This is happening at the Cape tomorrow

The Duke

Heisman
May 29, 2001
16,792
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We drove past the launch pad a few weeks ago, got a nice peek at the Falcon Heavy. Looking forward to seeing if the Tesla makes it back in one piece!
 

osuengineer

Sophomore
Jan 8, 2009
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SpaceX webcast up on YouTube on the work monitor. I’m giddy, and I’m not even an aerospace guy.
 

CowboyPhil

All-Conference
Nov 21, 2001
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That was impressive. The 2 boosters landing side by side within 10 minutes of launch was crazy impressive.

The Tesla with the "Spaceman" was pretty funny. I don't think he's coming back for a really long time.
 

OSUIvan

All-Conference
Dec 10, 2002
9,079
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Did the core successfully land on the platform?

From The Verge ... "The center core then broke away from the vehicle’s upper stage, but it’s not yet clear whether it landed as intended on one of SpaceX’s autonomous drone ships in the Atlantic Ocean. "
 

EvilPOKES

Heisman
Apr 23, 2008
109,377
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That was cool, but man I don't want to sound tinfoil hatish....but that landing looked really odd to me live. And, why the extra engineering for that? Cant parachute them back or anything?
 

Rulz

All-American
Jan 9, 2005
8,091
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The center section return failure wasn't a big deal. Hey weren't going to be reusing that anyway. It would have been cool, and I suspect their purpose in engineering the return is for a possible cost cutting measure over the life of the program, and perhaps they might sell tickets for a protected "pod" on board the boosters to propel average joes up for a thrill? I don't know.

Anyway, it was a spectacular event and I'm surprised it didn't have more publicity. Guess since no one got fondled or it didn't say "Trump" down the side of it, it wasn't worthy of more media coverage. And I say that, but perhaps they did cover it more. I had no idea about the launch time (although I had heard of the plan) until I got the alert on my phone.

I just wonder how long the cameras will be in operation/recording on the Tesla.
 
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purkey

Heisman
Feb 5, 2003
194,775
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the landing is the coolest thing about it. Who woulda thought? Seems to be much tougher and expensive than several other options.
 
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CowboyPhil

All-Conference
Nov 21, 2001
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I believe the main reason for landing the boosters is for quick turnaround launches. I believe I read that they could be ready to launch again in as little as 2 weeks where shuttles were months between launches.
 

CBradSmith

Heisman
Sep 21, 2005
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Estimated savings to put something in space using reusable rockets such as these is very large.