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And in case one hasn’t been keeping up, there’re still racing for a giant skydiver by year’s end, despite Mk 2’s rather, er, split personality of late... :unsure: 

So, maybe fireworks for New Years! One way or another...

Spoiler

latest?cb=20180310182502

...maybe it’ll be ok as long as it doesn’t look down...

 

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39 minutes ago, Scotius said:

I wonder how many failures (of not critical kind - i assume we would heard about mock capsule lithobraking hard into the desert) happened in the course of this extensive testing :)

Pribably a lot. Crew Dragon is heavy and complicated. You need the heat shield, the engine, the lifesupport system and the decompression tests etc.

I hope they release a "How not to use an orbital capsule" video.

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If i would be a petty and vicious individual, i would laugh at industry dinosaurs scrambling madly to stay relevant, when suddenly faced with competition from a hungry, aggressive newcomer. I would also say "Serves them right!" for wasted five decades, when space industry was moving forward at glacial speed and we were stuck in LEO.

But I am not such individual, so i'll enjoy this sudden surge of activity on space frontier.

I will also hope it will last this time :huh:

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25 minutes ago, mikegarrison said:

I hope these chickens you guys are so furiously counting actually hatch.

If you wanna make an omelette, gotta break some eggs... -_-

...from about 20 klicks up...

Spoiler

c9AoMiS.jpg

[Judgemental Chicken does not approve]

Continuing the poultry metaphor, cuz it’s tired and I’m late, SpaceX has a nice basket full of little eggs, they can afford to have a few not hatch, or even break a few In the process, thereby raising their overall odds of having something hatch, even if it’s a bit... fuzzy.

OTOH, those other guys have a single great big expensive goose egg, too many roosters have been sitting on it for far too long, it may be all runny and stinky inside, and no one’s even bothered to candle it. 
And it may be a dinosaur, not a chicken. 

Edited by CatastrophicFailure
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I’m not normally one to throw shade in the forums but SpaceX has much better marketing than the other companies and that’s what’s making them seem so far ahead. Is SpaceX ahead on moon hardware? Yes but it’s probably not as far ahead as it appears. Having been on the inside of start ups with good marketing teams, the marketing team can definitely make the company seem far further along than they really are or doing things they aren’t.

Edited by Racescort666
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4 hours ago, Racescort666 said:

I’m not normally one to throw shade in the forums but SpaceX has much better marketing than the other companies and that’s what’s making them seem so far ahead. Is SpaceX ahead on moon hardware? Yes but it’s probably not as far ahead as it appears. Having been on the inside of start ups with good marketing teams, the marketing team can definitely make the company seem far further along than they really are or doing things they aren’t.

Sure, marketing is important. But at the same time they are the only ones landing orbital boosters since 2015.

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11 hours ago, Racescort666 said:

I’m not normally one to throw shade in the forums but SpaceX has much better marketing than the other companies and that’s what’s making them seem so far ahead. Is SpaceX ahead on moon hardware? Yes but it’s probably not as far ahead as it appears. Having been on the inside of start ups with good marketing teams, the marketing team can definitely make the company seem far further along than they really are or doing things they aren’t.

I think what makes SpaceX seem so far ahead is that they are stating they will do things, then they actually do them. No other company seems to be able to do that in a timescale under a human generation. And still everyone makes fun of ElonTimeTM.

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Elon didn't "promise" anything. He said "I have an aggressive schedule that is likely to slip, but if all goes well, it'll launch NET____" Falcon Heavy exists, just like he said it would and DearMoon is still in the works. Crap guys...you had to wait for the next ice age for Nasa to change anything, but SpaceX delays for 3 seconds and you are all calling them out.

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17 minutes ago, Meecrob said:

Elon didn't "promise" anything. He said "I have an aggressive schedule that is likely to slip, but if all goes well, it'll launch NET____" Falcon Heavy exists, just like he said it would and DearMoon is still in the works. Crap guys...you had to wait for the next ice age for Nasa to change anything, but SpaceX delays for 3 seconds and you are all calling them out.

Elon said ITS was going to be 12m wide, but now we’re getting a 9m wide Starship! What is this nonsense!? ELON LIED TO US!!!

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23 hours ago, Meecrob said:

I think what makes SpaceX seem so far ahead is that they are stating they will do things, then they actually do them. No other company seems to be able to do that in a timescale under a human generation. And still everyone makes fun of ElonTimeTM.

Those other guys have been trying to rekajigger Shuttle hardware into a disposable heavy lift rocket for decades now. This most recent attempt started in the early 2000’s, around the time SpaceX had their inaugural mariachi photo. Those other guys are using an engine with a very long and established history, boosters with fairly minor upgrades, an existing upper stage and tankage based on existing designs build by contractors well experienced with such. 
They haven’t even settled on a lander design yet. 
 

SpaceX had to design a new engine from scratch, using an uncommon fuel in a tricky combustion cycle, made numerous major design revisions, plan on an untried reentry method, and want to rapidly reuse the whole mess. Serious design work has been going on since what, 2015 or so? They’ve flown one lander proof-of-concept with the new engine, have two prototypes nearly complete, started work on the third prototype, and all of that has only been within the last year. And the beauty is, the lander is the Rocket is the lander. 
 

The other guys just plod along but SpaceX is actually accelerating. I’ll cheer on those other guys and do hope to see them on the moon in 2024 (tho I find that unlikely), but I still say whenever they do get there a Starship will be waiting to welcome them. 
 

They should send a cheese wheel again on the first landing. 

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Spoiler
45 minutes ago, CatastrophicFailure said:

 
 

They should send a cheese wheel again on the first landing. 

 

Spoiler

Lunar cheese?

 

46 minutes ago, CatastrophicFailure said:

SpaceX had to design a new engine from scratch, using an uncommon fuel in a tricky combustion cycle, made numerous major design revisions, plan on an untried reentry method, and want to rapidly reuse the whole mess. Serious design work has been going on since what, 2015 or so? They’ve flown one lander proof-of-concept with the new engine, have two prototypes nearly complete, started work on the third prototype, and all of that has only been within the last year. And the beauty is, the lander is the Rocket is the lander. 

And don't forget that they built another new engine, upgraded it to have double the thrust, built another new rocket, managed to reuse the entire mess, and cut the launch cost in half.

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55 minutes ago, CatastrophicFailure said:

but I still say whenever they do get there a Starship will be waiting to welcome them.

That would be needless cruelty, however, a nicely prepared landing pad with an X in the center would be polite

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