9 thoughts on “Is SpaceX Changing The Rocket Equation?”
A pretty fair summary, I’d say. I hope they succeed.
I wish I was smart enough to work at SpaceX. I would seriously kiss a random hobo on the mouth for the chance to sweep the floors there, but I don’t think that’s the skill set they’re looking for.
No, but that would get you a long way in many other organizations….
Wow, I didn’t know they purposefully dropped a couple of stainless nuts down the fuel line of a running Merlin engine and it survived. That’s uber!
Nice article, except for the quotes from an unnamed “senior NASA manager”.. that sounds like something Mark Whittington would write and is less than I expect from this publication. Could Chaikin really not find a single SpaceX skeptic willing to go on the record?
I wish Mr. Musk would come right out and say it. “Our ships are the best-engineered, best-built, most thoroughly tested spacecraft man has ever built. And yet one day, one of our rockets is going to fail, and people are going to die. That’s a fact. And when that day comes, we’ll mourn, and we’ll fix whatever it is that failed, and we’ll keep going. Because death is the price you pay for the opening of a frontier.”
I’m sure his investors would not approve, but it needs to be said. How many people died along the Oregon Trail? Pioneers know the risks. Musk recognizes this. By “pre-empting” the naysayers, he can build a foundation of trust and public support that SpaceX will need when statistical reality comes calling.
I deeply admire Musk. He’s a visionary in the great American tradition — a risk-taker with the bux to back up the balls. I thought the breed extinct. If he can keep it together, and if he can dodge the dreamkillers in Washington and elsewhere, he could be the real Delos D. Harriman.
Maybe this won’t work in a vacuum? Then how about Mars?
Phillip K. Dick’s Autofac left a lasting impression on me.
I left the following comment there. It hasn’t shown up yet.
Very nice article. I was a little kid in the 60s and avidly watched every Gemini and Apollo flight. I’m a little too young to remember Mercury, though. When the Shuttle first flew, I marveled at the feat of engineering that could create a reusable space plane. Alas, the Shuttle’s initial promise of making space flight routine never came to pass.
SpaceX has brought back the Wow! factor for me. I watched Dragon’s first test flight last December with more excitement than I’ve had for any flight since the heyday of the 60s and early 70s. And the fact that the first flight was only two orbits, and a few hours from launch to splashdown, gave me an inkling of what those early Mercury flights must have been like.
I’m eagerly anticipating the next flight, and I’m going to be holding my breath and crossing my fingers. It will be the most important launch in decades; perhaps since the 1988 return to flight following the Challenger disaster.
A pretty fair summary, I’d say. I hope they succeed.
I wish I was smart enough to work at SpaceX. I would seriously kiss a random hobo on the mouth for the chance to sweep the floors there, but I don’t think that’s the skill set they’re looking for.
No, but that would get you a long way in many other organizations….
Wow, I didn’t know they purposefully dropped a couple of stainless nuts down the fuel line of a running Merlin engine and it survived. That’s uber!
Nice article, except for the quotes from an unnamed “senior NASA manager”.. that sounds like something Mark Whittington would write and is less than I expect from this publication. Could Chaikin really not find a single SpaceX skeptic willing to go on the record?
I wish Mr. Musk would come right out and say it. “Our ships are the best-engineered, best-built, most thoroughly tested spacecraft man has ever built. And yet one day, one of our rockets is going to fail, and people are going to die. That’s a fact. And when that day comes, we’ll mourn, and we’ll fix whatever it is that failed, and we’ll keep going. Because death is the price you pay for the opening of a frontier.”
I’m sure his investors would not approve, but it needs to be said. How many people died along the Oregon Trail? Pioneers know the risks. Musk recognizes this. By “pre-empting” the naysayers, he can build a foundation of trust and public support that SpaceX will need when statistical reality comes calling.
I deeply admire Musk. He’s a visionary in the great American tradition — a risk-taker with the bux to back up the balls. I thought the breed extinct. If he can keep it together, and if he can dodge the dreamkillers in Washington and elsewhere, he could be the real Delos D. Harriman.
“You have died of dysentery.“
Interesting site. I like this:
http://www.geek.com/articles/geek-cetera/robot-creates-its-own-spray-foam-body-then-starts-walking-20111020/
Maybe this won’t work in a vacuum? Then how about Mars?
Phillip K. Dick’s Autofac left a lasting impression on me.
I left the following comment there. It hasn’t shown up yet.
Very nice article. I was a little kid in the 60s and avidly watched every Gemini and Apollo flight. I’m a little too young to remember Mercury, though. When the Shuttle first flew, I marveled at the feat of engineering that could create a reusable space plane. Alas, the Shuttle’s initial promise of making space flight routine never came to pass.
SpaceX has brought back the Wow! factor for me. I watched Dragon’s first test flight last December with more excitement than I’ve had for any flight since the heyday of the 60s and early 70s. And the fact that the first flight was only two orbits, and a few hours from launch to splashdown, gave me an inkling of what those early Mercury flights must have been like.
I’m eagerly anticipating the next flight, and I’m going to be holding my breath and crossing my fingers. It will be the most important launch in decades; perhaps since the 1988 return to flight following the Challenger disaster.