Posted on 04/21/2022 11:07:46 AM PDT by Paul R.
SpaceX is targeting Thursday, April 21 for a Falcon 9 launch of 53 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The instantaneous launch window is at 1:51 p.m. ET, or 17:51 UTC, and a backup opportunity is available on Friday, April 22.
The first stage booster supporting this mission previously launched GPS III-3, Turksat-5A, Transporter 2, and eight Starlink missions. Following stage separation, Falcon 9’s first stage will return to Earth and land on the Just Read the Instructions droneship stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.
(Excerpt) Read more at youtube.com ...
Just watched it, SpaceX is on a aggressive Starlink schedule in 2022, do you know approximately how many satellites they have up there including this launch. It has to be approaching 2000
SWEET!! 👏👏
Wernher von Braun would be proud of Musk and SpaceX.
“115th recovery of a SpaceX booster”
Just incredible. It was only yesterday we were amazed by the very first successful landing of a SpaceX booster.
I so enjoyed reading Wernher von Braun’s articles in Popular Science in the early 60s when he was working on Apollo and the Saturn V for NASA. My Dad was building satellites at GE at the time, but I didn’t follow his footsteps into aerospace.
Whoever would have dreamed that a South African entrepreneur would co-found PayPal and go on to be the most successful entrepreneur in EVs and spaceships. Musk is incredible.
Where did your dad work for GE?
Mine was Philly in the 60’s/70’s….
Fantasic. Elon Musk, a self made genius.
The biggest takeaway I got from the program is that Musk is 100% driven by a sincere belief in what he is doing, and that money is secondary. I think he views his fortune as just a resource that allows him to pursue what he truly believes is important. I know some don’t care for him, but I’ve really come to admire him. Aside from Trump, he might be the only other influential, completely sincere person out there right now.
I’m currently reading Dune, but I I have Dr. Space about Braun in my queue.
Dad went to work at GE in Utica around 1956 or 1957. He transferred to GE in Ithaca for five years, then to Syracuse for a year. He left GE for three years and returned in 1969 to GE’s Valley Forge Space Center in King of Prussia where he worked until his retirement. He worked on Polaris, ERTS (later “Landsat”), Nimbus, and Voyager. His career capstone project was ultra-secret and he never told me a thing about it except “You wouldn’t believe how important it is to national security.” Between space projects, he led GE’s program to build the first utility-scale wind turbines.
“...he views his fortune as just a resource that allows him to pursue what he truly believes is important.”
Absolutely without a doubt. Can you imagine having the resource to do anything you want, the vision to dream big, and the tenacity to make big things happen? There’s been nobody like him since Edison and Bell.
If he were evil, Elon could be the perfect “Evil Super Genius” Bond villain with laser armed killer satellites threatening the world. Fortunately for Earth, he just want to populate Mars. Once he does that, all bets are off. /s (in case anyone hasn’t had their coffee yet.)
My dad worked with re-entry vehicles, then wound up going to ITT and secure comms like STU-III.
We watch it from our front yard......
I wonder what production rate they have for manufacturing new boosters? Their new or low flight count boosters have a long life ahead of them. Seems like SpaceX is building up a tremendous lift capability.
I read a news blurb the other day that mentioned booster turn around time. They had set a pretty high goal (as in very quick turn around time) but now probably will never meet/achieve that goal. Not because they can't do it, just because there is no need. With boosters lasting longer they have a larger inventory of boosters and no need to turn them around quickly. Some people's problems - our equipment lasts too long, so now we have them lying around all over the place... ;-)
As long as Musk sticks to LEO missions, he’s not a threat. However, when it comes to missions and tech beyond LEO like the StarShip, its a different story. StarShip has not flown in over 8 months, nor has there been any updates.
Both NASA and Bezos’ Blue Horizons have vested interests in stopping and bankrupting SpaceX. NASA, because of the billions invested in the as-yet-unproven SLS and Artemis projects. Bezos, because he needs the money his also unproven tech would bring, as well as bragging rights over someone (Musk) committed to free speech.
There is also a hint that the Feds and the Intel agencies see Musk as a potential threat to national security for advocating free speech and his bid on Twit exposing the free government backbone that makes it work - built during the 0bama years (”Former Obama era intelligence officials, those who helped construct, organize and assemble the public-private partnership between intelligence data networks and supported social media companies.”) [https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/4056753/posts]
How so?
StarShip has not flown in over 8 months, nor has there been any updates.
Musk gave a great big massive update on Starship before the media just a coupla months ago.
Where were you at?
And Starship is still under development. It will fly when it's ready.
Free speech is a threat to national security?
On what planet is that?
Musk should build a bridge over the Rio Grande and launch from Mexico. I am sure the would love it. Screw the corrupt government.
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