7 ms·

or may be people are realizing that this was not really a big deal in the first place.....

binarytransform 9y ago
Yeah we should go back to following the jitney cab news.
imron 9y ago
Haha, yeah, not really any big deal. I mean they're only the only company among all companies and/or nation states with launch capabilities who have ever done it in the history of space travel.
- babyrainbow 9y ago
  > I mean they're only the only company among all companies and/or nation states with launch capabilities who have ever done it in the history of space travel. That assumes all of them were trying to do it all this time, and were failing all the time, which is not true. I mean, we had control systems in missiles that could track a jet that is doing evasive maneuverer while going as fast as a bullet..like what? half a century ago? Seriously. i don't think landing a small rocket on a barge comes anywhere close to that...
  - simonh 9y ago
    This thing is powerful enough to put a capsule designed for 7 people into orbit. Not being one of the biggest ever doesn't make it small.
  - imron 9y ago
    Note the reusable part. That sort of tracking is much easier if you don't need to resuse the hardware afterwards. Anyway, anyone else who wants to be able to compete with SpaceX on price is going to need to start doing this before too long, so we'll see how difficult it is.
    - babyrainbow 9y ago
      > That sort of tracking is much easier if you don't need to resuse the hardware afterwards. Says who? Your tracking is either precise or it is not. What you are using the precision for is immaterial in this regard.. >anyone else who wants to be able to compete with SpaceX on price is going to need to start doing this before too long, so we'll see how difficult it is. Wait a minute. Are you seriously calming that spacex is the only company that have landed a rocket successfully?
      - diggernet 9y ago
        Imron said "compete with SpaceX". I don't follow developments real closely, so could easily have missed something. Can you point me to any other company which has landed a rocket after putting a payload in orbit? Because if they aren't deploying payloads, they aren't competing with SpaceX. (Yes, NASA and Bezos have landed rockets, but only straight up & straight down. Nothing close to orbital velocity.)
        babyrainbow 9y ago
        >Can you point me to any other company which has landed a rocket after putting a payload in orbit? Because if they aren't deploying payloads, they aren't competing with SpaceX. Alright then. It might be true no one else had done this. but take a look at this, which might explain why no one else is doing it.. [1] https://www.quora.com/Havent-other-space-companies-thought-of-reusable-rockets https://www.quora.com/Havent-other-space-companies-thought-o...
        grkvlt 9y ago
        Note that the Falcon 9 first stage is not travelling at orbital velocity, or even that near it really. At separation time -- when it starts to slow down to re-enter -- "[f]or a reusable Falcon 9, [speed] is around Mach 6, depending on the mission." (Quoting Elon Musk, the SpaceX CEO, on Twitter.)
- LoSboccacc 9y ago
  cough space shuttle cough and its boosters cough
  - will_hughes 9y ago
    The STS was reusable in name only. They discarded the fuel tank, and the SRBs landing in the ocean required a dive team and significant refurbishment before they could be reused. Even the shuttle itself required significant refurbishment before it could be reused.
    - LoSboccacc 9y ago
      True but the claim that Space X was the first company to ever think about reusable space vectors is laughable at best.
      - imron 9y ago
        No-one claimed that.
        babyrainbow 9y ago
        But everyone is acting like that. I mean, isn't it the oldest trick in the pr/advertisement process. To create an impression without actually claiming anything. Interesting.
        SimbaOnSteroids 9y ago
        I mean yes it can be, but this isn't really an instance of that. What SpaceX has done is create a reusable booster which lands using retrograde rockets. This is a big deal because with retrograde rockets you can land the thing with precision and upright. Whereas with parachutes you'd end up having a high probability that the rocket would land in a precarious position because it's then at the mercy of the wind much more than the retrograde landing is. It's kinda like well no Henry Ford didn't invent the car, but he made the car affordable. Heck he didn't even invent the assembly line but he sure did use it in a different way. Elon is doing to the rocket industry what Ford did to the car industry. Making it more accessible.
- geezerjay 9y ago
  There are plenty of companies who are the only company that manage to do something ever in the history of something. For example Boston Dynamics had an autonomous robotic mule that can travel pretty much through any terrain. How awesome is that? Yet, that doesn't make the evening news, does it? In this case, SpaceX is a company that managed to reuse the same equipment to try to cut their operational costs. Well, that's neat and all, but do you understand why no one stays up late at night to watch this sort of stuff happen live? Or at all?
  - greglindahl 9y ago
    "no one" is a bit strong when Hacker News has multiple people who stay up late a night to watch this kind of stuff happen live -- see all of the complaints about Elon fanboys over the years?

