SpaceX Starship booster catch

[AGTDenton]

If you didn't watch it live the highlights are below, pretty impressive!

First SpaceX mission I've watched in a while

[Saracen999]

I've yet to see a SpaceX launch, but was present at quite a few Shuttle launches. Probably 6 or 8, -ish. By "present", I mean about as close to the launch site as anyone gets, whiich is several miles. Usually, we were at the water's edge on Canaveral (not the same as Cape Kennedy), which is (or was in those days) a military facility and getting on it was only possible with a pass. It did give unobstructed naked-eye views of the launch site, albeit about 5 or 6 miles from the actual pad. The best public access was probably in the same general area, but on the roadside outside Canaveral, and by 'eck did it get crowded out there. Still a pretty good location to watch from, though.

Even the Shuttle launches, which were tiny compared to the Apollo program's Saturn V vehicles, were impressive as hell, even from those 5 or 6 miles away.

It would be great to see a Space X vehicle land, though. One of the Shuttles launches I watched was the first ever second launch of a Shuttle, i.e. historic in being the first re-use of a spacecraft. Space- landing would (IMHO) be a similar milestone.

[Percy1983]

Its certainly good but what about the elephant in the room, You can launch starship with the crew/equipment but would then need to launch 16 more in quick succession to fuel it for a lunar mission.

[jimbouk]

Its certainly good but what about the elephant in the room, You can launch starship with the crew/equipment but would then need to launch 16 more in quick succession to fuel it for a lunar mission.

That's the plan isn't it? Well not that many, and for Mars. But yeah in space refuelling.

Watched the catch last night from the highlights, thanks. Other half was confused about how the ship even got back to the right place! They need to overlay a picture of a bus for scale or something - it looks like a Thunderbirds model or something with no context from anything around it.

[[GSV]Trig]

It is amazing...

I remember thinking when they grounded the Shuttle fleet that it would be the end of proper space flight, then Elon turned up..
Watching those things land never fails to impress..

[TeePee]

It is incredible how much SpaceX has achieved and how much they are planning for the future. The most amazing thing is how far ahead the planning goes. They aren't just building rockets to launch in to space, they're building a production line to build hundreds of rockets. The target is one Starship per day.

You may have noticed that while this should be the lead story on every news site, but there's a definite attempt to reduce and minimize news reports relating to them. SpaceX has already faced significant delays due to politics, and this could potentially get worse. Musk represents a significant threat to parts of the US Government, and not just because of his support for Trump, or the Twitter acquisition which shut down one of their main avenues for censorship and propaganda. The real threat that Musk represents is in showing people, particularly young men, that things can be different and better. This is the future promised by science fiction.

[jimbouk]

I like to keep my science and engineering away from my politics. He's good at building rockets, I will say that.

[[GSV]Trig]

Never gets old watching these things land.

Not interested in his political affiliations nor his acquisition of Twatter, making Tesla cars, not patenting everything and his work in rockets says more than his politics, imho.

[DanceswithUnix]

I missed the live launch by a few minutes, but this was a very enjoyable flight to watch.

Its certainly good but what about the elephant in the room, You can launch starship with the crew/equipment but would then need to launch 16 more in quick succession to fuel it for a lunar mission.

Future Starships will be bigger, I'm not sure if that reduces the number of refuel flights required or if that comes out in the wash as a common denominator in the maths.

I don't believe it is 16 flights, though it's still quite a few. They are looking to build two launch towers in Florida on top of the two in Texas and who knows where else is in the pipeline. SpaceX are aiming for a turn around time from landing to relaunch measured in hours so the scale should be there.

[TeePee]

This flight was delayed by three months because of Musk's politics. The State of California is attempting to block future Falcon launches because of Musk's politics. The FCC has cancelled Starlink rural broadband subsidies over his politics. You don't have to agree with those politics, or be remotely interested in what his opinions are, to be concerned when the progress of science and engineering are being held hostage due to opposition opinions. If this continues, it is unlikely that SpaceX will be able to achieve a fraction of their potential. The extreme polarization of politics in the United States has real consequences.

[[GSV]Trig]

I would imagine there are plenty of countries out there that would happily take Elon in...

[jimbouk]

And saying these things were blocked "because of his politics" is an example of extreme polarization. If you for example removed any environmental or safely concerns then SpaceX could be launching faster and reaching more of it's 'potential', but you could say that about a lot of things.

