About twenty minutes until the Space X launch. Weather at the Cape looks good, but down range is still a question mark.
This is the fruition of a long term strategy by NASA to move the business of LEO launches to the private sector so that they could return to their mission of exploration.
So far: It’s like butter!
That was thrilling.
And the first launch my kids ever saw.
It still amazes me how they can land that rocket on a boat out in the ocean.
But yeah, that was great. With all the shit going on in this country and around the world, it brought a bit of joy to everyone.
Excepting it’s not. The taxpayers paid for every dollar of this "“SpaceX” program, which has nothing to do with placing satellites into orbit (that’s a different program altogether).
Taxpayers have been paying the Russian government to launch American astronauts for nine years. Prior to that the U.S. government, in the form of NASA, built their own rockets with private American companies as suppliers.
Now, the U.S. government, in the form of NASA, will pay a private American company to launch American astronauts into space. Soon, private companies will supply all of the launch capability required for satellite launch. NASA has shifted their focus from LEO launch capability to the return to the moon and exploration of Mars.
I have no idea what your argument is.
fhis post brings up memories both space wise (many launches watched) and owa wise but not sure about the spelling
I am fortunate to have seen the shuttle go up in the late '90s from the Cape. It was a late night lift-off and the energy from the ignition and blast-off is astonishing. For about two minutes it looks like it is early morning with the orangish glow on the bay. Driving to the Cape was also interesting with all of the folks walking to the site carrying coolers and lawn chairs. Looked like a geriatric Woodstock.
I saw a launch with chuck from the bleachers of a spring training game. It was a controversial - at the time - secret payload.
True. I think that was the same day your famously reliable cell phone crapped out on you and you whirled around and looked at me with suspicion and outrage.
I am still convinced that AT&T throws a cone of no signal over you.
They must. I’m now on my brother’s family plan with T-Mobile and it works a treat. You also get free international data which means I can light off to most anywhere in the world and don’t have to go through the gyrations of figuring out how to buy a local sim chip and loading it with data. OutSTANding!
Wow, even I, AT&T’s chosen one for signal, don’t get free international data. I have to pay $10/day for unlimited talk/text/data outside the US. It’s pretty hassle free though, they charge me for days I use it, no charge if I don’t. It’s easy and convenient, though perhaps expensive if you use it more than a few days per month.
That’s why I mention it. I was paying $100 a month to your beloved AT&T for some shit I use a few weeks a year. One day it dawned on me that I could add myself to their plan for, I don’t know what it is, $15 a month? THEN I discover that those motherscratchers give you free international data. All you have to do is ask for it. They dial it down some, it’s not LTE speed or whatever, but I’ve used it in countless countries and it is more than fast enough for email and web browsing and easily supports calls over whatsapp which is how I usually communicate with my people when I’m on the move.
Yeah, it is unnecessarily excellent.
I’ve read it five times and can’t figure it out. How dare the government use taxpayer funds to accomplish desirable goals? It’s certainly better than the alternative.
I was staying at a hotel in a work visit to the Cape and my coworker decided organize some people to go see a Space X launch down on the beach. I stayed at the hotel because it was kind of hot and had seen some shuttle launches before(and I am kind of lame sometimes). Anyway, my hotel was way closer to the launch site and had a completely clear, air-conditioned view. Wish I remembered which hotel it was.