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Watch the SpaceX Falcon Heavy Rocket Launch Today
- pavel_lishin 9y agoOh man, I didn't realize this was going to go into a solar orbit! I thought it was just going to stay in LEO and then eventually burn up on re-entry.
- TeMPOraL 9y agoIf you missed that, then wait until you learn what's the test payload...
- swarnie_ 9y agoI wonder if this event will get a mention in marketing classes in the future...
- imron 9y agoFor the curious, it's Musk's midnight-cherry red Tesla roadster, with a dummy in a spacesuit in the drivers seat, David Bowie playing on the stereo, and a towel in the glove box along with a copy of hitchhikers guide to the galaxy and a sign that says Don't Panic.
- digdugdirk 9y agoThat's great. Where did you find this info on the payload?
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- imron 9y agoInitially from Musk's Twitter feed, but there's now also a Wikipedia entry about the car: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elon_Musk's_Tesla_Roadster https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elon_Musk's_Tesla_Roadster There's also an artists rendition of the launch and payload on spacex's YouTube channel (titled: Falcon Heavy Animation)
- overcast 9y agoNot only that, it's being set into orbit around the sun.
- imron 9y agoYep, and not just for kicks, it's also to demonstrate they can launch a payload far enough to reach the orbit of Mars if required.
- kunkurus 9y agoI understand now. Is because of vogons that we need to colonize Mars.
- Symmetry 9y agoIt might still end up in LEO. SpaceX wants to demonstrate to interested parties that they can coast for 6 hours then do a second burn of the upper stage. That's important for some payloads to GEO. So they're going to put the Tesla in LEO then 6 hours later do an insertion burn into solar orbit. If something about the coast fails then you will end up with a Tesla in LEO.
- JoeDaDude 9y agoSome discussion/speculation about the orbit the Tesla will end up in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=md0K_eRSHAE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=md0K_eRSHAE
- Ftuuky 9y agoI'm not american or connected in any form or shape to the aerospace industry and yet I feel so excited for watching this. It has been absolutely mind-blowing watching all those rockets landing perfectly.
- mwambua 9y agoSame here. I'm not American, or working in the Aerospace industry... but watching Musk has had a spurring effect for me. He's a constant reminder that the impossible is possible and that you should keep trying even if it turns out it's impossible. I'm stressed out because I need to get my thesis done soon, but he's worried because he needs to perfectly launch a Tesla Roadster into Solar orbit, and vertically land three first-stages so he can do it again.
- jacquesm 9y ago4 hours to go... I'm on the wrong continent :( I would have definitely gone there to view the launch, it's a real milestone and I so hope that it will work.
- alex_duf 9y agoI think the day we send people to Mars, never mind the fact I'm living in Europe, I'll take a holiday and flight to see that rocket take off... I already missed the Saturn V going to the moon (wasn't born), there aren't that many positive, predictable historical moments like that in a life time
- jacquesm 9y ago> I already missed the Saturn V going to the moon (wasn't born), there aren't that many positive, predictable historical moments like that in a life time I was 4 years old when that happened and it is as far as I can tell my earliest memory. We had this incredibly small black-and-white TV and watching that really impressed me, the moon never looked the same afterwards. Incidentally, that live broadcast was quite a thing to pull off: https://www.popsci.com/how-nasa-broadcast-neil-armstrong-live-from-moon https://www.popsci.com/how-nasa-broadcast-neil-armstrong-liv...
- icc97 9y agoMy daughter is 5yo for this launch, here's hoping this can have a similar impact.
- jacquesm 9y agoDid she like it?
- icc97 9y agoShe was more interested in the animation than the launch. Overall a bit underwhelmed, slightly intruiged by the launch but not much more. She's not quite sure why daddy is so excited that there's a car floating around in space. I clearly need to work on her inner space geek.
- aerodog 9y agoTry http://www.spacex.com/webcast http://www.spacex.com/webcast Or https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbSwFU6tY1c https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbSwFU6tY1c
- robinp 9y agoElon leaving... Stock markets crash...
