A Start-up Company That Had A Little Set Back

[Coss]

Ran across this today; looks like Elon Musk's company had a minor setback during testing the other day

http://www.popularmechanics.com/how...g?src=nl&mag=pop&list=nl_pnl_news&date=011715

I like that they actually considered it a success because it met most of the goals.
<Wish I had that kind of money that I could shrug off that kind of loss>

 

[carzes]

Ran across this today; looks like Elon Musk's company had a minor setback during testing the other day

http://www.popularmechanics.com/how...g?src=nl&mag=pop&list=nl_pnl_news&date=011715

I like that they actually considered it a success because it met most of the goals.
<Wish I had that kind of money that I could shrug off that kind of loss>

Can't make an omelet without breaking some eggs. Care to guess how many early rockets burned on the launch pad? Keep working at it for a few decades and we come to the point that space launches are so routine we consider it an epic failure when the boosters don't land themselves perfectly at the fuel station, ready to gas up and go again. That is essentially what they are trying to do.
They tried something that's never been done before, and it came within a stone's-throw of working. When dealing with space launches, 'almost' is a term that, by definition, involves crashes, explosions, and REALLY expensive trial and error. If no one was killed and we learned something, that's a good day for those guys. My hat's off to them.
You'll stick the landing next time guys!

 

[Coss]

I like the line Elon included in his Tweet; "Full RUD (rapid unscheduled disassembly) event".

Yeah, that's about as rapid as it gets

 

[goofyone]

I like the line Elon included in his Tweet; "Full RUD (rapid unscheduled disassembly) event".

Yeah, that's about as rapid as it gets

Naw, it was slow as far as rocket RUDs go. Normally when a rocket goes RUD it is there one second and has 'rapidly dissembled' itself the next.

One of my favorite Elon Musk quotes of all time was; "We knew this was going to be hard, it is after all rocket science"

 

[goofyone]

But seriously it is amazing they actually managed to fly the first stage back to the pad on their very first landing attempt. That is one heck of an accomplishment and something nobody has even attempted to do before. With the extra hydraulic fluid already planned for the next flight there is a great chance they actually land it next time.

 

[goofyone]

I do not know how many of you have seen this one but this is what happened, less than three months ago, when the other NASA contracted private launch company, Orbital Sciences, launched their last mission.

That is what happens when you try to use refurbished decades old soviet ICBM engines in your first stage.