By making a historic landing SpaceX launches new age of spaceflight

With first stage return company takes a key step toward low-cost access to space.

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[Gigaflop]

That was truly something special right there.

 

[Ignoble Xenon]

Even from the live stream, the excitement and buzz from the crowd in Hawthorne was absolutely incredible. My heart was racing as I cheered along with all of them. Fantastic job, SpaceX!

 

[KalaNag]

Gigaflop[/url]":265ja2mt]That was truly something special right there.

Indeed. Truly impressive feat, and even more exciting watching it live!

 

[Vern]

It's a good achievement by SpaceX, but the cheering and "USA" chants were a bit over the top. Takes away from the accomplishment.

 

[Cervus]

Absolutely fantastic! Congrats to the SpaceX engineering team! Bunch of steely-eyed missile men and women.

 

[longhornchris04]

Very nice. Now to see if the 1st stage is truly intact. No reason it shouldn't be but it will be interesting to see what they find.

 

[BotCyborg]

Vern[/url]":19fcr692]It's a good achievement by SpaceX, but the cheering and "USA" chants were a bit over the top. Takes away from the accomplishment.

Not trolling. I often wonder, what goes on in the minds of cynics, that they always seem to find something to bitch about, even in the best of times.

 

[theotherjim]

I watched Shepard go up on that dinky Redstone, and Glenn on an Atlas. I looked up at the moon on a clear and cold Christmas Eve of 1968 knowing that the first humans ever to orbit another body were up there, invisible, but very real. And none of those hit me any harder than watching the Falcon 9 stick the landing after throwing the second stage to orbit and then backtracking to its launch site. Absolutely unbelievable. I make no apologies whatsoever for tearing up when I saw it.

 

[tsudo]

It's a shame they didn't do it during the daylight hours so we could see it in more detail.

That said there was something magical about it just appearing there standing straight in the drifting smoke and steam

And I guess there'll be plenty more to come

Was the bottom half of the stage 1 that color at launch ?

 

[Nilt]

My God, we are truly living in the future now. Reusable spacecraft appear to be economically viable. This changes many things; some would say all the things.

 

[Michael Schnieders]

The next year should be very interesting for the PR departments representing the competing rocket companies.

 

[jscripko]

tsudo[/url]":1txiyrt4]
Was the bottom half of the stage 1 that color at launch ?

Mostly, looking at the prelaunch pictures. I think it's where the landing struts are stowed until extended.

 

[Vern]

BotCyborg[/url]":irobxbdh]

Vern[/url]":irobxbdh]It's a good achievement by SpaceX, but the cheering and "USA" chants were a bit over the top. Takes away from the accomplishment.

Not trolling. I often wonder, what goes on in the minds of cynics, that they always seem to find something to bitch about, even in the best of times.

To quote Carl Sagan, speaking of looking back when far into space: "From this vantage point, our obsession with nationalism is nowhere in evidence."

I used to work at NASA, but never did I think I was doing the duty of an America, I was doing the duty of a human. Sorry if it rubbed people the wrong way.

 

[Infinity4011]

United Launch Alliance has to be a little nervous, now. They have to be concerned about their future after SpaceX starts undercutting them at a brutal rate. You can't compete with a company that can offer launches at a fraction of what ULA charges. I bet they start scrambling to build their own reusable rockets now.

 

[tsudo]

Vern[/url]":1hir49kv]

BotCyborg[/url]":1hir49kv]

Vern[/url]":1hir49kv]It's a good achievement by SpaceX, but the cheering and "USA" chants were a bit over the top. Takes away from the accomplishment.

Not trolling. I often wonder, what goes on in the minds of cynics, that they always seem to find something to bitch about, even in the best of times.

To quote Carl Sagan, speaking of looking back when far into space: "From this vantage point, our obsession with nationalism is nowhere in evidence."

I used to work at NASA, but never did I think I was doing the duty of an America, I was doing the duty of a human. Sorry if it rubbed people the wrong way.

It's cool that they have such national pride but I must admit the chanting reminded me of a scene in the Simpsons - it's a little cringeworthy. At first I thought they were chanting space X. I dunno which would be better ?

 

[chipguy]

"Welcome to the club," tweeted Blue Origin's founder, Jeff Bezos, shortly after SpaceX's flight.

Shall we compare respective payloads placed into orbit counts Jeff?

 

[Niko03]

Impressive!

A sweet Christmas present for the SpaceX team and everyone who's a space fan.

