Today! SpaceX Falcon 9 Iridium-1 First Stage Landing

[Penderic]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNcGPzZ9OT0

[oldbike54]

 All of that silly Science Fiction stuff from the 1950's , rockets carrying passengers and freight to the moon and beyond is coming into its infancy .

 Dusty

[Lannis]

All of that silly Science Fiction stuff from the 1950's , rockets carrying passengers and freight to the moon and beyond is coming into its infancy .

 Dusty

I don't know.   Recovering a rocket stage that launched a comm satellite without it exploding in a ball of fire, and getting a big cheer.

A hard job well done, but I'm not sure I'd use "infancy" comparing that to a passenger service to the moon.   I wouldn't even use "embryonic".

More of a "gleam in the milkman's eye" moment.   A long way from "2001 - A Space Odyssey" flight attendant in uniform .....

Lannis

[Arizona Wayne]

That is AMAZING !!!  Consider this feat.  The ship the space craft landed on is bobbing up/down in the ocean on top of the craft having to deal with returning from space and landing on the bullseye of the landing platform all remotely controlled?         It takes a lot of smarts to accomplish this feat.

[Aaron D.]

I don't know.   Recovering a rocket stage that launched a comm satellite without it exploding in a ball of fire, and getting a big cheer.

A hard job well done, but I'm not sure I'd use "infancy" comparing that to a passenger service to the moon.   I wouldn't even use "embryonic".

More of a "gleam in the milkman's eye" moment.   A long way from "2001 - A Space Odyssey" flight attendant in uniform .....

Lannis

NASA has yet to land a booster. I'd say this outfit will likely be ready for Mars before NASA

[Lannis]

NASA has yet to land a booster. I'd say this outfit will likely be ready for Mars before NASA

I don't know or care about what NASA is doing.   I'm not into "competition" between the government and private sector, although I'm sure it's healthy.

I'm not saying that it's not an impressive technical feat.   I'm "just sayin'" (using the common meaning of "just sayin'") that this is a LONG way from passenger service to the moon.

We're always "Almost there" or "On the way" on controlled fusion, or personal jetpacks, or 1-hour underground trips between USA and Europe, or Elio 3-wheelers for $6,800.   And we never seem to really be.

Lannis

[lucian]

Fortunately it seems it can disseminate between it's landing pad and a fuel barge. Pretty impressive.

[Gliderjohn]

Overalls it appears things are progressing quite well. What has always been the problem with aircraft and spacecraft especially is that it costs a hell of a lot more in time and money to go from 90% reliable to 99.9+% for carrying human life. They will get there though I bet.
GliderJohn

[Aaron D.]

I'd love to go..

[oldbike54]

 I'll bet we are closer to the Wright Brothers than to Galileo .

 Dusty

[chuck peterson]

 

Photoshopped...

 

[redrider90]

All of that silly Science Fiction stuff from the 1950's , rockets carrying passengers and freight to the moon and beyond is coming into its infancy .

 Dusty

     A Trip to the Moon / Le Voyage dans la lune - Full Movie (1902)
If you have Netflix they have a 12 minute talkie version that is a hoot.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrHPyQGQ7vo&html5=1

[fotoguzzi]

I see they plan to put 70 Satellites (just for starters) in orbit with that thing. planted 10 of them today.. eventually they will be able to track every aircraft flying around earth.. so no more wonder where that plane went down in the Pacific or anywhere else.. probably can track a lot more than that but they don't say..
and fast Internet access to the entire world .

[Lannis]

and fast Internet access to the entire world .

I get my "fast Internet access" from a satellite NOW and it ain't no bargain.   People who are used to cable and DSL think they've gone back to medieval times when they hook up to my router.

8 mB per second download speed is OK, but you only get 10 GB of data a month for $65, then it slows down to nothing.

And when a thunderstorm gets between your dish and the satellite, no Internet access till it's gone ...

Lannis