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zephyr aka friendly hiker
Joined: 21 Jun 2009 Posts: 3370 | TRs | Pics Location: West Seattle |
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zephyr
aka friendly hiker
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Mon Dec 21, 2015 10:21 pm
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Just got wind of this on a blog earlier, and more from my uncle in the Daytona Beach, Florida area who witnessed this tonight. This was streamed live earlier this evening. I am posting the recorded video.
Here's a blurb from the post: With this mission, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket will deliver 11 satellites to low-Earth orbit for ORBCOMM, a leading global provider of Machine-to-Machine communication and Internet of Things solutions. The ORBCOMM launch is targeted for an evening launch from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. If all goes as planned, the 11 satellites will be deployed approximately 20 minutes after liftoff, completing a 17-satellite, low Earth orbit constellation for ORBCOMM. This mission also marks SpaceX’s return-to-flight as well as its first attempt to land a first stage on land. The landing of the first stage is a secondary test objective.
Things get really exciting around minute 30 and onwards. The successful landing is thrilling. Kind of like New Year's, only much better. There's an animated graphic shown and the commentators talk about how this is like "sending a pencil over the Empire State Building and have it descend and land upright on a shoe box, in the wind." As the video progresses, there are other cameras on the apparatus in orbit that are releasing individual satellites.
Wow. ~z
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Matt Tea, Earl Grey, Hot
Joined: 30 Jan 2007 Posts: 4307 | TRs | Pics Location: Shoreline |
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Matt
Tea, Earl Grey, Hot
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Tue Dec 22, 2015 12:53 am
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So cool. Real science and engineering, not fiction.
“As beacons mountains burned at evening.” J.R.R. Tolkien
“As beacons mountains burned at evening.” J.R.R. Tolkien
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cdestroyer Member
Joined: 14 Sep 2015 Posts: 1251 | TRs | Pics Location: montana |
okay the usual quip, 'flash gordon was doing this years ago'...now the grit...why expend the fuel to land a rocket tail first?
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SeanSullivan86 Member
Joined: 25 Jul 2009 Posts: 681 | TRs | Pics Location: Seattle, WA |
cdestroyer wrote: | okay the usual quip, 'flash gordon was doing this years ago'...now the grit...why expend the fuel to land a rocket tail first? |
As opposed to letting it crash, or some other alternative? I believe the hope is that it will be significantly cheaper to re-use/repair the rocket rather than needing to build a new one from scratch. The new rocket cost is apparently 80x the cost of fuel. (edit : apparently 15% of the fuel is used for the landing, 85% for the ascent)
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contour5 Member
Joined: 16 Jul 2003 Posts: 2963 | TRs | Pics
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contour5
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Tue Dec 22, 2015 11:55 am
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A million people on Mars by 2035. A whole new world of off trail hiking and first ascents...
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touron Member
Joined: 15 Sep 2003 Posts: 10293 | TRs | Pics Location: Plymouth Rock |
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touron
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Tue Dec 22, 2015 8:21 pm
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Touron is a nougat of Arabic origin made with almonds and honey or sugar, without which it would just not be Christmas in Spain.
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AR 724
Joined: 22 Aug 2007 Posts: 1514 | TRs | Pics Location: Saratoga Passage |
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AR
724
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Tue Dec 22, 2015 9:18 pm
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Until they can generate a Van Allen belt Mars will never be habitable. The place is bathed in radiation.
...wait...are we just going to hang here or go hiking?
...wait...are we just going to hang here or go hiking?
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NacMacFeegle Member
Joined: 16 Jan 2014 Posts: 2653 | TRs | Pics Location: United States |
This really is amazing!
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cdestroyer Member
Joined: 14 Sep 2015 Posts: 1251 | TRs | Pics Location: montana |
SeanSullivan86 wrote
"As opposed to letting it crash, or some other alternative?"
ya you're right crashing is bad...(duh)
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