Live Rocket Launch

[User10571]

Cool! Whats the truck next to it?

Also loving the "Sir Alan will see you now" phone

It's a 1/50th scale Terex Demag 600 crane from http://www.conrad-modelle.de/en/
Being die-cast in metal it tips the scales at a smidge under 4kg and at 120cms, stands around 200mm taller than the Saturn V.
Conrad-modelle do an additional luffing jib and extra counterweights for that model.
It adds an extra 180cms to the model. Much as I'd like it, none of my rooms are large enough to accommodate it.
The phone is by Jacob Jensen. He was responsible for most of Bang & Olufsen's stuff - or how it looked - in the 70s and 80s.

 

[FishFright]

That explains why it succeeded. If NASA had embarked on this path then there would have been design by committee, the Military would have stuck their oar in, and funding would be compromised. After the first two failures NASA heads would have to be up in front of congressional committees, pauses and reviews would have taken place, goalposts would be moved and the media would whinge.

That's why NASA have never achieved anything, oh wait .........

 

[Drago]

I think this must be the end for SLS. Dunno how NASA will justify the expenditure when SpaceX have an off the shelf solution operational at a fraction of the cost.

 

[Markymark]

[QUOTE 5143149, member: 45"]If you want your mind truly blown by rocket engineering you have to visit the Saturn V rocket at Kennedy Space centre. The photo below (not my family!) just doesn't portray the scale of it, and how imposing when you consider that something that big accelerated into space. Standing beneath those engines was the only time I've ever found myself completely speechless with awe.
View attachment 394906 [/QUOTE]
Just waiting for my kids to be old enough to have the stamina and appreciate a trip to Florida. I also need to explain to them they won't be going anywhere near Disney but will be looking at rockets for some time!! I think April '19 is on the cards. Will have to see if we can tie it in with any launches.

 

[Markymark]

[QUOTE 5143157, member: 45"]We'd missed a shuttle launch by a couple of days, and all that remained to watch was the crawler making its way back to the hangar at 1mph. Not the most exciting of experiences.[/QUOTE]
Should have done a trip to the North Circular and saved a few quid.

 

[Tim Hall]

This whole spectacle has been funded by NASA.

Wikipedia says otherwise:

The Falcon Heavy was developed with private capital with Musk claiming the cost was more than $500 million

 

[kevin_cambs_uk]

Standing half a metre away from me is this
View attachment 394874

I finished putting it together last Saturday.
I have to confess that I was wide eyed and slack jawed when I watched the boosters coming back to earth.
Probably in the same way as I was when, as a 11 year old, I watched the first moon landing.
Remarkable stuff.

Is that the Revel model or the old Airfix one?

 

[Drago]

This whole spectacle has been funded by NASA.

Not the entire thing. NASA awarded contracts to several firms to continue development work on a
LS, but the sums handed out wouldn't come close to covering the full cost of the project. Much of tech was then incorporated to Falcon heavy, which is an entirely privately funded SHLS project, which had actually started in 2004.

 

[Tim Hall]

Mine says otherwise....

"In 2006, SpaceX was awarded a contract from NASA to continue the development and test of the SpaceX Falcon 9 launch vehicle "

Hmm, now there's a thing. Could it be that Falcon 9 is NASA funded, while Falcon Heavy, a variant of Falcon 9, is privately funded?

 

[Drago]

Even so, it puts paid to the myth that its a SpaceX vs NASA thing.

I'm not suggesting it is. NASA's SLS has been dogged with budget problems and controversy from the start. Its the leftovers of the Ares project, which was scrapped by Obama.

Considering the project has its roots in the nineties, and is still some years from actually flying, where is the political will to keep funding it now a much cheaper commercial alternative has apleared?

Its not a question of rivalry, but one of economics and politics. SLS has at times barely survived by the skin of its teeth, and this could be the thing that finally stalls the project. SpaceX get their income through contracts and private means, so aren't at the whim of politicians setting budgets, a luxury position NASA does not enjoy.

 

[Drago]

And if thenplug does get pulled on SLS, NASA will potentially have a lot more funds for projects with partners such as this. If half of NASA's budget were suddenly freed up...

One must remember, NASA are a giant procurement agency. They don't develop the hardware themselves. Even SLS is developed and built with contracts awarded to Boeing, Lockheed, IBM, etc.

 

[Tim Hall]

Never mind that. Following @User3094 post linking to Elon Musk's wiki page, I visited his Boring Company website. Set up to dig tunnels they also sell, or sold, flamethrowers.

Fire extinguisher sold separately (for exorbitant amounts of money)
-Taxes and shipping will be added at checkout
-Additional customs fees may apply for international orders because of laws
-International customers can receive a full refund if not happy with said fees
-Before shipping, aspiring flamethrower aficionados will be sent a terms and conditions rhyme for review and acceptance
-Starts shipping in spring
-May not be used on Boring Company decorative lacquered hay bales or Boring Company dockside munitions warehouses

 

[Glow worm]

I've seen it suggested Musk may just have got away with the perfect murder

 

[chriswoody]

Surprised how many folks were not aware of this. Many of my colleagues at work were amazed when I showed them the footage of the launch on the space x website.

I've also been showing my pupils the launch in class and streaming the live view of star man on the whiteboard. It is wonderfully hypnotic and calming watching the car flying through space with the Earth rotating beneath. I might have inspired the next Elon Musk!

One of the little darling did make an interesting point when he piped up " Sir wouldn't the tyres explode in space?" Whilst they wouldn't technically explode, it did make me wonder how they'd prepared the car for it's flight.

 

[Inertia]

I must admit, I knew very little about SpaceX and Elon Musk until today, cool little details such as....

View attachment 394926

This is a circuit board on the Tesla.

The platforms for the rockets to land on (didnt even know this was a thing) are autonomous and have cutesy messages on them...

View attachment 394927

The blokes a dude!

He is probably the closest we will get to Tony Stark, in fact:

http://www.todayifoundout.com/index...nders-of-zip2-paypal-tesla-motors-and-spacex/