SpaceX Tuesday...
Discussion
The Verge said:
The plan, Musk said, is to take the booster from Landing Zone 1 to SpaceX's other site at Cape Canaveral, Launch Complex 39A. There, the company will perform a static fire test — where the rocket is held down and the engines are fired at full thrust — on the launchpad to confirm that the rocket's systems are still in good shape. After that, the company will find out whether this particular rocket could fly again. But SpaceX won't try to fly a landed Falcon 9 again until "sometime next year," according to Musk.
Guess its going to fly again..RobDickinson said:
Russ35 said:
They've only gone and managed a successful landing! 
Expect it will get a serious checking over and possibly kept for historic reasons? 
London424 said:
Taken by Ben Cooper, fb friend, he is standing under the rocket right now taking pics at 3am...They will, of course, examine it closely to assess what work would need to be done to get it ready for a relaunch - even if they don't relaunch this particular example. That is a crucial part of the whole scheme. There's no point in making the massive effort and risk of bringing a rocket stage back to earth if it turns out that the structure is no good for another firing.
What they have done is a major achievement but there is still quite a way to go.
What they have done is a major achievement but there is still quite a way to go.
ash73 said:
Eric Mc said:
...maybe even more important than the Space Shuttle or even Apollo.
I think that's over-egging it a bit.This is a great step forward in space travel, Primarily its a cost cutting exercise, but it also shows the advances we have made in space travel.
Just because the Shuttles were not a viable method of re-usable craft has not deterred us and a new solution has been found.
I wonder why a concrete pad was used instead of the barge? I assume a big flat circle is easier to land on than a small bobbing boat?
Just because the Shuttles were not a viable method of re-usable craft has not deterred us and a new solution has been found.
I wonder why a concrete pad was used instead of the barge? I assume a big flat circle is easier to land on than a small bobbing boat?
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