember vertical rocket landing is something NASA chose not to attempt because they thought it was going to be too hard. And that's just what SpaceX is doing.

Re: SpaceX lands rocket at sea second time after satellite launch

#188

Post by larrydag »

zupreme wrote: post #115

I remain confused about why SpaceX is getting so much fanfare and praise. What have they accomplished that NASA didn't already accomplish during the Apollo missions? I know SpaceX is doing it all more cost effectively, because we have better technology, but have they actually accomplished anything tangible that NASA didn't a generation ago?

As an Engineer I might be a little biased but I see this is a massive achievement. We are seeing a paradigm shift in space exploration with the rise of the influence of the private sector. Space exploration used to be the domain of government entities. That is gone now. I believe we are seeing a new age of exploration not seen since the 15th and 16th centuries of discovering the "new" world. These new space companies like SpaceX, Blue Origin, Virgin Galactic and others are challenging the norms and will only push each other to new achievements that we haven't dreamed of yet.

As you can tell count me excited.

Re: SpaceX lands rocket at sea second time after satellite launch

#189

Post by ithkuil »

larrydag wrote: post #174
throwaway2016a wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Slightly off topic but I was watching a television show the other day and someone said they worked at NASA. The host then said "So you're literally a rocket scientist?" And the guy said emphatically "Rocket engineer, there is a big difference" I'm sure this particular task probably was a little bit of both. After all, they had to run several real world experiments to prove their calculations.

Here's a reason why that guy answered it that way. Note these are my definitions but I've heard it before. Scientist: Studies and uncovers mysteries of the universe and natural world Engineer: Applies what scientists discovers

if the devil is in the details isn't the devil an engineer?

Re: SpaceX lands rocket at sea second time after satellite launch

#190

Post by puranjay »

agumonkey wrote: post #153
zupreme wrote: post #115

I remain confused about why SpaceX is getting so much fanfare and praise. What have they accomplished that NASA didn't already accomplish during the Apollo missions? I know SpaceX is doing it all more cost effectively, because we have better technology, but have they actually accomplished anything tangible that NASA didn't a generation ago?

Based on some talks the first lunar landings were way more adventurous and lucky than what SpaceX is doing. Making a snooker trick shot is nice, announcing it and doing it twice is another thing.

The first lunar landings had the resources of an entire nation behind it, and massive motivation to get it done (the cold war).
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