SpaceX launch today

[david smith]

Here are a couple screenshots I took of the live stream of the launch today.  Launch is at 1633 eastern time (4:33 pm). Live stream is on NASAs YouTube channel.

[Dwayne Donnelly]

Not trying to be a hippy or anything but what is the ultimate goal here, to colonize Mars before the sun gets too hot for earth? The age old argument, they can put a man on the moon but they can't______. Population control should be the major push imho.


Motorman

The same reason we walked out of Africa, the same reason we set sail for new lands, we go places and do things, or at least we used to.

[mike londke]

Not trying to be a hippy or anything but what is the ultimate goal here, to colonize Mars before the sun gets too hot for earth? The age old argument, they can put a man on the moon but they can't______. Population control should be the major push imho.


Motorman

I guess you are drinking the kool-aid with Bill Gates.

[Arlan McKee]

Launch was aborted for today.

[Chris McMillin]

Not trying to be a hippy or anything but what is the ultimate goal here, to colonize Mars before the sun gets too hot for earth? The age old argument, they can put a man on the moon but they can't______. Population control should be the major push imho.


Motorman

Population control is underway but no matter what you think Bill Gates does not plan to let you live.
Chris...

[Mike Griffin]

Not trying to be a hippy or anything but what is the ultimate goal here, to colonize Mars before the sun gets too hot for earth? The age old argument, they can put a man on the moon but they can't______. Population control should be the major push imho.


Motorman

Well if that is your major push, then make a donation to planned parenthood and let real men lead the way.  I guess you would have said the same thing to Lewis and Clarke. 

Mike

[John Watson]

Belay that...…………

[Brett Buck]

 Even aborting is not original, this one aborted twice!

But since you were promised a 2-man capsule launch:



Brett

[FLOYD CARTER]

They are not headed to the moon, or any other planet.  They need a vehicle to service the I.S.S.  (How do you think the ISS people get their breakfast cereal and "stuff"?)

[Dan McEntee]

Lead the way to where? There's another order of magnitude between discovering your continent and exploring the universe.

     Not really, depending on the time period and available technology. The common factor in either endeavor is the balls to do it. One of the biggest pieces of technology that helped Lewis and Clark change the face of the United States? A .46 caliber, 20 shot repeating air rifle.
    Type at you later,
     Dan McEntee

[Mike Griffin]

Lead the way to where? There's another order of magnitude between discovering your continent and exploring the universe.

Do you have any idea of how many inventions we have today as a result of the technology that was developed by space program?  Look it up.  That camera phone in your pocket is just one of many. 

Mike

[Mike Callas]

Not trying to be a hippy or anything but what is the ultimate goal here, to colonize Mars before the sun gets too hot for earth? The age old argument, they can put a man on the moon but they can't______. Population control should be the major push imho.


Motorman

Haven't you heard? The Earth's magnetic poles are switching. In the process, cosmic rays and charged particles will soon migrate away from the ends of the earth and rain down on our heads, scrambling our thoughts and making us write in Pat Paulsen for president.

[Dave Hull]

The fallacy of this argument always remains the same:  it is not an either/or situation. We need to do both, and we need to make a more serious effort. Oddly, it doesn’t start or end with the politicians, unless there are a whole lot of them hiding in the bushes….

I noted that the human factors for this new cockpit were not quite there yet. Bulky helmet and no easy view toward the “bottom” of the panel area. They were constantly pulling on the lower helmet frame to get the leverage to look “down.”  The boots looked pretty Star Trek, too. Didn’t get a clear look at the center console. I’m hoping they have some hand controls and not just touchscreen/swipe interfaces.

I’m wondering if I can get some of that RP-1 they are using in these new Merlins to mix up some diesel fuel for the next trip out to the field, though….

Looking for great things on Saturday!

[Tom Vieira]

Lead the way to where? There's another order of magnitude between discovering your continent and exploring the universe.

