1. SPS Accounts:
    Do you find yourself coming back time after time? Do you appreciate the ongoing hard work to keep this community focused and successful in its mission? Please consider supporting us by upgrading to an SPS Account. Besides the warm and fuzzy feeling that comes from supporting a good cause, you'll also get a significant number of ever-expanding perks and benefits on the site and the forums. Click here to find out more.
    Dismiss Notice
Dismiss Notice
You are currently viewing Boards o' Magick as a guest, but you can register an account here. Registration is fast, easy and free. Once registered you will have access to search the forums, create and respond to threads, PM other members, upload screenshots and access many other features unavailable to guests.

BoM cultivates a friendly and welcoming atmosphere. We have been aiming for quality over quantity with our forums from their inception, and believe that this distinction is truly tangible and valued by our members. We'd love to have you join us today!

(If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact us. If you've forgotten your username or password, click here.)

SpaceX's Falcon 9 successfully reaches orbit!

Discussion in 'Alley of Dangerous Angles' started by NOG (No Other Gods), Jun 5, 2010.

  1. NOG (No Other Gods)

    NOG (No Other Gods) Going to church doesn't make you a Christian

    Joined:
    Jul 25, 2005
    Messages:
    4,883
    Media:
    8
    Likes Received:
    148
    Gender:
    Male
    Remove all ads!
    [​IMG] SpaceX is a private company bidding for NASA's new contracts to provide access to the ISS and space in general, according to Obama's new vision. Falcon 9 is SpaceX's rocket to launch it's Dragon manned orbiter. At 2:45 PM ET, the first test launch of the Falcon 9 rocket successfully launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, and reached orbit, becoming the first commercial rocket to do so. The commercial space age has begun!
     
    NOG (No Other Gods), Jun 5, 2010
    #1
  2. Kitrax

    Kitrax Pantaloons are supposed to go where!?!?

    Joined:
    Apr 19, 2002
    Messages:
    7,899
    Media:
    74
    Likes Received:
    96
    Gender:
    Male
    Woot! :banana:
    I want a ticket to visit the ISS for my birthday! You all have about 4 months to save up... :p
     
    Kitrax, Jun 5, 2010
    #2
  3. Ragusa

    Ragusa Eternal Halfling Paladin Veteran

    Joined:
    Nov 26, 2000
    Messages:
    10,140
    Media:
    63
    Likes Received:
    250
    Gender:
    Male
    About time.
     
    Ragusa, Jun 5, 2010
    #3
  4. NOG (No Other Gods)

    NOG (No Other Gods) Going to church doesn't make you a Christian

    Joined:
    Jul 25, 2005
    Messages:
    4,883
    Media:
    8
    Likes Received:
    148
    Gender:
    Male
    And you want to know the really amazing thing? It only cost them about $400M to design, develop, test, and launch the thing. Compare that to NASA's budget requirements for it.
     
    NOG (No Other Gods), Jun 5, 2010
    #4
  5. Morgoth

    Morgoth La lune ne garde aucune rancune Veteran

    Joined:
    Jul 21, 2002
    Messages:
    3,652
    Media:
    8
    Likes Received:
    86
    Gender:
    Male
    I was watching the live stream yesterday. It was a good thing that the people at SpaceX were telling me that things were happening "as intended" since the large amounts of water leaking, the exhaust turning red from the heat when the thing reached orbit and the rocket spinning out of control (at least, that's what it looked like to me) were making me somewhat worried. :p
     
    Last edited: Jun 6, 2010
    Morgoth, Jun 5, 2010
    #5
  6. Blackthorne TA

    Blackthorne TA Master in his Own Mind Staff Member ★ SPS Account Holder Adored Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!) Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!)

    Joined:
    Oct 19, 2000
    Messages:
    10,416
    Media:
    40
    Likes Received:
    232
    Gender:
    Male
    Hehe. You thought that slight roll was spinning out of control? :lol:
     
    Blackthorne TA, Jun 5, 2010
    #6
  7. Morgoth

    Morgoth La lune ne garde aucune rancune Veteran

    Joined:
    Jul 21, 2002
    Messages:
    3,652
    Media:
    8
    Likes Received:
    86
    Gender:
    Male
    Well I didn't see a roll, but I did see the satellite change its yaw and pitch. The earth disappeared from view and came back a few times. Since I'm not very good at rocket science, I was wondering whether that was normal. :D
     
    Morgoth, Jun 5, 2010
    #7
  8. Blackthorne TA

    Blackthorne TA Master in his Own Mind Staff Member ★ SPS Account Holder Adored Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!) Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!)

    Joined:
    Oct 19, 2000
    Messages:
    10,416
    Media:
    40
    Likes Received:
    232
    Gender:
    Male
    There was no pitch or yaw; it was a roll about the thrust axis. The camera was offset from the thrust axis (off to one side of the rocket nozzle) and the rocket was not pointed directly away from Earth ( it was going into orbit, so it had to be at some tangential angle to the Earth's surface), so maybe that's why you thought there was pitch and yaw movement...

    From what I heard they didn't expect that much roll, but they came to within 1% of their orbital target, so it was very successful.
     
    Blackthorne TA, Jun 5, 2010
    #8
  9. Sir Rechet

    Sir Rechet I speak maths and logic, not stupid Veteran

    Joined:
    Nov 9, 2003
    Messages:
    1,357
    Likes Received:
    69
    Now for the big question: How many years do we have remaining before we need to reach Alpha Centauri? You know, so that we can file a complaint against that interstellar superhighway..
     
    Sir Rechet, Jun 6, 2010
    #9
  10. Morgoth

    Morgoth La lune ne garde aucune rancune Veteran

    Joined:
    Jul 21, 2002
    Messages:
    3,652
    Media:
    8
    Likes Received:
    86
    Gender:
    Male
    I hope that won't happen, as soon as someone sends a spaceship to Alpha Centauri the game will be over and we need to start a new one :(

    Edit:
    It seems that the Falcon rocket has caused some UFO sightings in Australia, how cool is that? :D
     
    Last edited: Jun 6, 2010
    Morgoth, Jun 6, 2010
    #10
Sorcerer's Place is a project run entirely by fans and for fans. Maintaining Sorcerer's Place and a stable environment for all our hosted sites requires a substantial amount of our time and funds on a regular basis, so please consider supporting us to keep the site up & running smoothly. Thank you!

Sorcerers.net is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to products on amazon.com, amazon.ca and amazon.co.uk. Amazon and the Amazon logo are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates.