Wow! even more impressive than the Spacex VTVL demo. That looked steady as a rock.

It stands to reason that companies like SpaceX will collaborate with NASA and share technology, I guess we will see other spacecraft that use similar designs and innovations soon. SpaceX are focused on commercial incentives, whereas NASA are focused on scientific objectives so the overall purpose of these capsules will differ enough to warrant changes to a common design.

Would make more sense to combine efforts imo, come up with a vehicle that offers the best of both commercial and scientific interests.

I bet the coffee is really good there, too!>> ^TheJehosephat:

I was able to take a tour at SpaceX... one of the coolest places. They have a titanium laser printer there!

Thanks!!
In reply to this comment by Boise_Lib:
*quality

I was able to take a tour at SpaceX... one of the coolest places. They have a titanium laser printer there!

Thanks!!!!!!
In reply to this comment by Boise_Lib:
*promote

So true.

And other than that... it gave us all something to look at and think "Look at what we can do". We can send a spaceship up into space and it can then come back down and land on a runway, that's just darn cool.

Yeah, it had problems, yeah it had a couple of catastrophes, yeah it never met the initial goals of cost of flights and number of flights that it was supposed to reach.

BUT.

It has given a generation of us a program of ships that looked like spaceships dammit... these looked like our science fiction fantasies, these looked like what we wanted spaceships to look like, not just a capsule on top of a rocket.

So yeah, it has been a success.

It's sad that it's quite some time before something as inspirational as that will fly into space again, it really is.

It's also sad that it's left up to private enterprise and some billionaires (SpaceX, Virgin Galactic, Armadillo) to push forward in this regard, a unified, cross country effort would be do far more good for the soul of the planet at the moment I think.

>> ^VoodooV:

private sector space endeavors still both thrill and frighten me.
On one hand, it's necessary to really make some huge strides into space and bring the future to today.
I just don't like the idea of profit margins and "the bottom line" determining what happens in space over the course of that future.


It worked for Weyland-Yutani. Oh, wait...

Close NASA and redirect all funding to SpaceX and Virgin Galactic.

thnx ... are my search abilities just sub par, or is it the search function, b/c I did a search for "SpaceX Falcon 1" right before I posted, and nothing came up .... *discard

>> ^quantumushroom:
I have to give you credit for consistency, QM, your ignorance and apparent racism extend even to the boundaries of space.
You mean I'm not permitted to hate on a country whose tyrannical government promotes censorship, trial-free imprisonment, forced abortions, invasion of Tibet and harvesting prisoners' organs?
It's likely the Chy-knees rockets were built with tech stolen (or given) to them during the criminal Clinton years.
Only liberals hate Bush and waterboarding more than the evil empires.


Soo... What about the invasion of America? I mean honestly, lets look back at history, Native Americans got a raw deal, they just don't complain enough about it. You want to talk about trial-free imprisonment, is that anything like slavery or trial free interment camps? Censorship... Like firing librarians for not removing certain books from their shelves? I'm not trying to say that I agree with Chinese politics, I think there is a lot going wrong in that country, but I have faith that the Chinese people will be able to liberate themselves from it in the coming years. I just find it amusing that racists like you, like to hide behind some sense of patriotism. And don't get me wrong, I enjoy a good off color joke as much as the next person, which was why I was looking past your first comment about rice-o-nauts, but comments like this one, are just plain ignorant.

First off, I never said we were first. And I never said anything about only we can go to space.

Secondly, if you actually watched the entire video and yet somehow feel the need to defend the things those announcers said (which was the reason behind my post in the first place) that says a lot more about you than it does about me. I doubt you even listened to the whole thing.

Beyond that, I don't know what crawl you're talking about. NASA has done some pretty amazing things since the 60's .. too numerous to list here, besides the fact that the first privately funded rocket to reach orbit was just launched yesterday by Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX) which is an American company.

Lastly, I have no idea what you're talking about with the money/war bullshit. I guess you support them invading Tibet too.

I think this might be already here, unfortunately? http://www.videosift.com/video/SpaceX-Falcon-1-Flight-Attempt-4-is-a-Success

>> ^NicoleBee:
Great launch! But I'm a little worried about the amount of junk seemingly being deposited into low orbit along the way.


Low orbit space jumk decays fast enough not to be a problem, it is the stuff in geo and higher orbits are the real problem.

>> ^quantumushroom:
In your face, Chinese rice-o-nauts!


I have to give you credit for consistency, QM, your ignorance and apparent racism extend even to the boundaries of space.