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Private Space Exploration: Now with Roundtrip Flights

A friend says, “Watch the parachutes. It’s like a large art display.”

…On a very big canvas.

Comments on this entry are closed.

  • Stargazer August 3, 2020, 9:06 AM

    They did it the old fashioned way (splashdown in the ocean) in a 21st century spacecraft. Very cool!

  • John Fisher August 3, 2020, 9:53 AM

    So – Space-X spends $2.6B of Uncle Sam’s money and pulls this off without a hitch. Boeing has spent $4.5B or so to date, plus whatever they have kicked in on their own to clean up their software mess ($.5B guess) and won’t fly people until 2021. Remind me again why we have Boeing? Maybe Musk will buy it for pennies on the dollar, fire the management and put Jennifer Shotwell in charge.

    As an old retired engineer, I’m am very impressed with Space-X!

  • Gordon Scott August 3, 2020, 10:10 AM

    Space X is at the point where they can put a pound in orbit for around $1000. No one else is even close to that. Blue Origin (Bezos) might get there, but they are years behind. NASA’s Boeing project may well launch next year, but Musk and Space X will have the process streamlined at that point. I watched the splashdown and recovery. They recover every damn thing, for reuse. They recovered the main chutes and the drogues. They can land a booster on a drone ship at sea. Not every time, but no one else has even attempted it.

    There’s no need for helicopters and a big ship to carry them when the recovery ship just backs up to the capsule, picks it up, sets it in a cradle, and rolls the cradle into a platform where the crew just steps out. They were so close to Pensacola that they had to warn a bunch of sightseeing boats to stay back. It looked like there were 50 or so.

    NASA should have been doing this 40 years ago. Of course, 40 years ago we didn’t have tech billionaires, just millionaires. Who would have thought the dope smoking, blonde bimbo loving Elon Musk (who made his nut with PayPal) had it in him?

  • ghostsniper August 3, 2020, 10:15 AM

    Aerial Jellyfishes heading for the bottom.
    paypal blowz

  • gwbnyc August 3, 2020, 10:34 AM

    …karma shave

  • theduchessofkitty August 3, 2020, 1:00 PM

    Elon Musk is the Howard Hughes of this generation.

    Take it to the bank.

  • PA Cat August 3, 2020, 2:05 PM

    I see that Gerard’s website has been invaded by the Italicans.

  • Auntie Analogue August 3, 2020, 2:55 PM

    My dear PA Cat, your comment Cracked! Me! Up!

    Thanks for the laugh!

  • Phil, Jr. August 3, 2020, 3:15 PM

    I remember Shepard’s flight. It’s nice to see us back in the game and leading with our private sector, which is our greatest strength.

  • sharksauce August 3, 2020, 3:44 PM

    Trying to fix the formatting:

  • Gordon Scott August 3, 2020, 7:01 PM

    The parachutes do not go to the bottom. They had bouys attached to them before they put the lifting harness on the capsule. Assuming you watch more of these events, you’ll see them again.

    This is what makes Space X unique. The others designed spacecraft and boosters, then tried to figure out how to recover them. Space X designed recoverability into the whole system. Watching a double booster landing at Cape Canaveral is like watching a video backwards.

  • Joe August 3, 2020, 11:20 PM

    Ahhh, Good ole capitalism. Gets it done every time. Just think, these BLM marxist jerks and antifa commies want to make us another Cuba. We should offer them a one way ticket.

  • Fletcher Christian August 4, 2020, 1:16 AM

    Worth noting, I think, that the capsule is designed to be able to land on solid ground. They didn’t try it this time, understandably.

  • Margot August 4, 2020, 4:12 AM

    The private boat at the splashdown site with the Trump flag was icing on the cake. A fabulous day!

  • james wilson August 4, 2020, 10:48 AM

    A private tax farmer par excellence is the first and bestest into space. Not sure what to make of that.