[TeePee]

And saying these things were blocked "because of his politics" is an example of extreme polarization. If you for example removed any environmental or safely concerns then SpaceX could be launching faster and reaching more of it's 'potential', but you could say that about a lot of things.

When it comes to California, the officials involved cited Musk's politics as their reason, on the record. That part isn't in question.

If you've been following SpaceX and their battles with Government bureaucracy over the last year, none of this is new information for you. If you haven't, then you should. SpaceX has complied with their permit requirements at every step and delays have been artificially created.

I don't consider myself to be politically polarized, and reject that categorization as dismissive and uninformed. I'm not a supporter of any mainstream political party, but I am a supporter of free speech, and am against the use of Government and lawfare to suppress oppositional political opinions, even those I disagree with. I recognize that people in the UK are generally very polarized against a particular candidate, and should be as appalled as I am at the state of politics in the US. But no one should be surprised about it any more.

[jimbouk]

I generally read things on Ars Technica from the recommendation on here, I don't follow it / SpaceX news religiously but do read a few bits.

The California one sounds interesting from further reading (LA Times* is referenced by today's Rocket Report). Previously requesting an increase in launches after exceeding the limits, 87% of their flights carrying private equipment being yet wishing to be classed as federal, and yes some of the commission members voicing concerns about Musk himself. The major actual issue seems to be the 100 mile+ sonic booms.

Certainly not black and white and blocked just on politics, but personally yes if the head of a launch company was using their major media platform to lie about other government agencies and use it as a place to slag them off then I certainly wouldn't be looking upon them favourably.

This quote I think is most telling:

On Thursday, members of the commission lauded military officials for their work to reach an agreement, but plainly stated their main concern is that it should be SpaceX representatives who should be before the commission to obtain permits for the company’s growing rocket program, not military officials.

“It is essential that SpaceX apply for a [Coastal Development Permit],” Hart said. “We’re going to hit a wall here.”

* https://www.latimes.com/california/s...tal-commission

[Saracen999]

I like to keep my science and engineering away from my politics. He's good at building rockets, I will say that.

Is he, though? I thought it was Gwynne Shotwell?

Sure, Musk is CEO and Chairman, but Shotwell is President and COO (Chief Operating Officer, and the one responsible for day-to-day operations.

There was an interesting discussion on The Verge podcast on this subject. Their 'take' (as I got it) was that Elon runs Tesla and whatever he currently wants his social media platform to be called, and that's where a lot of the ... erm ... 'esoteric' activities and decisions happen.

I'm no expert but I got the impression that while, yeah, Elon had the space vision, and the money to co-found and then largely fund SpaceX, and sure, be a public face and advocate for it, that it's Shotwell that has been behind getting 'stuff' done, at SpaceX.

Arguably, Musk's most important contribution to building rockets at SpaceX was, yes, having the initial dream, and then the smarts to hire Gwynne Shotwell, and stay well out of her way. Putting that another way, he's the 'visionary' and no doubt it wouldn't have happened without him BUT .... she's the one that then actually got it done.

It's kinda like me founding a restaurant company, hiring a word class restaurateur, giving them the resources they need, then pretending I'm a Michelin-quality chef when they succeed, isn't it?

I mean, i don't know. I don't really follow either Musk or SpaceX, mainly 'cos I don't give a hoot. The mere notion of me using Twitter/X is farcical, for a start. This forum is about as close as I get, or ever have, to so-caled social media. I did think about a Tesla at one point, but then I started finding out stuff about them and now, I wouldn't want one if it was given to me (sorry to Tesla fans, but rather you than me). So I'm emphatically not any form of expert on what Musk does or doesn't do in each of his companies. Maybe he's actually a rocket-engineering genius? Dunno. This is just the impression I get from various media reports. But then, few things have made me as cynical as the "accuracy" of what so many media outlets have to say, which is why I rarely bother paying any attention to them, from the BBC, outwards. I have much the same opinion of most (mainstream) media outlets as I do of almost all politicians, regardless of party, which is that they're a bunch of ly.... 'xcuse me a sec, i have an apparently urgent call coming in from my lawyer. I'd better take this.

[TeePee]

IFT-6, planned for Tuesday 19th at 2200UTC!