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8 hours ago, Brotoro said:

That core stage is coming in at a really steep angle...and looked to be going much slower than I would have expected, but I assume that the video is slowed down.

Yeah, the video is slowed down. It took 40 frames to drop 125 pixels, diagonally. The stage height appears to be 54 pixels, again diagonally (thanks Pythagoras). The core is the same height as a standard Falcon 9, or 47.7 meters, and YouTube plays at 24 frames per second, so this says it fell 111 meters in 1.7 seconds, for an average observed speed of 65 m/s or 145 mph. Elon said that the core hit the water at 300 mph so it's probably at half speed. If you go frame by frame you can see that every other frame is interpolated.

But yeah, very very steep. Surprisingly so.

6 hours ago, CatastrophicFailure said:

Possibly relevant information:

*sniffles in a manly, I’m-not-crying-you’re-crying way*

 

Also:

BulgariaSat plz.

 

**sniff**

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(the sound is horrible)

Mars colonization summary from Elon himself: "Difficult, dangerous, good chance you'll die"

Short BFR flights in the first half of 2019.

Full reusability will reduce the cost to space by an order of magnitude.

BFR cost per flight less than $5M

Edited by sh1pman
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Cool, BFR grasshopper has already been delayed from late 2018 to early 2019, way to go Elon :mad::mad::mad:

ok Elon, its was just a joke! I don't want to be the next cowboy on the BFR grasshopper, PLEASE!

41 minutes ago, tater said:

BFS grasshopper flights first half of next year.

(note that grasshopper was not a real F9, so I'd say the same of this testbed)

 

They are building the first BFR right now? Really? If so, i can't wait to see the pretty pictures of the BFR under construction!

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19 minutes ago, NSEP said:

Cool, BFR grasshopper has already been delayed from late 2018 to early 2019, way to go Elon :mad::mad::mad:

ok Elon, its was just a joke! I don't want to be the next cowboy on the BFR grasshopper, PLEASE!

They are building the first BFR right now? Really? If so, i can't wait to see the pretty pictures of the BFR under construction!

Only if you get the secret chocolate bar with the tickets to the chocolate factory.

I thought that Boca Chica was going to be the first launch site for BFS, I don't think they are ready, can 39A accomodate something twice as big as a Saturn 5?

 

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35 minutes ago, CatastrophicFailure said:

BFS grasshopper. So, does that make it a...

BFG-_-

They’ll need to come up with a better name for the test mule. Or, maybe not...

Powered by frobscottle (cos that stuff always goes down :wink: - although sinking bubbles would probably mess up tank pressurisation something fierce) and LOX?

And on a different note, a friend sent me a link to this video of the Falcon Heavy launch. Slightly old news I know but I thought it was a nice video that folks on here might appreciate. Also , keep an eye out for the core booster footage at 1m11.

And that dual booster landing never gets old...

 

Edited by KSK
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Interesting stuff on the livestream, but it's painful watching Elon talk live, with the ums, uhs, and pauses for deep thought ("buffering, please wait"). I'd rather just read a transcript....

15 minutes ago, PB666 said:

I thought that Boca Chica was going to be the first launch site for BFS,

BFS/G test flights will probably be at the same site in Texas where they tested the F9G and F9R-Dev (which self-destructed while nitpicking over a sensor reading).

1 hour ago, sh1pman said:

Mars colonization summary from Elon himself: "Difficult, dangerous, good chance you'll die"

I liked how Elon chuckled when he said that, while the audience was, uh, dead silent during and after that. (at least until I gave up watching, cuz, time and all that)

 

 

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14 minutes ago, KSK said:

Powered by frobscottle (cos that stuff always goes down :wink: - although sinking bubbles would probably mess up tank pressurisation something fierce) and LOX?

And on a different note, a friend sent me a link to this video of the Falcon Heavy launch. Slightly old news I know but I thought it was a nice video that folks on here might appreciate. Also , keep an eye out for the core booster footage at 1m11.

And that dual booster landing never gets old...

 

This is the third time the same or (similar) video has been linked here.

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Looks like the Q&A is down, hopefully they'll reupload an edit version with good audio.

I stole this transcript from FutureMartian97 on reddit. (Edit: removed link just in case, it was on r/spacex)

"How long will this take?" - I'm optimistic but i'm trying to re-calibrate, but we are building the first ship right now, and I think we can start doing the first up and down flights in the first half of next year. If rapid re usability works out we are confident we can get the cost of a BFR launch down to 5 or 6 million dollars.

"How do you manage your time?" - At SpaceX 80-90% of my time is focused on engineering and Gwynne Shotwell handles the business side of things. And that video is the result of the great people at SpaceX.

"Who are you inspired by" - Kanye West obviously. laughter

"So why do all of these things?" - Well I thought to myself why are we not making progress in space? Where are the bases on the moon and the space hotels as promised? I looked at NASA's website and it never says when were going to Mars. There will also be no will to go to Mars if there is no way to get there.

"Why is no one else doing these things?" - What's your pain threshold?

"What was your biggest failure and how did it change you?" - Tons of failures along the way. For SpaceX, the first 3 Falcon 1 launches failed. Maybe if I was able to higher a better chief rocket designer, then maybe we would've had less than 3 failures.

"How do you prioritize all your companies?" - For business stuff almost all time is dedicated to SpaceX and Tesla. For non business stuff it's my kids. Boring Company started as a joke because it sounded funny.

"Why are you so concerned about AI?" - The biggest issue with civil AI experts is that they think they know more than they really do. Very close to the cutting edge of AI, and it scares the hell out of me. I think the dangers of AI are way worse than nukes.

"What issues should the next generation be solving?" - Making life multi-planetary. Need to make sure there is a seed to keep humanity going in case of another dark age, possibly caused by a third World War. Sustainable energy is also really important.

"What do you hope the world will look like when children born today are your age?" - Mostly transferred to sustainable energy, base on the Moon and Mars. Anyone can go to Mars or anywhere in the Solar System. Achieve symbiosis with AI.

"What can you tell us about Starlink" - Internet for people with no internet, good for sparsely and moderately populated areas. Will be good to fund BFR.

"What kind of government for the first Martian colony? Your position?" - Emperor or God Emperor? Really most likely direct democracy. Everyone votes on every issue. Keep laws short. If the word count on a law exceeds Lord of the Rings then it's to long and suspicious.

Edited by Mad Rocket Scientist
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10 minutes ago, PB666 said:

This is the third time the same or (similar) video has been linked here.

And then you posted it again... :) Who cares - I've watched it twice already, so having four copies to choose from is a win.

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8 minutes ago, Mad Rocket Scientist said:

nyone can go to Mars or anywhere in the Solar System. Achieve symbiosis with AI.

Can I have only the former? :)

 

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2 hours ago, PB666 said:

Only if you get the secret chocolate bar with the tickets to the chocolate factory.

I thought that Boca Chica was going to be the first launch site for BFS, I don't think they are ready, can 39A accomodate something twice as big as a Saturn 5?

 

Twice the thrust, but not quite so wide. Saturn V was 10 meters across at its base, without fins or engine shrouds; BFR is 9 meters.

2 hours ago, sh1pman said:

I’ll take symbiosis if another option is extinction. 

He means that humanity as a whole achieves a stable give-and-take relationship with AI.

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4 minutes ago, sevenperforce said:

Twice the thrust, but not quite so wide. Saturn V was 10 meters across at its base, without fins or engine shrouds; BFR is 9 meters.

Still, that is a lot of stress on the pad from sheer mass.  

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