Yeah we should go back to following the jitney cab news.

Haha, yeah, not really any big deal. I mean they're only the only company among all companies and/or nation states with launch capabilities who have ever done it in the history of space travel.

babyrainbow 9y ago
> I mean they're only the only company among all companies and/or nation states with launch capabilities who have ever done it in the history of space travel. That assumes all of them were trying to do it all this time, and were failing all the time, which is not true. I mean, we had control systems in missiles that could track a jet that is doing evasive maneuverer while going as fast as a bullet..like what? half a century ago? Seriously. i don't think landing a small rocket on a barge comes anywhere close to that...
- simonh 9y ago
  This thing is powerful enough to put a capsule designed for 7 people into orbit. Not being one of the biggest ever doesn't make it small.
- imron 9y ago
  Note the reusable part. That sort of tracking is much easier if you don't need to resuse the hardware afterwards. Anyway, anyone else who wants to be able to compete with SpaceX on price is going to need to start doing this before too long, so we'll see how difficult it is.
  - babyrainbow 9y ago
    > That sort of tracking is much easier if you don't need to resuse the hardware afterwards. Says who? Your tracking is either precise or it is not. What you are using the precision for is immaterial in this regard.. >anyone else who wants to be able to compete with SpaceX on price is going to need to start doing this before too long, so we'll see how difficult it is. Wait a minute. Are you seriously calming that spacex is the only company that have landed a rocket successfully?
    - diggernet 9y ago
      Imron said "compete with SpaceX". I don't follow developments real closely, so could easily have missed something. Can you point me to any other company which has landed a rocket after putting a payload in orbit? Because if they aren't deploying payloads, they aren't competing with SpaceX. (Yes, NASA and Bezos have landed rockets, but only straight up & straight down. Nothing close to orbital velocity.)
      - babyrainbow 9y ago
        >Can you point me to any other company which has landed a rocket after putting a payload in orbit? Because if they aren't deploying payloads, they aren't competing with SpaceX. Alright then. It might be true no one else had done this. but take a look at this, which might explain why no one else is doing it.. [1] https://www.quora.com/Havent-other-space-companies-thought-of-reusable-rockets https://www.quora.com/Havent-other-space-companies-thought-o...
      - grkvlt 9y ago
        Note that the Falcon 9 first stage is not travelling at orbital velocity, or even that near it really. At separation time -- when it starts to slow down to re-enter -- "[f]or a reusable Falcon 9, [speed] is around Mach 6, depending on the mission." (Quoting Elon Musk, the SpaceX CEO, on Twitter.)
LoSboccacc 9y ago
cough space shuttle cough and its boosters cough
- will_hughes 9y ago
  The STS was reusable in name only. They discarded the fuel tank, and the SRBs landing in the ocean required a dive team and significant refurbishment before they could be reused. Even the shuttle itself required significant refurbishment before it could be reused.
  - LoSboccacc 9y ago
    True but the claim that Space X was the first company to ever think about reusable space vectors is laughable at best.
    - imron 9y ago
      No-one claimed that.
      - babyrainbow 9y ago
        But everyone is acting like that. I mean, isn't it the oldest trick in the pr/advertisement process. To create an impression without actually claiming anything. Interesting.
        SimbaOnSteroids 9y ago
        I mean yes it can be, but this isn't really an instance of that. What SpaceX has done is create a reusable booster which lands using retrograde rockets. This is a big deal because with retrograde rockets you can land the thing with precision and upright. Whereas with parachutes you'd end up having a high probability that the rocket would land in a precarious position because it's then at the mercy of the wind much more than the retrograde landing is. It's kinda like well no Henry Ford didn't invent the car, but he made the car affordable. Heck he didn't even invent the assembly line but he sure did use it in a different way. Elon is doing to the rocket industry what Ford did to the car industry. Making it more accessible.
geezerjay 9y ago
There are plenty of companies who are the only company that manage to do something ever in the history of something. For example Boston Dynamics had an autonomous robotic mule that can travel pretty much through any terrain. How awesome is that? Yet, that doesn't make the evening news, does it? In this case, SpaceX is a company that managed to reuse the same equipment to try to cut their operational costs. Well, that's neat and all, but do you understand why no one stays up late at night to watch this sort of stuff happen live? Or at all?
- greglindahl 9y ago
  "no one" is a bit strong when Hacker News has multiple people who stay up late a night to watch this kind of stuff happen live -- see all of the complaints about Elon fanboys over the years?