SpaceX's Falcon Rocket Explodes Catastrophically En Route to ISS

[PatrickJS]

Oof. Disappointing morning. I've updated the article with the latest video.

 

[Xaryn Mar]

3 strikes and out? Damn I wish I remembered who I had an argument with in regards to space x lack of ability after the second failure.

This is SpaceX's first rocket failure. The other two were another private company and a Russian rocket.

 

[CeeBod]

SpaceX and Airbus are American though, while the SABRE engine is being worked on by a UK company. The plans so far suggest launching SKYLON flights from The ESA facilities in French Guinnea.

Whenever I get a really boring day at work I love checking out Reaction Engines website to remind myself that cool and awesome stuff is happening somewhere!

One minor pick of the nit though - Airbus are French, and based in Toulouse, not American. And I linked to it in another thread but another reminder of potential space-travel related awesome is the Japanese engineering company that said "Yeah we can totally build a Space Elevator by 2050": http://www.obayashi.co.jp/english/special/2014110424.html .One of those would make a much bigger difference to haulage costs to and from orbit than any 20 rocket improvements.

 

[Paradoxrifts]

What was the price of the gear it was supposed to be carrying for the International Space Station? Anyone?

 

[CrystalShadow]

SpaceX and Airbus are American though, while the SABRE engine is being worked on by a UK company. The plans so far suggest launching SKYLON flights from The ESA facilities in French Guinnea.

Whenever I get a really boring day at work I love checking out Reaction Engines website to remind myself that cool and awesome stuff is happening somewhere!

One minor pick of the nit though - Airbus are French, and based in Toulouse, not American. And I linked to it in another thread but another reminder of potential space-travel related awesome is the Japanese engineering company that said "Yeah we can totally build a Space Elevator by 2050": http://www.obayashi.co.jp/english/special/2014110424.html .One of those would make a much bigger difference to haulage costs to and from orbit than any 20 rocket improvements.

~facepalm~ Sorry. Yes. Airbus is french. Or rather, a trans-european alliance/merger of several older european aircraft manufacturers.
My brain routinely does stupid things and mixes up facts. In this case, confusing airbus for boing. ~sigh~

Yeah, a space elevator would make a dent that no rocket system ever could, though... Building one would be an immense challenge, for sure.

They seem to have plans, but at the same time say the prerequisite technology doesn't exist...
Would be impressive if it worked, but meanwhile we have rocket designs for which most of the core components already exist, or are currently undergoing testing...

That's slightly different in terms of ever actually seeing these things in action. XD

SpaceX is doing test-launches of actual rockets. REL is doing engine tests...
This japanese company has said 'yeah, we can do it, we're just waiting on rhe technology to catch up'

Still. Will be fun to witness. If I live that long. XD. Eh. If they manage that schedule, I probably will, barring accidents...
I'll be old though. XD

 

[P-89 Scorpion]

If we won't have corporations taking us into space, then no-one will. Governments already think it's too expensive, so if the private sector won't do it we'll probably never get to colonize other planets.

We'll never get to colonise other planet's anyway. Even visiting mars like we once did the moon is unlikely.

Take the current NASA mars capsule for a 16 month mission for 4 people, it would be 56 feet long, with a diameter of 16 feet.

Picture that 4 people stuck in a ship of that size for 16 months. The stress would be terrible and everything would be rationed no having a snack if your hungry no having a drink if your thirsty everything rationed because there is no resupply, everything is measured to the gram.

 

[Jadak]

If we won't have corporations taking us into space, then no-one will. Governments already think it's too expensive, so if the private sector won't do it we'll probably never get to colonize other planets.

We'll never get to colonise other planet's anyway. Even visiting mars like we once did the moon is unlikely.

Take the current NASA mars capsule for a 16 month mission for 4 people, it would be 56 feet long, with a diameter of 16 feet.

Picture that 4 people stuck in a ship of that size for 16 months. The stress would be terrible and everything would be rationed no having a snack if your hungry no having a drink if your thirsty everything rationed because there is no resupply, everything is measured to the gram.

Indeed. 'Never', may be overstating it, but commercialization isn't likely to change the reality that conventional propulsion simply isn't well suited to the task at hand. It takes a ton of fuel to get anything into orbit, and a ton of time to get anywhere, and good luck doing anything once you get there.

Even practical mining operations of asteroids and such are a ways off, but we're not likely to see anything resembling colonization without fancy sci fi gadgets that trivialize the obstacles of gravity and distance.

 

[P-89 Scorpion]

Indeed. 'Never', may be overstating it, but commercialization isn't likely to change the reality that conventional propulsion simply isn't well suited to the task at hand. It takes a ton of fuel to get anything into orbit, and a ton of time to get anywhere, and good luck doing anything once you get there.

Even practical mining operations of asteroids and such are a ways off, but we're not likely to see anything resembling colonization without fancy sci fi gadgets that trivialize the obstacles of gravity and distance.

Well never in regards to our lifetime anyway, so I don't expect anything before 2100 barring any unforeseen technological breakthroughs.

 

[Alfador_VII]

1 failure in 19 launches, that's still very reliable for a rocket.

Ok, the landing the booster on a barge part hasn't worked yet, but that's not part of the primary mission.

 

[Kathinka]

Damn this looks exactly like something I threw together with my last few bucks in Kerbal Space Program career mode last night.

Ended about as well too.

 

[008Zulu_v1legacy]

I think privatising space travel would be quite beneficial. Big corporations often have access to more resources and better scientists. They are motivated by profit, which in this instance is a good thing. They will only go to places that will provide tangible benefits. It saves money in the long run.