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OldScratch wrote:...back in my day, they sent up chimpanzees.
Chimpanzees don't fly until they know the rocket works. You up for being cargo on the next Heavy flight? ;)

(Say 'no' 'cause they'll need at least one more flight before getting certified to carry humans.)

Elon's first plan was to send a dome of plants to mars (Silent Running, anyone?) as a way to get people's attention. Since the Red Dragon missions have been pushed aside in order to accelerate the BFR project, the Roadster was used. The cool thing is the way the science milestones were partly funded by the advertising budget. The sad thing is that science milestones have to be funded by an advertising budget.

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Watching the boosters land, upright, together, and on target, was also impressive. Better than Flash Gordon ever was. And you couldn't see the strings controlling the rockets.
Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.
- Ronald Reagan

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OldScratch wrote:...What I don't get is launching a Tesla into space. That is lost on me.
Aside from what's already been posted (the tests conducted, milestones for various requirements, etc.) it appears that before going for the Roadster, SpaceX offered a free ride to NASA and the USAF - and both declined the offer.

http://thehill.com/opinion/technology/3 ... xploration
SpaceX offered NASA the opportunity to get a free ride on this first launch. But the space agency viewed commercial development of this rocket as "competition" and refused their offer. Instead, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk put his own Tesla Roadster onboard, turning the event into a brilliant cross-marketing event.

Both SpaceX and NASA have missions to Mars as their goals, but only one can actually get there at a sustainable cost.

The wise investments made in commercial space by both the Bush and Obama administrations helped lead to SpaceX’s history making moment today. The plan worked: provide early government seed money into the private space market, let companies compete, lower costs and allow the government to develop new technologies that will expand our reach — and save taxpayer money.

Lori Garver is general manager of the Air Line Pilots Association, International and the former deputy administrator of NASA.
https://twitter.com/lori_garver/status/ ... 3963113472
Lori Garver‏ @Lori_Garver

Yup. Air Force too.

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ErikO wrote:The real question is will Tesla's Space Mining operation hate organized labor as much as their owner does?
I've read about some complaints, but haven't seen any decisions. How can I verify the suggestion that Musk hates organized labor? I've not seen anything that suggests there's going to be a space mining operation from any SpaceX subsidiary. As Tesla's about cars and not space or mining, I'm not sure how to parse the rest of this. Help?

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Here's one for AndyH:
https://youtu.be/ImoQqNyRL8Y


I used to sound record my travels in different countries on an MD player. The sound quality of this recording sent through Youtube is as good as my MD recordings. It's really a treat. (You have to listen through earphones.)
"It is better to be violent, if there is violence in our hearts, than to put on the cloak of non-violence to cover impotence. There is hope for a violent man to become non-violent. There is no such hope for the impotent." -Gandhi

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The last block 4 Falcon 9 will take Dragon to ISS in a few hours. This rocket's flown before and will not be recovered. This flight's somewhat unusual in that the 2nd stage will complete four orbits before coming back east of Bermuda. Normally they splash in the S Pacific.

Map of 1st and 2nd stage splash locations: https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mi ... 296875&z=6



ETA... Perfect launch! There are some unique camera angles in this launch - including watching Dragon fly away from the 2nd stage in their orbits.

Here's the coverage from NASA TV. Their coverage includes some beautiful video of both the 1st and 2nd stage burns in the pre-dawn sky.

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SpaceX is flying a Telstar satellite from the Cape in a couple of hours. The booster will return to the drone ship.



Dragon 2 is at the Cape as well in preparation for her maiden voyage to ISS with some cargo. Once the certification process is complete, D2 will be carrying humans to ISS - a capability the US hasn't had since the Shuttle was retired.

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I remeber the first Telstar and seeing the first live TV from London it was a news broadcast I believe on CBS only last about a minute or so since the Original Telestar was not in a geostationary orbit.
Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.-Huxley
"We can have democracy in this country, or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can't have both." ~ Louis Brandeis,

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