- MichaelMoser123 9y agoi was just thinking if a possible downturn would have any effects on his plans of settling the solar system. (for me as a lowly grunt a downturn always means switching to work with a different industry, but who cares except for me.) If this launch of Falcon Heavy becomes its last one then it would be so similar to the Buran shuttle.
- Robotbeat 9y agoThis is more like a Proton launch. Proton and R7/Soyuz survived the fall of the Soviet Union because they were cheap. BFR might be more like Buran/Energia.
- JBiserkov 9y agoThe linked chart is also very informative: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/science/spacex-falcon-launch.html https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/science/spacex-falc... I only wished it showed successful landings as well.
- Klathmon 9y agoI can't put into words how excited I am for this launch today. I remember back in 2012 where spacex was still a laughingstock. The idea of landing a rocket from a private company was a joke. But SpaceX always did one thing right, they made many care about space again. They broadcast their launches, made a bit of a show of it, and they weren't ashamed of their failures. Then they started breaking milestones. They increased their launch cadence in what felt like overnight. They were actually trying (and failing) to land rockets, but they were still broadcasting them! Then they landed the first one on land, then the first one on a barge, then they re-launched rockets (and re-landed them!). Now it's weird when a rocket is launched in "expendable mode"! I wanted to start this comment saying this is the most excited I've been of any launch in a long time, but when I really thought about it, it's not. There have been half a dozen launches in the past few years from SpaceX that were just as exciting, and that's amazing. I hope today's launch goes well, and I hope this is the start of the "new normal"!
- pmcollins 9y ago> I remember back in 2012 where spacex was still a laughingstock I can't help but draw a parallel to how Tesla is considered by the old guard to be a laughingstock today. See https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16305520 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16305520
- chasd00 9y agoan exgf of mine describes Musk as an alien stuck on earth and needs humans to help him develop the technology to get back home. It fits haha
- pensivemood 9y agoAn alien won't be this good at human PR.
- TeMPOraL 9y agoHe really is an alien. Human PR usually involves making a slick show, and having skilled communicators express vague messages full of bullshit. Musk is an exact opposite of that.
- dantheman 9y agoI can't wait -- this is one of the most exciting and inspirational events of the year. Best of luck to the spacex team -- we'll be watching!
- chasd00 9y agowas planning on buying tickets but they sold out before I could get arrangements made with work and family. I grew up in Port Orange FL and could see the shuttle launch from New Smyrna Beach, there's nothing like seeing a launch in person. My colleagues are a little annoyed how excited I am but I can't help it hah. Weather looks good so here's hoping for no delays!
- dogma1138 9y agoYou can watch the launch without buying tickets to KSC there are plenty of spots hobbiest go to watch them without tickets.
- toomuchtodo 9y agoSitting on the bleachers just inside Canaveral AFB watching now, no tickets required!
- VikingCoder 9y agoA thought I've had about SpaceX, Crazy Horse Memorial, and 9/11... They were all once the kind of things that only nation-states could accomplish... Putting up massive payloads into space, building huge monuments, and killing thousands of people. We've made all kinds of things easier to do - some good, some bad. I hope we continue to grow into our capabilities a bit more smoothly than we seem to be, right now...
- Faaak 9y agoI think there's a little difference between thousands of engineers building a rocket and 4 idiots crashing a plane down…
- ryanwaggoner 9y agoAs horrific as 9/11 was, it’s not fair to characterize it as 4 idiots bringing down a plane. It was 19 people who led a coordinated attack that took hundreds of people, millions of dollars, and years to plan and execute. In the process, they brought down 4 airplanes, damaged the pentagon, and toppled TWO skyscrapers, killing thousands of people in the process. Looking back at the 17 years since, they indirectly started multiple wars, toppled governments, inspired a generation of terrorists, and changed the geopolitical situation in the Middle East for decades, at least. Again, it was horrible and we should condemn it, but it was also a lot more strategically impressive and impactful than you’re making it out to be.
- jacquesm 9y agoTheir biggest success was to enlist their foes in achieving their goals. That's the part I will never understand.
