The Jeff Bezos "welcome to the club" tweet was absolutely absurd.
Pretty damn impressive!
It would have been impressive without the failures before...for now it is just luck. If they continue to be successful with future launches it will rise to impressive.
-KeithP
Oh by the way, SO decided to chime in. She says that is the blue FCR with MCC 21. The other photo is FCR 1.
Basically, you aren't posting the FCR of the ISS MCC.
It would have been impressive without the failures before...for now it is just luck. If they continue to be successful with future launches it will rise to impressive.
-KeithP
What's so cutting edge and great about this?
Break it down for a noob one time.
What's so cutting edge and great about this?
Break it down for a noob one time.
Falcon 9 cost $60MM
Fuel is .3%
Reusing the rocket will reduce launch cost by ~100x. Might not be quite that big a reduction but it's significantly cheaper.
The landing they did is actually harder than what will be done in the future because it had to turn around. Normally they will land in a more natural place down range, in the ocean.
This shows a comparison vs. Blue Origin as well as the difficulty in turning around.
https://www.reddit.com/r/spacex/comments/3xvu9p/blue_origin_new_shepard_vs_spacex_falcon_9/
However a large fly in the ointment is that nobody is very sure how elastic the demand for space launches is. IE as the price of launches go down will the demand for launching hardware go up. It doesn't help much if you drop the price say from $60 Million to $6 Million and the demand stays the same. All you have done is reduced your profit.
It would have been impressive without the failures before...for now it is just luck. If they continue to be successful with future launches it will rise to impressive.
-KeithP
The 100x reduction is a quote from Musk, so it's both from an expert but also the inventor. It could be very incorrect, but it'll be a massive reduction. There's another fly in the ointment. We've never reused heavy lifters, so there might be a hard limit on re-usability, or higher than expected costs because X part needs to be replaced every time, and it takes a lot of labor to replace. Most of the cost is in labor, not materials (they are only 2% of the cost).
He says his eventual goal is 100x reduction in cost. The re-use of the 1st stage isn't completion of that goal, just another step on that journey. You are correct, there very well might be a limit on re-usability because of the stress on the individual parts. However what SpaceX is doing is gaining knowledge that will go into their next generation LV, "BFR" using Methane engines. This vehicle will be much larger and will rival or exceed the SLS in launch capability but the goal for that launch vehicle is full re-usability both 1st and 2nd stage. The Methane engines for the "BFR" will not have the same "soot" buildup issues that a RP-1 engine has. Elon expects that the "BFR" is what will then allow SpaceX to push towards eventual Mars colonization. The Falcon launch vehicle contract will provide the funding.
Didn't know the 100x number was the goal and this was the first step, but that makes sense, thanks. Also, need to read up on the methane engines.
Saw it on the news, pretty damn impressive.
Yes, well, she kinda works there so... Yes? My point still remains. She also pays 10cents for a cup of shit filter Folgers coffee in MC.
That's great. I'm going to eat the face of the next person who tells me this is like launching a pencil over the Empire State building and then landing it in a shoe box. It was fine the first couple of hundred times but now I'm ready to eat faces. I'll probably spend most of my life in prison, but that won't uneat your face you fuck.
However a large fly in the ointment is that nobody is very sure how elastic the demand for space launches is. IE as the price of launches go down will the demand for launching hardware go up. It doesn't help much if you drop the price say from $60 Million to $6 Million and the demand stays the same. All you have done is reduced your profit.
The demand for space launches will likely skyrocket as prices drop. Bigelow is planning on having a expandable space station up by 2020 and that alone will offer 20 or more a year.