4 ms·

How many hours early should we arrive to the launch pad? Are laptops allowed?

suprfnk 9y ago
> Are laptops allowed? No idea. But the fastest flight (non stop) from NYC to Shanghai right now is almost 15 hours. This promises 39 minutes. Would you rather fly 15 hours with a laptop than 39 minutes without?
- saiya-jin 9y ago
  39 minutes plus how many hours before & after, so we can compare the whole trip duration? I can give you a nice example - flying from Geneva to Paris is maybe 40 minutes. Taking fast TGV train is 185 minutes. Overall only desperate fools would ever fly this trip (unless continuing to fly someplace else). Train is vastly superior experience - much more room, quicker, no security idiots everywhere. Unless they can land on the main airports or similarly connected places, time gain might not be so great. Flying in the outer space is another thing...
- mtgx 9y ago
  I think that depends on whether or not the ticket is something like 50x more expensive. If Musk is proposing this idea then I assume it won't be too expensive, even for rich people. So it should cost significantly less than what private jet trip costs them (because the BFR is not so private after all). Of course, the faster time to destination should also balance things out, but I have a feeling a trip would be more like 2h with the boat trips and waiting time included, because as others have said, I doubt the launchpad will be that close to shore.
  - jpatokal 9y ago
    You can't fly NYC to Shanghai on a private jet (unless it's a 777 or equivalent, which 99.9% of private jets aren't). This is a real game changer in aviation terms.
    - davepage 9y ago
      Possible in a G650ER http://australianaviation.com.au/2014/05/gulfstream-offers-longer-ranging-g650er/ http://australianaviation.com.au/2014/05/gulfstream-offers-l...
      - stcredzero 9y ago
        At what per-passenger cost?
  - planteen 9y ago
    Latest claim: "elonmusk Fly to most places on Earth in under 30 mins and anywhere in under 60. Cost per seat should be about the same as full fare economy in an aircraft. Forgot to mention that." https://www.instagram.com/p/BZnVfWxgdLe/ https://www.instagram.com/p/BZnVfWxgdLe/ What's a NYC to SHA full fare one way, about $800? I wonder if he is also getting into the fuel business? So if this rocket holds 200 people, that only gives him $160k in revenue. Fuel for the smaller Falcon is more than that per launch. Or is this baseless hype?
    - ulfw 9y ago
      Baseless hype from Elon Musk!? How dare you! He would never do that...
    - gr2020 9y ago
      I think you're off by about a factor of 5. For example, United Airlines unrestricted full fare (Y class), NYC-SHA one way, is a bit over $3800.
    - mjamesaustin 9y ago
      In the presentation he mentions that the payload volume is larger than an A380, which seats 525 passengers in a standard configuration or over 800 passengers in an all-economy configuration. So we're looking at more like $400-$600k revenue per launch. And honestly, if prices came in at 50% more than traditional airlines, you're looking at a hell of a great deal to cut your travel time dramatically.
      - planteen 9y ago
        So say we boost things to 1,000 passengers, cost of full fare is $5000 so people are willing to pay $10,000. Assume passengers and luggage average out to 200 lbs/passenger. You are looking at a revenue per launch of $50/lb. Sure, this is suborbital, but that is nearly 50x cheaper than what it costs to get to LEO using SpaceX right now.
- piquadrat 9y ago
  You'll also be under significant g-forces or zero gravity for large parts of the flight. I, for one, would probably be preoccupied with myself, trying (and failing) not to puke all over the place. For the few minutes I don't stare into my vomit bag, I'd rather enjoy the incredible view out the window than a random excel sheet on my laptop.
  - stcredzero 9y ago
    I, for one, would probably be preoccupied with myself, trying (and failing) not to puke all over the place. Something that many 20-somethings have already perfected over many iterations.
jameshart 9y ago
Laptop manufacturers don't typically include 'maximum operating G' information. Looks like there's a freefall phase during the flight, though, during which a laptop with a physical hard drive would likely enter freefall protection mode. So you'll at least want to use an SSD.
- dmix 9y ago
  Take off/landing are probably a big chunk of any 30min flight, so you'd really only have 15-30min at most being disconnected from your laptop or phone, not a big deal. I'd be totally satisfied just looking out the window... even on my 20th flight I doubt it'd be boring. A built-in tablet that turns on automatically in each seat might solve this problem. But then someone will have to offer wireless internet in space.