Maybe if you judge by our current state of technology..  But the Polynesians embarking on their campaign across the Pacific with zero clue of what's out there, on little more than glorified rafts, i'd call that pretty freakin' significant.  By comparison, Europe was using space shuttles for their expeditions across the Atlantic.  And they covered most of the Pacific by the 1200's...

Gotta keep everything in perspective, and move said perspective when needed....

[Al Ferraro]

I guess you are drinking the kool-aid with Bill Gates.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSvhPnUgyz8&feature=youtu.be
Al

[John Park]

The same reason we walked out of Africa, the same reason we set sail for new lands, we go places and do things, or at least we used to.

In the good old days when some of us Britishers were still crazy in the RIGHT way, a certain George Leigh Mallory gave his famous answer to the question: why try to climb Mount Everest?  Throughout history, people have been saying either: "It's impossible", or "Well, maybe it IS possible, but where's the benefit?  Why bother?"  People like Mallory know why they bother, and may die trying, but when we (the human race, I mean) stop trying, all of us might as well lie down and die.

[Mike Griffin]

In the good old days when some of us Britishers were still crazy in the RIGHT way, a certain George Leigh Mallory gave his famous answer to the question: why try to climb Mount Everest?  Throughout history, people have been saying either: "It's impossible", or "Well, maybe it IS possible, but where's the benefit?  Why bother?"  People like Mallory know why they bother, and may die trying, but when we (the human race, I mean) stop trying, all of us might as well lie down and die.

AMEN John.

Mike

[Andre Ming]

Population control should be the major push imho.

Motorman

Abortion has already pre-empted millions of future US citizens. Who knows? Maybe one of them would already have the cure for cancer? Oh wait, that would mean longer life and more population. Whew, thankfully abortion is in already in place. So, reckon we ought to step it up? Maybe kill more of them? Perhaps limit families? Kill the excess before they're ever born? Then require couples to be neutered and spayed? We do it to pets, don't we?

Also, perhaps we should take a look "us", you know, us old guys that are retired, deriving our livings off our earned retirement systems/etc. There's already been rumblings about our lack of usefulness... so why not consider helping us along to a quicker passing? How about if one contracts an expensive health condition to treat and they're, say, over the age of 70? Why not just let them die? Help them along, even? That would be one more "useless" old person out of the way and free up their retirement income to be redistributed into more restrictive policies and agencies. Shucks, speaking of useless old people, why not euthanasia? You know, put 'em down. That way we can set an age limit, and the useless old person gets to that age, then they get their permanent sleeping pill and take a forever dirt nap? That'll help, too, no?

Do you really THINK about what you're agreeing with??

Andre

[Steve Berry]

Sounds like.....

It depicts a utopian future society on the surface, revealed as a dystopia where the population and the consumption of resources are maintained in equilibrium by killing everyone who reaches the age of thirty. The story follows the actions of Logan 5, a "Sandman" who has terminated others who have attempted to escape death and is now faced with termination himself.

[Tom Vieira]

"Because it's there"...

"On the contrary, gravity is foremost on my mind!  Why don't you go bother Dr. McCoy?"

[BillP]

spaceflightnow dot com has the best live streaming for launches. They are currently steaming with the crew and nasa heads before leaving to board the ship. 

[Brett Buck]

Back on the important track....

    Looks like they are good to go. Unfortunately, you are ending up with a lot of PR/press-agent coverage and not that much about the technical details.

  This might screw up my plans for the evening, there are only so many ground stations.

     Brett

[Brent Williams]

Nicely done SpaceX!  Glad to see the successful launch!

[Dwayne Donnelly]

Well what do you know, Doug and Bob really did "Take off eh."
For us Canadians. 

[Alexey Gorbunov]

Congrats!
Nice flight!

[Mike Griffin]

I literally had tears in my eyes as it went up.  JFK and NASA took us to the moon.  Trump and SPACEX will take us back, and beyond.

