OMG it's the SpaceX Party Thread!

[mrmandias]

I don't know how the NSF folk collectively managed to turn a party thread into a dreary wrangle.  To many boo-birds and braggarts, I guess.

[darkenfast]

Totally Space Cadet retired military bum here, who's been watching the space program since Mercury. All I care about is "what works". I remember going out as a kid and looking at the moon on the night Eagle landed and thinking about how exciting it was going to be when we got to Mars. 43 years later, I don't expect to see anyone speaking English doing it in my lifetime, unless something or someone shakes up the system and provides the spark to make it a goal people can believe in.

I've seen more excitement around here than I have in a long time, and the reason that an unmanned flight to the same old LEO destination has generated that excitement is that we see there's a glimmer of hope that we just aren't getting from the bureaucrats and system that eats up so much money and time, and in 2012 is still decades away from Mars.

We don't have statesmen anymore with leadership and vision. We have pollwatchers. And for all their faults, those pollwatchers have to keep an eye on what we, the people who pay for all this, are excited about and want, because they'd like to keep their positions. If Elon Musk and those like him can generate some excitement by launching rockets and selling t-shirts, then that will do more than NASA and the various big corporations have done in a long time to get us out into space in a big way. If we, the people who PAY FOR THIS, want to drink the Kool-Aid, and go explore space, then some entrenched interests are going to have to either get with the program or get out of the way.

[oiorionsbelt]

[snip] been watching the space program since Mercury. All I care about is "what works".
[snip]
I've seen more excitement around here than I have in a long time, and the reason that an unmanned flight to the same old LEO destination has generated that excitement is that we see there's a glimmer of hope

Born before Sputnik and I couldn't agree more!

[rickl]

If Elon Musk and those like him can generate some excitement by launching rockets and selling t-shirts

Ironically, I had to go to the Kennedy Space Center website to get my t-shirt.  I tried to find them numerous times on the SpaceX website without success.   

darkenfast:  Great comment.

[beancounter]

[snip] been watching the space program since Mercury. All I care about is "what works".
[snip]
I've seen more excitement around here than I have in a long time, and the reason that an unmanned flight to the same old LEO destination has generated that excitement is that we see there's a glimmer of hope

Born before Sputnik and I couldn't agree more!

Here, here!  Let the party begin 

[savuporo]

So anyway, has anyone asked Don Pettit yet if he ever was much of a Bruce Lee fan ?
http://m.imdb.com/title/tt0070034/

[sfjcody_]

If Elon Musk and those like him can generate some excitement by launching rockets and selling t-shirts

Ironically, I had to go to the Kennedy Space Center website to get my t-shirt.  I tried to find them numerous times on the SpaceX website without success.   

I wandered into the SpaceX facility at Hawthorne back in January (I was in LA for a few days) to see if they had any memorabilia (t-shirts etc) for sale to NewSpace fans. No luck, but the receptionist did give me a few stickers.

Pic I took outside:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/49925488@N04/6789631869/in/photostream

[docmordrid]

  In the context of our lives, what SpaceX is doing is our Apollo.

nowhere close to the impact of Apollo or shuttle.

James Oberg (Red Star In Orbit) on NBC News: "I think this is one of the top ten days of space exploration. It's when we've gone to a new level of space access."

[sanman]

Presented Stanley Kubrick-style, for your listening pleasure:




Btw, if you look exactly 5:00min into it, you'll see that the strobe is flashing against the back of solar panel, and not the front reflective side. I'd suggested that they position the strobe so that its flashing would reflect off the front reflective surface of the solar panels, in order to increase its visibility, since the solar panels have a larger reflective area to be more noticeable.

[Jorge]

Btw, if you look exactly 5:00min into it, you'll see that the strobe is flashing against the back of solar panel, and not the front reflective side. I'd suggested that they position the strobe so that its flashing would reflect off the front reflective surface of the solar panels, in order to increase its visibility, since the solar panels have a larger reflective area to be more noticeable.

I've already (gently) hinted to you on the general discussion thread that you're going down the wrong path; less gentle hinting will follow on that thread - no point in harshing the mellow of the party thread.

[peter-b]

In my opinion, Elon Musk has the makings of the Isambard Kingdom Brunel of the space age, between PayPal, Solar City, Tesla and SpaceX.

I was thinking howard Hughes. An entrepreneur engineer building big things in America.
The first and, for now, only man in the world with his own spaceship!

Good point. In fact, Garrett Reisman actually directly likened Musk to Hughes in that 60 Minutes segment a few months ago.

[sanman]

And just imagine - at least Hughes had WW2 sending money his way. Musk has to work in much more money-starved conditions. I dunno if Hughes was necessarily known for cost-cutting, but Musk has achieved so much with so little.

[beancounter]

Agreed, and that should be celebrated as well.  If we look at this early period of SpaceX life as a project in it's own right, separate from say future operational aspects of the organisation, we can identify a number of deliverables, one of which is lowering the cost of access to space. 
Onya Elon. Keep up the great work.

[Chris Bergin]

Keep watching the live thread. Elon's about to pop out of one these bags - in a Lady Gaga Egg Vessel Stylee - with his ray gun and take over the ISS, before reboosting to Mars - cause we know that's possible

[ugordan]

Elon's about to pop out of one these bags

Spanish Inquisition would be hella funnier 

[psloss]

Elon's about to pop out of one these bags

Spanish Inquisition would be hella funnier 

Yeah, nobody expec--

[Jim]

This is a cost revolution,

That has yet to be seen

[Jim]

Look at the youngsters in this new company. Do you see that kind of generation at LockMart or Loral

Yes, every day

[DaveH62]

Totally Space Cadet retired military bum here, who's been watching the space program since Mercury. All I care about is "what works". I remember going out as a kid and looking at the moon on the night Eagle landed and thinking about how exciting it was going to be when we got to Mars. 43 years later, I don't expect to see anyone speaking English doing it in my lifetime, unless something or someone shakes up the system and provides the spark to make it a goal people can believe in.

I've seen more excitement around here than I have in a long time, and the reason that an unmanned flight to the same old LEO destination has generated that excitement is that we see there's a glimmer of hope that we just aren't getting from the bureaucrats and system that eats up so much money and time, and in 2012 is still decades away from Mars.

We don't have statesmen anymore with leadership and vision. We have pollwatchers. And for all their faults, those pollwatchers have to keep an eye on what we, the people who pay for all this, are excited about and want, because they'd like to keep their positions. If Elon Musk and those like him can generate some excitement by launching rockets and selling t-shirts, then that will do more than NASA and the various big corporations have done in a long time to get us out into space in a big way. If we, the people who PAY FOR THIS, want to drink the Kool-Aid, and go explore space, then some entrenched interests are going to have to either get with the program or get out of the way.

Well said.

[beancounter]

This is a cost revolution,

That has yet to be seen

Well no it doesn't.  What's it cost to develop the entire company including their vehicles and systems as compared to an equivalent exercise using NASA and/or existing major players?  No comparison.  SpaceX wins hands down against their local and international competition.

Three cheers for SpaceX.  The party goes on.  Looking forward to splashdown and September when the first CRS flight launches with a bit of luck.