Gotta love the timing....... It brings some real-life Star Wars to our Galaxy and lifetimes!

 

[aufdenschlips]

My son (7) woke up 10 minutes before launch - Vienna/Austria local 2:20 am - to go to the loo and I told him afterwards to come watch.

So glad I could share this moment with him!

Very well done SpaceX/Musk!

 

[ZYMHAN]

That's amazing. One step closer to a real life Kerbal Space Program

 

[Martin Blank]

I watched live, hoping, then not daring to hope, and then I stopped breathing as I watched for any signs of wobbling.

And then when it stayed put, I dared to breathe again. After a moment, I cheered. I still am having trouble believing it.

 

[Totally Radical Liberal]

It will be very interesting to know how much it costs to launch this same rocket, and how it fares with its next load. Things will only get better, of course, but it'd be awesome if it already starts undercutting everyone else's costs

 

[BotCyborg]

Vern[/url]":2qkc7nmh]

BotCyborg[/url]":2qkc7nmh]

Vern[/url]":2qkc7nmh]It's a good achievement by SpaceX, but the cheering and "USA" chants were a bit over the top. Takes away from the accomplishment.

Not trolling. I often wonder, what goes on in the minds of cynics, that they always seem to find something to bitch about, even in the best of times.

To quote Carl Sagan, speaking of looking back when far into space: "From this vantage point, our obsession with nationalism is nowhere in evidence."

I used to work at NASA, but never did I think I was doing the duty of an America, I was doing the duty of a human. Sorry if it rubbed people the wrong way.

My apologies too, it wasn't a personal insult. I would have been with you, if you were disapproving of the "USA chants" alone. Saying the "cheering ..[was] a bit over the top", your comment went a bit over the top (at least for me).

 

[Niko03]

theotherjim[/url]":3l0tv9jh]I watched Shepard go up on that dinky Redstone, and Glenn on an Atlas. I looked up at the moon on a clear and cold Christmas Eve of 1968 knowing that the first humans ever to orbit another body were up there, invisible, but very real. And none of those hit me any harder than watching the Falcon 9 stick the landing after throwing the second stage to orbit and then backtracking to its launch site. Absolutely unbelievable. I make no apologies whatsoever for tearing up when I saw it.

Nice.

 

[sapphir8]

Amazing. I'm not going to lie, I teared up. So how do you test it to make sure it works down there road? I know they are firing it up to see if it works, but do you send a future one empty to see if it worked? How much does it cost to recondition it? Do you stockpile several rockets to use in a rotation? How many times can you rebuild one before it's retired?

I have a lot of questions I know they internally have answers to, but damn this was impressive tonight. Suck it Amazon! lol I kid!

 

[smenor]

Seriously so awesome and I love the balls of showing it live

 

[issor]

chipguy[/url]":b5uh0wdv]"Welcome to the club," tweeted Blue Origin's founder, Jeff Bezos, shortly after SpaceX's flight.

Shall we compare respective payloads placed into orbit counts Jeff?

Yeah, that tweet rubs me the wrong way. It is sort of a backhanded compliment that either attempts to marginalize the achievement or ride the coat tails of it, I'm not sure which.

 

[BitPoet]

That's some amazing work, glad they finally got it.

So many questions about reuse are still out there, but I get the feeling this one's going to get hung up in a museum somewhere.

 

[pusher robot]

I think this is as monumental and epochal an aeronautical achievement as Lindbergh crossing the Atlantic or Yeager breaking Mach 1. I am excited for the future.

 

[Sasparilla]

Wow, amazing. Congrats SpaceX and all its employees that made this happen.

Game changing moment folks...in the history books this will mark the beginning of the end of non reusable first stage rockets to orbit. So great we got to to see this happen live.

pusher robot[/url]":3ihlpwvo]I think this is as monumental and epochal an aeronautical achievement as Lindbergh crossing the Atlantic or Yeager breaking Mach 1. I am excited for the future.

Yes I agree, you nailed it.

 

[self_proclaimed_guru]

Infinity4011[/url]":3r7bl5ol]United Launch Alliance has to be a little nervous, now. They have to be concerned about their future after SpaceX starts undercutting them at a brutal rate. You can't compete with a company that can offer launches at a fraction of what ULA charges. I bet they start scrambling to build their own reusable rockets now.

Only a little bit nervous. SpaceX can't rush itself past this milestone. Rockets are not exactly mass-produced commodities whose production can be ramped up at will. It will be some time before SpaceX relaunches this recovered booster, since they'll need to analyze it for wear and tear and figure out how to make it more robust for actual re-usability. And then perhaps a few more test launches and landings before a paying customer agrees to launch on a re-used rocket.

