SpaceX Launch AWESOME!
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Elon Musk is a total genius. He may save the world: Solar, electric vehicles, charging stations, storage batteries, space travel.
https://electrek.co/2018/02/06/tesla-giant-battery-australia-gas-cartels-profit-report/
And the stages returning and landing!
Totally Awesome!
Haven't felt that since Apollo and Challenger!
Wonderful!
Now watch Mr. Orange try to take credit!
-Ron
rcarter31 said:
And the stages returning and landing!
Totally Awesome!
Haven't felt that since Apollo and Challenger!
Wonderful!
Now watch Mr. Orange try to take credit!
-Ron
Elon Musk quit two of Trump's business advisory panels when Trump pulled out of the Paris Accord on climate change. This is a good opportunity to challenge Trump on this.
http://money.cnn.com/2017/06/01/news/elon-musk-resigns-trump-adviser/index.html
I love it! My son worked for Moon Express for a few years and so I have been watching the space race for a while now. SpaceX always had the leg up and I am happy to see them succeeding.
The Tesla overshot Mars orbit and is heading to the asteroid belt. So cool.
angelak said:
The Tesla overshot Mars orbit and is heading to the asteroid belt. So cool.
Unless you were actually heading for Mars. This is like the train missing the Maplewood stop and stopping in Dubuque!
I’m being a goof, of course. I’m also amazed by watching the boosters turn and land. I know it’s real, but it boggles my mind to the point where I have a hard time believing what I’m seeing!
Ha! So can it turn back or around and get on course? Or is that it for it?
mrincredible said:
angelak said:
The Tesla overshot Mars orbit and is heading to the asteroid belt. So cool.
Unless you were actually heading for Mars. This is like the train missing the Maplewood stop and stopping in Dubuque!
I’m being a goof, of course. I’m also amazed by watching the boosters turn and land. I know it’s real, but it boggles my mind to the point where I have a hard time believing what I’m seeing!
or wait, is this a good thing in all seriousness? That it can fly further than they thought?
Remember, he's StarMAN. Do you expect him to turn around just because he's going the wrong way, or even ask for directions?
conandrob240 said:
Ha! So can it turn back or around and get on course? Or is that it for it?
mrincredible said:
angelak said:Unless you were actually heading for Mars. This is like the train missing the Maplewood stop and stopping in Dubuque!
The Tesla overshot Mars orbit and is heading to the asteroid belt. So cool.
I’m being a goof, of course. I’m also amazed by watching the boosters turn and land. I know it’s real, but it boggles my mind to the point where I have a hard time believing what I’m seeing!
well, it wouldn’t be so great if you had a crew trying to rendezvous with a space station in a particular location lol
Lots of jokes come to mind about the availability of charging stations etc.
Launching a payload like the car an expecting to get into orbit around Mars would he excruciatingly difficult. The car was accelerated to a specific velocity and now it's pretty much following a set trajectory. My understanding is that it will ultimately end up in orbit around the sun at the same distance as the asteroid belt.
A spacecraft designed for a precision landing on Mars would have course correction capability using on board thrusters. As far as we know a Tesla Roadster has no such thrusters. This is kind of like loading a big rock in a catapult (or trebuchet) and letting it fly.
If they had successfully fired an inert mass from Earth and inserted it into Mars orbit without any course corrections that would be an even more stunning achievement.
This whole thing is astonishing and I love that SpaceX pulled a fun stunt like this.
I thought the tesla was inside a rocket? I'm so confused. So, the Tesla is just out there by itself not inside anything? I need to read up on this more.
conandrob240 said:
I thought the tesla was inside a rocket? I'm so confused. So, the Tesla is just out there by itself not inside anything? I need to read up on this more.
The final stage of the rocket had the Tesla in it. But basically shoved it out into space is my understanding. I don't think it's still connected to a rocket engine. It's now a flying car.
So ... some day when this bit of flying debris that is actually a Tesla falls to earth (if that happens), who is liable for the damages?
I know it's farfetched (and probably crochety of me as well) but I just don't get the point.
It's on a trajectory that will take it orbit the Sun. Out in the asteroid belt. Out past Mars.
I think Mr Musk can cancel his liability insurance. 
Musk (I almost wrote 'tesla') said that if the rocket cleared the launchpad he'd consider it a success.
It was pretty wild - essentially three smaller rockets strapped together.
I wonder how kids today look at rocket launches like this? Coming from the 60's, when every launch was an event, we must look at this stuff a lot differently than younger people. Or not? I dunno.
Though I have to say it was fun watching the young CNN reporter describing the launch from Cape Canaveral. She was in her twenties I guess, and she was giddy like a little kid. It was great.
mrincredible said:
angelak said:
The Tesla overshot Mars orbit and is heading to the asteroid belt. So cool.
Unless you were actually heading for Mars. This is like the train missing the Maplewood stop and stopping in Dubuque!
I’m being a goof, of course. I’m also amazed by watching the boosters turn and land. I know it’s real, but it boggles my mind to the point where I have a hard time believing what I’m seeing!
mrincredible said:
It's on a trajectory that will take it orbit the Sun. Out in the asteroid belt. Out past Mars.
I think Mr Musk can cancel his liability insurance.
OK, so I'll ignore that part, but I still don't get the point.
I think it was a way to get people excited about and talking about space exploration. Most people seem to have lost any sense of excitement over the idea of launching a rocket. The Falcon heavy launch represents a big boost in space exploration capability, and deserve some attention. Using it to Launch a Tesla Roadster millions of miles from Earth certainly got people talking about it.
On a more pragmatic level, it's a huge advertising opportunity for Tesla. Right now, they can boast that it's the only car in space. I think that's the kind of thing that might appeal to a potential buyer of a Tesla car.
I believe it is common to use a dummy payload for test launches. The weight is required to balance out the rocket since it is designed to carry a payload. However test launches are too risky to use an expensive satellite. Instead a chunk of concrete or steel is often used.
Musk thought that was too boring and used his roadster instead.
sac said:
mrincredible said:
It's on a trajectory that will take it orbit the Sun. Out in the asteroid belt. Out past Mars.
I think Mr Musk can cancel his liability insurance.
OK, so I'll ignore that part, but I still don't get the point.
This is actually a great age of space exploration, it just doesn't involve manned flights. Hubble and increasingly inventive and technically brilliant probes and telescopes are little by little unraveling the secrets of the universe. It's not popular the way the manned program were but it should be.
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-Ron