Posted on 06/25/2019 5:18:15 AM PDT by Moonman62
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla., June 25 (UPI) -- SpaceX's third-ever Falcon Heavy rocket launched early Tuesday from Florida, carrying 24 satellites in a complex government mission from Kennedy Space Center.
It was the first time the military used the world's most powerful rocket, the first nighttime launch for the Falcon Heavy and the first time such a government mission used two SpaceX boosters that have been flown before.
The space company also made history by catching one half of the rocket nose cone -- or fairing -- in a net on a fishing boat at sea, as the fairings fell out of the sky. The other half fell into the ocean nearby. Catching the fairings is part of SpaceX's reusability strategy.
The rocket's twin boosters flew back to landing pads at Cape Canaveral, providing a never-before-seen nighttime spectacle, and creating sonic booms in the wee hours of the night. The center core booster failed to make its landing on a barge in the Atlantic Ocean.
(Excerpt) Read more at upi.com ...
Very impressive. The private sector is surpassing government funded NASA in innovation and results.
SpaceX is so cool.
The American space programs are a bright spot in our country’s endeavours. I don’t know everything about Musk but I saw him interviewed along with some astronauts on the NASA channel and all I can say is that anyone who is passionate about American manned space travel is o.k.
Probably due to limited funds and stockholders.... Compared to relatively easy money in the government sector.
24? It’s a junkyard up there!
Ole Musky at it again.
LOL, I stayed up until 11:30 PM until I realized they pushed it back...so I got up at 2:15 AM to watch.
My wife thinks I am nuts, but...I had to see that heavy go up. That is a real technology rush to me.
THAT is POWER.
(They will get the center core landing for it down...eventually)
So, the main core FAILED to land on the barge.
So what if the two boosters landed successfully back at the Cape, and the sattelites were successfully deployed?
The mission was a TOTAL FAILURE BECAUSE OF THE FAILURE OF THE CORE TO LAND ON THE BARGE!
THERE NEEDS TO BE AN INVESTIGATION! THE HOUSE INTEL COMMITTEEN MUST INVESTIGATE OBVIOUS TRUMP COLLUSION WITH ELON MUSK AND PUTIN!
SpaceX must immediately cease operations! IT IS A WASTE OF MONEY AND A FRAUD!!!!!!!!
(I hope a sarcasm tag isn’t necessary...I just wanted to step in before the boo-birds on the forum! Well Done, SpaceX! Well Done!)
Wouldn’t it be better for the USA and NASA to launch 24 Senators on a one-way trip?
My 14 year old son wants to be an aerospace engineer so this is his favorite thing. He is still sleeping but I know he was going to try and stay up to watch the launch online. We used to live in FL and I took him to see the first Falcon Heavy launch. We watched from the top floor of the parking garage at the Orlando airport and it was amazing to see even from that distance. We watched the second launch closer to home in Safety Harbor, FL. Even from clear across the state it was a sight.
“...Wouldn’t it be better for the USA and NASA to launch 24 Senators on a one-way trip?....”
It would be better to start in the House with the demonic vile Botoxian, the 2 anti-American moslems jihadists, and the buck-toothed occasional kotex along with a few others.
The private sector will achieve lower costs, because they have to. It’s a continuous learning curve.
Shiela Jackson Lee PLEASE!
Thanks Moonman62. Meanwhile ULA has delayed the next launch of an expendible booster (Atlas V 551) that not long ago cost more than the three reusable ones SpaceX launched today, and carries less payload.
LOL!
(They will get the center core landing for it down...eventually)
...
They successfully landed the center core of the last Falcon Heavy launch, but it was knocked down by rough seas the next day.
For this launch, they caught a fairing for the first time, and most importantly, the primary mission, which was very complex, was a 100% success.
My wife thinks I am nuts, but...I had to see that heavy go up. That is a real technology rush to me.
THAT is POWER.
...
I know what you mean. There are 27 engines all starting within a second of each other and producing three fifths the thrust of a Saturn V.
I think we're going to see that "recoverable and reusable" for the Falcon 9 generation boosters really means "high probability of recovery and reuse". Expecting 100% success in recovery seems unreasonable.
And it won't be the last time, either. I expect that to also be a high probability but not guaranteed event.
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