Granted, other space companies can't exactly produce a competing re-usable rocket in short notice either (except for stealing the Falcon 9's design and such). But this landing will force them to reconsider their plans and rocket designs.

This is a momentous achievement and one I've been looking forward to for a long time.

 

[normally butters]

tsudo[/url]":2crzow36]

Was the bottom half of the stage 1 that color at launch ?

No, that's just a bit of carbon exhaust residue from the reentry burn, where the vehicle is flying engines-first into the atmosphere and the exhaust plume folds back over the sides of the rocket. You'll notice that the fouling stops at the boundary between the kerosene tank and the super-cooled liquid oxygen tank above. The surface of the LOX tank is so cold that the exhaust particles don't stick to it.

Nothing that can't be washed off.

 

[wangstramedeous]

Why have they been making attempts on a platform at sea and not on land from the get go?

 

[pusher robot]

self_proclaimed_guru[/url]":22b1z7wm]

Infinity4011[/url]":22b1z7wm]United Launch Alliance has to be a little nervous, now. They have to be concerned about their future after SpaceX starts undercutting them at a brutal rate. You can't compete with a company that can offer launches at a fraction of what ULA charges. I bet they start scrambling to build their own reusable rockets now.

Only a little bit nervous. SpaceX can't rush itself past this milestone. Rockets are not exactly mass-produced commodities whose production can be ramped up at will. It will be some time before SpaceX relaunches this recovered booster, since they'll need to analyze it for wear and tear and figure out how to make it more robust for actual re-usability. And then perhaps a few more test launches and landings before a paying customer agrees to launch on a re-used rocket.

Granted, other space companies can't exactly produce a competing re-usable rocket in short notice either (except for stealing the Falcon 9's design and such). But this landing will force them to reconsider their plans and rocket designs.

This is a momentous achievement and one I've been looking forward to for a long time.

Apparently Musk has already said they will pad-fire it to test the engines but this one will not fly again. It will be disassembled for analysis and considered a relic.

 

[jmcca]

Moon landing
Falcon landing
Mars landing

 

[vnangia]

Every time in the past ten days that I got depressed listening to the news about how we humans are destroying our world, the rise of ideological fanatics ready to kill in the name of some bullshit, or the lies spewing from the crooks and jerks running the world (or trying to), I would remind myself that we were closer to building a star on our home world than at any point of time in the history of humankind, thanks to the Wendelstein 7-x. Or that we were closer to understanding the very fabric of reality itself because of the LHC. Or that humans may have finally built a drug that to help wipe out cellular malfunctions that has ravaged our DNA for millions of years with immune system therapies.

To that today I add, "we are closer to living on Mars than at any point of time that human eyes have looked up at the stars and wondered about the red dot wandering our skies, thanks to SpaceX."

To borrow from my alma mater - crescat scientia; vita excolatur.

 

[jordanjay29]

wangstramedeous[/url]":17jkg1r6]Why have they been making attempts on a platform at sea and not on land from the get go?

I think FAA was too nervous.

 

[self_proclaimed_guru]

pusher robot[/url]":309zpkpc]

self_proclaimed_guru[/url]":309zpkpc]

Infinity4011[/url]":309zpkpc]United Launch Alliance has to be a little nervous, now. They have to be concerned about their future after SpaceX starts undercutting them at a brutal rate. You can't compete with a company that can offer launches at a fraction of what ULA charges. I bet they start scrambling to build their own reusable rockets now.

Only a little bit nervous. SpaceX can't rush itself past this milestone. Rockets are not exactly mass-produced commodities whose production can be ramped up at will. It will be some time before SpaceX relaunches this recovered booster, since they'll need to analyze it for wear and tear and figure out how to make it more robust for actual re-usability. And then perhaps a few more test launches and landings before a paying customer agrees to launch on a re-used rocket.

Granted, other space companies can't exactly produce a competing re-usable rocket in short notice either (except for stealing the Falcon 9's design and such). But this landing will force them to reconsider their plans and rocket designs.

This is a momentous achievement and one I've been looking forward to for a long time.

Apparently Musk has already said they will pad-fire it to test the engines but this one will not fly again. It will be disassembled for analysis and considered a relic.

I hope they put it back together after analysis and put it in a museum (if there's one big enough to accommodate it). It doesn't deserve to be scrapped!