> Are laptops allowed? No idea. But the fastest flight (non stop) from NYC to Shanghai right now is almost 15 hours. This promises 39 minutes. Would you rather fly 15 hours with a laptop than 39 minutes without?

saiya-jin 9y ago
39 minutes plus how many hours before & after, so we can compare the whole trip duration? I can give you a nice example - flying from Geneva to Paris is maybe 40 minutes. Taking fast TGV train is 185 minutes. Overall only desperate fools would ever fly this trip (unless continuing to fly someplace else). Train is vastly superior experience - much more room, quicker, no security idiots everywhere. Unless they can land on the main airports or similarly connected places, time gain might not be so great. Flying in the outer space is another thing...
mtgx 9y ago
I think that depends on whether or not the ticket is something like 50x more expensive. If Musk is proposing this idea then I assume it won't be too expensive, even for rich people. So it should cost significantly less than what private jet trip costs them (because the BFR is not so private after all). Of course, the faster time to destination should also balance things out, but I have a feeling a trip would be more like 2h with the boat trips and waiting time included, because as others have said, I doubt the launchpad will be that close to shore.
- jpatokal 9y ago
  You can't fly NYC to Shanghai on a private jet (unless it's a 777 or equivalent, which 99.9% of private jets aren't). This is a real game changer in aviation terms.
  - davepage 9y ago
    Possible in a G650ER http://australianaviation.com.au/2014/05/gulfstream-offers-longer-ranging-g650er/ http://australianaviation.com.au/2014/05/gulfstream-offers-l...
    - stcredzero 9y ago
      At what per-passenger cost?
- planteen 9y ago
  Latest claim: "elonmusk Fly to most places on Earth in under 30 mins and anywhere in under 60. Cost per seat should be about the same as full fare economy in an aircraft. Forgot to mention that." https://www.instagram.com/p/BZnVfWxgdLe/ https://www.instagram.com/p/BZnVfWxgdLe/ What's a NYC to SHA full fare one way, about $800? I wonder if he is also getting into the fuel business? So if this rocket holds 200 people, that only gives him $160k in revenue. Fuel for the smaller Falcon is more than that per launch. Or is this baseless hype?
  - ulfw 9y ago
    Baseless hype from Elon Musk!? How dare you! He would never do that...
  - gr2020 9y ago
    I think you're off by about a factor of 5. For example, United Airlines unrestricted full fare (Y class), NYC-SHA one way, is a bit over $3800.
  - mjamesaustin 9y ago
    In the presentation he mentions that the payload volume is larger than an A380, which seats 525 passengers in a standard configuration or over 800 passengers in an all-economy configuration. So we're looking at more like $400-$600k revenue per launch. And honestly, if prices came in at 50% more than traditional airlines, you're looking at a hell of a great deal to cut your travel time dramatically.
    - planteen 9y ago
      So say we boost things to 1,000 passengers, cost of full fare is $5000 so people are willing to pay $10,000. Assume passengers and luggage average out to 200 lbs/passenger. You are looking at a revenue per launch of $50/lb. Sure, this is suborbital, but that is nearly 50x cheaper than what it costs to get to LEO using SpaceX right now.
piquadrat 9y ago
You'll also be under significant g-forces or zero gravity for large parts of the flight. I, for one, would probably be preoccupied with myself, trying (and failing) not to puke all over the place. For the few minutes I don't stare into my vomit bag, I'd rather enjoy the incredible view out the window than a random excel sheet on my laptop.
- stcredzero 9y ago
  I, for one, would probably be preoccupied with myself, trying (and failing) not to puke all over the place. Something that many 20-somethings have already perfected over many iterations.

jameshart 9y ago

Laptop manufacturers don't typically include 'maximum operating G' information. Looks like there's a freefall phase during the flight, though, during which a laptop with a physical hard drive would likely enter freefall protection mode. So you'll at least want to use an SSD.

dmix 9y ago
Take off/landing are probably a big chunk of any 30min flight, so you'd really only have 15-30min at most being disconnected from your laptop or phone, not a big deal. I'd be totally satisfied just looking out the window... even on my 20th flight I doubt it'd be boring. A built-in tablet that turns on automatically in each seat might solve this problem. But then someone will have to offer wireless internet in space.