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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

#321

Post by reddog »

My unsolicited advice to the folks on this thread that were moved by todays launch: make time to travel to Florida and see one of these launches in person. If you have kids take them with you.

Years ago I took some time out of a very busy schedule to see STS-130, the last shuttle night launch. I've always been a space nerd but I wasn't prepared for how seeing, hearing and feeling a launch in person was so different than watching it on a rectangle. And I wasn't prepared by how profound the experience would be. It was one of the best on-the-whim-of-the-moment decisions I've made in my life. Do it. I guarantee a lump in your throat.

Re: SpaceX successfully launches two humans into orbit

#322

Post by xeromal »

cma wrote: post #163
rrmm wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

SpaceX has brought the costs down a lot. Around $500mil for a shuttle launch.

Didn’t shuttle have a larger payload? Up to 8 people and larger cargo. NASA gave a $55million estimate on cost per seat on crew dragon, which would be about $440 million to launch 8 people. Not sure that is factoring in reusability once they are willing to use that for crew missions (or offset price reusing crew boosters on non crewed missions). Another issue with shuttle was reliability though. It may take hundreds…

It did but the shuttle also could never leave LEO meaning it could never go to the moon. The heavy can.

Re: SpaceX successfully launches two humans into orbit

#323

Post by sweeneyrod »

runarberg wrote: post #269
sandworm101 wrote: post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> into orbit in a spacecraft that was designed from the ground up to be a commercial venture. If we are talking pure commercial travel, it is a vehicle without a destination. The ISS is definitely not a commercial project. There are lots of reasons for the ISS to exist, and they have changed over time, but it has never been a money-making venture. While the dragons certainly do come in under budget, they are a more…

I’m not super well informed on this, but is there any reason for sending humans to space at this moment in time (or for the next 20 years for that matter). The only reason my layperson understanding can think of is mining minerals in space, but I fail to see why robots wouldn’t be able to adequately do the job. In fact wouldn’t sending humans make future space ventures even more costly and put people into unessisary…

Because we can.

Re: SpaceX successfully launches two humans into orbit

#324

Post by ehsankia »

PopeDotNinja wrote: post #137

I think it's ridiculous that a rocket can fly up to 90km and return to Earth in a controlled landing in under 10 minutes. So cool.

Especially once you get an idea of the scale of the rocket. It's taller than the statue of liberty. Imagine a 24 stories tall building flying into space and landing back upright.

Re: SpaceX successfully launches two humans into orbit

#325

Post by BuyMyBitcoins »

squarefoot wrote: post #178

Before aiming to Mars, I would consider crowfunding two free tickets for a trip on the Falcon to a couple high profile flat earthers.

I’d pretend to be a sincere flat earther if there was a chance for a free flight to space

Re: SpaceX successfully launches two humans into orbit

#326

Post by jkhdigital »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #119
phkahler wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would expect Elon to push really hard to send something to Mars in 2022 aboard Starship, even if it's just an empty ship. They need to try navigating with precision and landing. It's a 2 year delay if they miss that window.

They could continue the tradition and drop a Cybertruck to Mars.

Aha! The missing explanation. Elon’s real design philosophy for the Cybertruck was to be the first manned Mars rover.

Re: SpaceX successfully launches two humans into orbit

#327

Post by nyhc99 »

dmlittle wrote: post #74

Does anyone know what happens to the 2nd stage engine? Does it stay in orbit or does it eventually fall back to earth/go into space?

SpaceX was talking about trying to recover the 2nd stage back in 2018, Elon suggested they would use a giant "party balloon" and land it on a "giant bounce house." I haven't heard any talk of progress made since then.

https://hackaday.com/2018/05/23/spacexs-next-giant-leap-seco...

Re: SpaceX successfully launches two humans into orbit

#328

Post by lazyjones »

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 hope we can move away from the "elon sucks" v.s. "elon is a genius" dichotomy and into a culture of acknowledging accomplishment while insisting claims in other areas be fully justified.

Until then, I'll happily consider Elon's or even John Carmack's opinion over those of Elon's numerous, noisy but otherwise uninteresting critics on the Internet and elsewhere.

Re: SpaceX successfully launches two humans into orbit

#329

Post by modeless »

Perhaps of interest to HN, the cockpit displays seen in the videos are HTML pages rendered in Chromium. https://twitter.com/alteredq/status/1266853705632145409?s=19

SpaceX recently released a browser game where you use the real flight UI to dock with the ISS: https://iss-sim.spacex.com/

Re: SpaceX successfully launches two humans into orbit

#330

Post by hobofan »

_0w8t wrote: post #293
runawaybottle wrote: post #239

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wait wait, you’re telling me there’s Javascript floating around in space (not including web traffic being sent through satellites)?

I am skeptical about UI. How do they implement that triple redundancy as a protection against radiation damage?

Not on the application layer?
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