None, we can go to Mars tomorrow. Achieving reusable boosters can be achieved out of thin air. Reducing cost happen with a flick. It's nut to not leap and take these baby steps. I mean, the history of mankind is full of leap moment skipping baby steps as there is absolutely nothing worthwhile that we can learn, as we do not need to learn. We are leap creature, capable of executing on imagination in an instance. Lesson learned and experience gained? That's for loser, not human as history has shown.
In orbit construction is not on the critical path to anything after SEI was laughed away in 1990. The entire reason for that was finding ISS (Space Station Freedom at that time) something to do. The purpose of spending billions on this technology is to build the technology. Finding something for it to do comes later. The way to real innovation and payoff is deciding on the best mission for the money (Mars) and then building the hardware to do it. The entire reason for the ARM is so they can find Orion something to do whilst also justifying solar electric propulsion. Neither of these are needed for Mars because surprise, we aren't going to Mars. Instead of taking someones word for it do some thinking for yourself and see if it is any way logical to spend the next 15 years preparing for a lunar orbit mission to go to Mars.
Your sarcasm doesn't work because of your ignorance. You also used the term baby steps again without justifying it after I asked what the steps were. What are these baby steps we are achieving for 19 billion a year? Please explain, because I want to see someone on mars in the next 50 years and right now I have no hope.
The thing I like about SpaceX is that Musk genuinely WANTS to go to Mars unlike NASA. He is stuck building rockets to service an albatross but doing everything he can to push for a booster that can read Mars.
Considering that there's never been an opportunity for cost effective construction in space, I am going to take a wait and see approach instead of just throwing a wet blanket on top of the whole idea. I find your lack of faith disturbing. Can you not get any satisfaction out of the landing of this rocket last night? This is one of the greatest achievements in the history of space flight and you're just pissing on it. And this whole thing is Elon's strategy to get to Mars...
For what? because it would be cool to build something in space? We built the ISS in space, drool over that. If you want to get to Mars, multiple landings on the planet works fine. Sending astronauts to build stuff in space make little sense. If it was cost effective it would still be pointless to use it for going to Mars. You are justifying technology and techniques for the sake of technology and techniques. I am asking, what do we need to get to Mars. You would rather burn 19 billion to float some astronauts in orbit and kill them for pointless flights?
For What? To wait to see what the impact of a 100 fold decrease (Elon's number is all goes according to plan) in the cost of getting materials into orbit will have on the industry. You may think this is pointless, but you'd be dead wrong. The ISS is so expensive that it took a coalition of nations to build. That's not the kind of construction I am talking about. I am talking about economically viable construction. Apples and oranges. First off, you don't know what the hell you're talking about. We've never had economically viable construction in space so there's no telling what will come from it. Secondly, Elon Musk, a guy who is exponentially more knowledgeable about this subject than you, completely disagrees. What is it going to take to get to Mars? RE-USABLE ROCKETS! A re-usable rocket shifts the entire paradigm of space flight, so all of your opinions based on the 1980-1990s is pretty much irrelevant. That would be like me coming up with a strategy to defeat ISIS from Cold War documents. And something tells me that if/when we land someone on Mars, you'll find something to complain about: This is really useful. Spending $100 billion to fly to another planet to look at the same types of rocks we have on this planet? *yawn* They're not going to find life there, and building a city on another planet will never work anyway.
<script height="352px" width="540px" src="http://player.ooyala.com/iframe.js#ec=hqc3dkMDE6WEJEzlwzIKgSWNtzx8cQwx&pbid=91ac0f6dcbdf466c84659dbc54039487"></script> Didn't feel like starting a new thread -- this is pretty cool.
SpaceX Getting Ready To Mass Produce Falcon 9 Rockets SpaceX, the aerospace manufacturer, just announced the mass production of Falcon 9 rockets. So far, the company has been building a limited number of rockets annually according to Gwynne Shotwell, President of SpaceX. In her recent speech at the annual Commercial Space Transportation Conference of the Federal Aviation Administration, Shotwell pointed out that the company is going through a transformation process and will soon start producing approximately 18 cores instead of 6 to 8 each year. “By the end of this year we should be at over 30 cores per year. So you see the factory start to morph,” she added. link
Are you obsessed with me now? If you want to meet me (no gay stuff) you can show me what I am doing wrong in the gym. I'm at not at equinox though so you would have to slum it at 24 hour downtown or rice. My guess is you are fat though so just stick with the treadmill.
He said I should workout. I'm asking for help. I mostly just want to check out his Tesla because I love Elon Musk so much. Thank god he will be mass producing these rockets. This will significantly lower the cost to keep the ISS going, hopefully beyond 2028.
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Part of what I can't believe is that they do this out in the water, and a little wave could just bump the platform enough to tump the rocket over. LOL. They must try to lock it pretty quickly, or maybe they hadn't thought of that b/c it's so hard to land it in the first place. Anyway, damned impressive!