Mike

[Dan McEntee]

  I felt like a kid again watching the first Mercury and Gemini "space shots!"  I forget what channel I was watching but was most interested in seeing the booster landing as well as the Dragon making orbit. About the time that it was about 30 or 40 seconds from touchdown, the screen went blank with a message " Of course I still Love You Lost Signal" or something like that. When it came back on it was sitting on the deck. I never get tired of watching those replays of the landings, especially the double and triple landings. The video from inside the crew cabin looked like it was from "2001:Space Odyssey" or something!   Great to see such a successful day.
   Type at you later,
    Dan McEntee

[FLOYD CARTER]

  JFK and NASA took us to the moon.  Trump and SPACEX will take us back, and beyond.

Mike
[/quote]

Not too sure how much Trump had his hand in this.  He did attend the launch, so some of his incredible good luck must have rubbed off.

I'm always happy to learn of a successful launch (especially with people on board).

[Randy Cuberly]

It truly saddens me to think that there are actually people who don't understand why "WE" must go out there and see what is there and learn what existence is really all about.

I believe that is why we are here.  The challenge alone is worth the effort.  We must rise to that challenge or perish. 

SpaceX is overdue and must have our support to survive; and we must have space travel and knowledge to grow.  I believe that is our destiny! 

Randy Cuberly

[Larry Renger]

I am a major fan of the space program. But until we get anti-gravity and faster than light travel we better take care of this planet!

[frank mccune]

     AMEN Larry !!!!

[John Rist]

As I see it, with modern machinery it doesn't take every one to cloth, house, and feed us all.  Se we need some busy work to keep everybody employed. Folks making silly movies takes care of the artsy crafty type.   However the best and brightest in our country become engineers.  So the government providing exciting work for them is a good thing.  The side benefit is that the technology created makes all of lives better.   So as I see it the SpaceX program is a good thing.   If nothing else the more we learn about planet earth the better able we are to keep it healthy.   

[Randy Cuberly]

I am a major fan of the space program. But until we get anti-gravity and faster than light travel we better take care of this planet!

How in the world do you ever suppose that we could possibly get those things without trying???

We had to learn to crawl before we could walk, and walk before we could run....I guess if we followed your prescription we would all still be crawling saying GOO, GOO!

Never have I heard a dumber statement than "We should take care of this planet" presumably before we do anything else like learn how to fly or add 2+2!

Total nonsense in this rush to save the planet!  How do you suppose we could ever do that with "totally stupid people" making the decisions.   Most of the technology and knowledge to possibly "save the planet"  (not that it likely needs any "saving"), except from stupid people that suppose they could actually do anything to "Save It" with current technology, anyway!  What little we do know about that, has likely come from "the space program!

Think about it!  Careful though, don't strain your little brain!

Sorry, but in my opinion most of this "save the planet" nonsense is simply a ploy by certain political factions to gain total control over the United States of America and destroy our way of life.   Power is all they seek.

Right now the "Chinese Communist" government is planning to do just that and they likely have help from people right here at home in the good old USA!

Well that's my RANT for the week!   Let's get back to flying model airplanes!!!
     
Randy Cuberly.

[Larry Renger]

Randy, you seem to have ignored my first comment. I fully support the space program and other scientific efforts.

As far as tiny brain I have a degree in Astronautical Engineering from MIT and membership in Mensa. How about you? 

[john e. holliday]

People saving the planet is part of the planets problems.  When humans have finally illuminated them selves the planet, Mother Earth will still be here in space restoring her self.  Look at the areas that we humans left alone and how it has restored after a disaster.

[BillP]

Back on the important track....

    Looks like they are good to go. Unfortunately, yo u are ending up with a lot of PR/press-agent coverage and not that much about the technical details.

  This might screw up my plans for the evening, there are only so many ground stations.

     Brett

The best tech info you are going to get is from the spaceflightnow web site I posted. They broadcast (like some public stations) NASA'a public channel but also live streaming comments from the tech gurus working at the cape. You won't get that on any public tv station. I retired from the cape in 2015 and that's the web site everyone out there uses.