- Robotbeat 9y agoFalcon Heavy is just a toe in the door of super heavy launch. BFR will have 31 engines at liftoff compared to Falcon Heavy's 27. BFR will be about twice the thrust of Falcon Heavy, and most importantly BFR is not just a launch vehicle (which gives SpaceX a big edge in deploying megaconstellations of low-latency internet satellites), but the upper stage part will be a spacecraft capable of reentering the Earth's atmosphere with a payload and crew like Shuttle but also capable of being refueled and landing on (and taking off from) distant worlds. Falcon Heavy really helps provide this necessary interim step, and will help build a manifest of large payloads that BFR will be able to take over. SpaceX is increasingly serious about BFR, their next-gen rocket which is like an enormous, fully reusable hybrid of Shuttle and Falcon 9 using soot-free and higher performing methane (which can also be made on Mars in a fairly straightforward process) instead of kerosene. Musk mentioned BFR multiple times in the pre-launch press conference yesterday: https://soundcloud.com/geekwire/elon-musk-discusses-the-launch-and-flight-of-the-falcon-heavy-rocket https://soundcloud.com/geekwire/elon-musk-discusses-the-laun... They're cancelling lunar Dragon+FH to focus on BFR which is making more progress than they expected. They plan to start flight testing the upper stage/spaceship portion of it by next year according to Elon in the prelaunch press conference. Falcon Heavy was originally supposed to fly about as often as Falcon 9, but they upgraded Falcon 9 so much that now they barely need Falcon Heavy, as amazing as Falcon Heavy is. Super excited about all this.
- chasd00 9y agoyeah i think BFR and the upgraded Falcon 9 pretty much obsoletes Falcon Heavy almost immediately. The Heavy just took so long to put together, it was suppose to fly 4 or 5 years ago right? I've heard it reported that the Falcon Heavy engineering was much harder than anticipated. Does anyone know what some of the major obstacles were? The concept seems straightforward but where did they start getting into trouble?
- emilecantin 9y agoI remember reading a quote from Elon where he says that at some point, they realised it's less "strapping three cores together" than "flying three cores in very close formation" The stresses involved are truly enormous, and the whole thing must be very well balanced to avoid putting even more stresses on the frame. Something as stupid as fueling the rocket needs to be done with care, as they're dealing with super-chilled liquid oxygen: The cold temperatures make the rocket contract a little bit, you have to make sure all three boosters contract exactly the same otherwise you can break the attachment points.
- janlaureys 9y agoThere was a media event yesterday at the launch site. Look how tiny those people are in this picture: https://i.redd.it/pq77omcrwge01.jpg https://i.redd.it/pq77omcrwge01.jpg
- icc97 9y agoAbout the height of the letters on the side of the rocket coincidentally enough.
- SteveGregory 9y agoHere's a to-scale graph of the launch: https://imgur.com/a/XvPXG https://imgur.com/a/XvPXG
- IshKebab 9y agoAh amazing! I've been vaguely looking for exactly this since they started landing boosters and this is the first accurate one I've seen.
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- speg 9y agoAnyone know where to watch that isn't Youtube? Blocked at work :(
- swarnie_ 9y agohttp://www.spacex.com/webcast http://www.spacex.com/webcast
- speg 9y agoThat's just a Youtube embed.
- oh_sigh 9y agostream it on your phone over your own data connection. Or, just wait until you get home tonight. I don't know if you've watched the webcasts in the past but the video footage frequently cuts out during the most exciting times(probably due to the fact that a big rocket is blasting them around). So, frequently, the replay footage is much better than the live event.
- Symmetry 9y agoRemember that Elon is saying there's even odds the rocket explodes. 2 failures in the first 10 launches is par for the course for new rockets. You can do better by being paranoid like ULA but that slows down innovation which is not the tradeoff SpaceX is going to take.
- Shelnutt2 9y agoThe webcast now says it is going live at "February 6, 14:50 EST". Any official word on a delay? I know the window was from 13:30 EST to I believe 16:00 EST. Edit: Looks like delayed due to upper level winds. https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/960920426485399552 https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/960920426485399552
- jacquesm 9y agoHah, They Did It :) That makes me so happy. What an incredible space ballet.
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]