“.....this also highlights that a private American company was able to send a payload beyond Earth orbit, and it took them only seven years of development and no government funds. ..”
That extremely cool launch, shows the way.
“No government funds”. Meanwhile the Tesla car company receives subsidies to sell their cars. Elon Musk isn’t totally ‘pure’ in that regard.
the John Batchelor show is unique - really first rate.
How is it that the video of the orbiting Tesla car is rotating in a Westerly direction when the vehicle was clearly launched in a Eastern trajectory?
How is it that the car is in a perfect horizontal plain and not tumbling?
The booster landings were cool, but that Tesla Roadster in space looked phony as shite. Also, has anyone else seen “Heavy Metal”? I haven’t seen any reference to the opening sequence of this 1981 cult film in the reporting.
1. Central Core failed to land. It didn’t just miss, or fall over, it crashed at 300+ MPH on it’s attempted return.
2. Burn to Mars failed, not because the engine didn’t fire but, because the guidance system, or engine controllers, or calculations were WAY off.
#1 is a system failure that is very expensive.
#2 is a complete loss of payload/crew type failure. They wouldn’t be able to reach their destination nor return (since reaching destination will be necessary for return trip).
Other than that, I guess it was a success.