Space news, rocket launches and ISS docking

[Quasy 318]

SpaceX is about to launch it's Falcon9 rocket with the Dragon capsule in about an hour (14:03 GMT).

 

The Dragon capsule is supposed to make two Earth orbits before returning to Earth (splash down Apollo-style, with parachutes, near Californian coast). If successful, it will be the first time a private corporation manages to return a space capsule from Earth orbit (SpaceX has been also the first company to commercially build and launch a satellite into Earth's orbit - as opposed to the other corporations that use government money for developing, building and launching rockets and satellites).

 

You can watch the launch live here:

http://spaceflightnow.com/falcon9/002/status.html

 

So what do you think of commercialization of the space industry? Will it work, or are the costs too big to be able to be covered by commercial endeavors without government help? Will they make travel to space cheaper or is the dream of Elon Musk of making the humans a space-faring species just a SF dream?

[Quasy 318]

Successful launch and separation of the Dragon space capsule!

Now begins the tricky part of de-orbiting and retrieving the capsule from the ocean.

[Guest]

Well done Quasx Do we have any film of the actual liftoff?

[Quasy 318]

The launch was broadcasted live at Nasa TV, at Spaceflightnow (see link above) and on the SpaceX website at http://www.spacex.com/webcast.php

 

The Dragon spacecraft is supposed to land (or more properly to "splashdown" in the ocean) at 20:02 (CET) - that is if it makes 2 orbits as planned.

 

And here is a recording of the launch:

 

[Quasy 318]

SpaceX has successfully launched their Falcon 9 rocket with the Dragon capsule, and then the capsule returned to Earth after 2 orbits. The capsule splashed in the Pacific Ocean 800m of the center of the designated landing ellipse(basically a bulls' eye in the 10 x 30km ellipse).

 

Congratulations to SpaceX for a great achievement. No other private company has done that before, and the major impact of this flight is that finally the dream of an affordable space flight is within a human's lifetime.

 

Perhaps a moderator can change the topic title to reflect the fact that the event has passed already.

 

Personal note: too bad less and less people are interested in science, technology and space exploration, and more and more are interested on some insignificant details in celebrities' lives or other meaningless shitty articles the today's press is reporting for the masses (I will move this last sentence to the "venting" topic if necessary)

[MadAxeMurderer 6,322]

Its impressive. But the car was an awful thing to happen to a planet. Space travel for the masses will be just that much worse.

[Quasy 318]

I don't think they will do much harm to the planet. I see space travel for the masses more like the air travel industry is today and not like the car industry. A huge percent of the population has cars, but a very small fraction of it owns planes. Yet air travel is affordable (at least in the developed countries) and its impact on the planet is insignificant in comparison with the pollution produced by the cars. It's just a matter of efficiency: check how many people commute daily with their cars driving alone - so basically moving more than 1 ton of material in order to actually transport a useful mass of 80kg - and check how many planes fly with 20% of the flight capacity occupied... So, long story short: although there will be definitively some effect on the planet from space travel pollution I expect to be insignificant compared to the other travel methods.

[Editor Bob 3,378]

After the abort on Sunday, next launch attempt will be 09:44 CEST tomorrow (Tuesday, May 22, 2012).

 

Watch it live via the the SpaceX site: www.spacex.com

 

This'll be the first ever commercial launch to the ISS.

[poohsan 2,486]

T - 20min

 

edit: annnnnd - now in orbit.

[poohsan 2,486]

Live feed of Dragon docking with the ISS

 

http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html

[my2thhurts 413]

They did it!

[poohsan 2,486]

pretty frikkin' cool! They've come along ways in just a few years.

[my2thhurts 413]

I remember watching Neil Armstrong walk on the moon, Skylab, the first shuttle flight. And now private companies are starting to do it. Amazing.

[ttgtommy 2]

 

I remember watching Neil Armstrong walk on the moon, Skylab, the first shuttle flight.

 

I remember watching all of those!

 

Watched the Dragon docking - live on NASA TV.

Was in a meeting / in a conf. room and switched out some video projector cables to a different PC and had NASA TV live (instead of PowerPoint slide).

I called the meeting.... so, nobody said anything.

[Editor Bob 3,378]

Dragon release and reentry currently live on TV:

 

- spacex.com/webcast

 

[Editor Bob 3,378]

Deorbit burn in 6 minutes.

 

Anyone else watching?

 

I've had it on in the background all day.

[poohsan 2,486]

I've been watching off and on today - I lived where they made their falcoln 1 launches so I've been following them with a lot of interest.

[Editor Bob 3,378]

Another docking right now. Live on NASA TV:

 

http://www.spacex.com/webcast/

 

[poohsan 2,486]

Once again, pretty dang cool.

[Guest]

I reckon its only EdBob playing with his Starwars collection, in the "cubby-hole" under the stairs at his mums house!! :P