Quake3World

'nuff said.

[youtube]HIVLonlXL2w[/youtube]

If you wanna see a launch like that live, log in to http://www.livestream.com coming sunday at 4:41am EDT (10:41am CEST) the CSR-3 mission will launch (that's the time of the actual launch. Broadcast starts at midnight EDT, which is 6:00am CEST).

Edit: never mind that, it's been postponed due to a fire in a radar tracking station of the air force. They're not allowed to launch.

cool, but the private sector has a lot of catching up to do

Well, SpaceX is pursuing a different path. I think what they're doing is commercially much more sustainable than how NASA operates. Eventually, that will transform space flight much more than NASA's work.

"sustainable"? yeesh, steady on there Mr Buzzword

also, how will private sector involvement transform space flight more than NASA (or ESA, or any other government space agency)? the ability to haul cargo into near-Earth orbit more cheaply is definitely necessary and useful, but hardly a radical move. the ability to put an SUV on Mars, or take photos of the moments after the birth of the universe - that's the kind of shit that's radical, and the private sector isn't going to be doing that without a government paycheck because there's no ROI to please investors and shareholders

don't get me wrong: it's great that the private sector have finally caught up to where the Soviets were 60 years ago in terms of achievement, and we definitely need a cheaper way of putting yet more junk into NEO for future governments to clean up (or pay a private company to clean up) - but to do the bold, ambitious thing, you need a public sufficiently psyched to be willing to pay for a public space agency to do it - and NASA's funding problems suggest the American public isn't psyched any more

Necessity is the mother of all inventions...we will just have to wait for the need to arise. When precious metals can no longer be found on this planet, things will change. It's not fun, but it's practical.

I don't believe that is true, it's easier to just kill each other for resources than it is to do the hard thing and work together to further human development. We can probably step off of carbon based fuels right now, but chose not to do so, instead waging war to secure energy resources because it's easier and there's profit in it. I'm sure at some point there will be a paradigm shift as there have been in the past, but not without doing all the wrong things first.

isn't that what Churchill said about Americans? that they can be trusted to do the right thing, but only after exhausting all the wrong things

When did we go to war for fuel ?, if anything our over reliance on fuel has taught us that working together is more beneficial than waging war ?. Britain for example no longer has to maintain a navy that takes up half of its budget.

I just see SpaceX drawing funds from NASA though

seremtan, that's what I meant when I said they pursue different paths. What NASA does are excesses. And they can do so exactly because of government funding. However, out of sheer need, SpaceX is seeking ways to make space flight more affordable (see their grasshopper rockets for instance) and those are advancements that may eventually be pioneering projects that are in turn adopted by NASA as well.

Additionally, SpaceX is planning their first manned flight in 2015, with a manned mission to ISS before the end of 2017. They're also working on their Falcon Heavy rocket, which should be capable of sending people to the moon. People on the moon ok,something NASA hasn't done since the 70's.

So I fully believe that one day, spaceX may be more relevant than NASA.

losCHUNK wrote:When did we go to war for fuel ?, if anything our over reliance on fuel has taught us that working together is more beneficial than waging war ?. Britain for example no longer has to maintain a navy that takes up half of its budget.

I just see SpaceX drawing funds from NASA though

ahem

That was border expansion / disputes and ethnic cleansing, with some meddling from Soviet and Allied forces

Oh yea and the Falcon heavy has half the payload of the Saturn V, which had to send 3 guys up in a tin can with barely a pot to piss in at a time where H&S was something for pussies. So good luck to them.

obsidian wrote:I don't believe that is true, it's easier to just kill each other for resources than it is to do the hard thing and work together to further human development. We can probably step off of carbon based fuels right now, but chose not to do so, instead waging war to secure energy resources because it's easier and there's profit in it. I'm sure at some point there will be a paradigm shift as there have been in the past, but not without doing all the wrong things first.

Tsakali wrote:When precious metals can no longer be found on this planet...

obsidian wrote:I'm sure at some point there will be a paradigm shift as there have been in the past, but not without doing all the wrong things first.

Sadly, I think that shift won't come before we have irradiated the planet in nuclear fallout or baked it to a crisp with greenhouse gasses.

The human race won't survive unless we master interplanetary colonization.

great, so like a spoiled teenager, we'll never have to change, we'll just spread our stupid all over the place
Extinction sounds more humane at this point.

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The launch of the CRS-3 mission is taking place today. In 5 minutes the webcast of the launch starts at http://www.spacex.com/webcast
The actual launch is in 45 minutes or so (3:25 ET)

lol, that was actually pretty underwhelmimg. 10 minuten of whatching images from a camera strapped to the rocket without commentary or audio (other than the occasional "stage 2 propulsion nominal") was actually a bit boring. The launch itself was very poorly visible because after literally 5 seconds, the view cut to a fogged up camera on the 1st stage rocket and you could see jack shit. Not sure who left a complete moron in charge of directing the thing. Oh well, seeing the Dragon capsule disconnect from the 2nd stage over a beautiful earth vista was pretty to see.

Elon Musk presents the Dragon II. It's relatively spacious inside, two rows of passengers, control console looks like something out of Star Trek. Interior looks like something built for a luxury car. Precision propulsion landing looks awesome.

http://new.livestream.com/accounts/1424 ... ts/3040228

those legs are the kind of things 1950s SF cover artists used to draw

the interior looks like a great set for a panel show

I'd fuck elon....

It's pretty awesome yeah? SpaceX is making space flight cool again. Can't wait till it's 2017.

Elon Musk is like one of those Hollywood billionaire characters like Hadden (Contact), Tyrell (Bladerunner), or Wayland (Aliens). Dude is just unreal.

it'll be a quadrillionaire some time in the far future who builds the first ship with warp drive