“ it was 20 years ago today…”

[ecarfan]

“ when Sergeant Pepper taught the band to play.”

Today SpaceX released a very cool compilation video celebrating two decades of achievement since the company was founded this month in 2002.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1503380291976531968

In that video there is a brief moment showing a view of fairing separation that I do not recall seeing before. The view is from a camera position inside one of the fairing halves at the top and looking down At the moment of separation. Pretty cool!

 

[roblab]

Thanks for sharing. My wife and I almost religiously watch as SpaceX continues to advance, turning on the computer every time there's a scheduled blast off. It seems to almost take her breath away as each new (or refurbished) rocket launches. Neither one of us worries about populating Mars or becoming an "interplanetary species," but the power of those rockets just vibrates everything as they take off.

 

[ecarfan]

Imagine the next 20 years!

By the way, in a recent Vanity Fair magazine interview with Grimes, Elon Musk’s girlfriend, he is quoted as saying he is going to Mars in 8 years. Here is what is in the article:

The idea for the song came to her during a conversation with friends two years ago while she was three or four months pregnant with X, when Musk casually mentioned that he planned to depart for Mars in 10 years.
“I was like, ‘Uhhh….’ ” She remembers laughing nervously. “I said, ‘Could we make it 20?’ ”

“It wasn’t new information,” Musk says in the car, lightly protesting when I bring this up. “I’ve been saying since before she was pregnant that I was going to Mars.”

So that would be 8 years from now; 2030.

Of course that is “Elon time”. Subject to change, depending on…factors.

 

[dazedNconfuzed]

My wife and I almost religiously watch as SpaceX continues to advance, turning on the computer every time there's a scheduled blast off.

Likewise, I try to watch every launch. Kids are likely bored by it at this point, growing up aware of liftoffs every couple weeks becoming no big thing. I view it as "geek sports" and I'm rooting for "my team", the game usually playing out in their favor but sometimes it's a nail biter or even a loss (got really skittish on the last landing).

 

[Electroman]

Likewise, I try to watch every launch. Kids are likely bored by it at this point, growing up aware of liftoffs every couple weeks becoming no big thing. I view it as "geek sports" and I'm rooting for "my team", the game usually playing out in their favor but sometimes it's a nail biter or even a loss (got really skittish on the last landing).

Same here.. I thought the last landing was toast because the live feed cut off way early and did not come back a full 15 seconds after the speed and height became zero, and no announcement if the booster had landed either.

 

[Grendal]

Same here.. I thought the last landing was toast because the live feed cut off way early and did not come back a full 15 seconds after the speed and height became zero, and no announcement if the booster had landed either.

Me too. At this point I have a good sense of the timing. The delay in saying the landing was successful, and the long batch of successful landings, had me worried.

The numbers for success are staggering though.

– 144th Falcon 9 launch!
– 84th Falcon 9 flight with a flight proven booster!
– 88th re-flight of a booster!
– 110th booster landing!
– 36th consecutive landing (a record)!
- 125th successful launch since the last failure in flight (CRS-7 in 2015 - 19th F9 launch)

11 F9 boosters in service!
5 cores for FH are ready to go. (5 potential FH launches this year!)

In comparison, Atlas V has had 81 successful launches since it has been in service. With no recoveries at all - of course.

 

[adiggs]

Me too. At this point I have a good sense of the timing. The delay in saying the landing was successful, and the long batch of successful landings, had me worried.

The numbers for success are staggering though.

– 144th Falcon 9 launch!
– 84th Falcon 9 flight with a flight proven booster!
– 88th re-flight of a booster!
– 110th booster landing!
– 36th consecutive landing (a record)!

11 F9 boosters in service!
5 cores for FH are ready to go. (5 potential FH launches this year!)

In comparison, Atlas V has had 81 successful launches since it has been in service. With no recoveries at all - of course.

View attachment 781522

Put those numbers together like that - I know that I'm starting to feel like any craft launched for the first time has just a bit more interest / tension to me. Which means that every Atlas V or other non-Falcon launch has that.

I wonder if the industry, and the insurance carriers in particular, are starting to prefer boosters on their 2nd+ trip over first flight (and probably high launch count) boosters.. I guess an easy indicator we're there is when a Starlink launch happens on a brand new booster as the high cost / value launches want a 2/3/4/5th launch booster.

 

[Electroman]

I guess an easy indicator we're there is when a Starlink launch happens on a brand new booster as the high cost / value launches want a 2/3/4/5th launch booster.

Ha ha.. see how things have changed.

Starlink program can used a Guinea pig for a brand new flight-non-proven booster, and commercial/paying customers prefer a flight-proven booster. The words, 'flight-proven booster' was added into the lexicon by SpaceX. Those words had absolutely no meaning just about 5 years ago.

 

[Nikxice]

Interesting that SpaceX lists 3/14/02 as their founding day. Suppose sharing it with Pi day makes it harder to forget.

When I was deciding on a Starship orbital charity date, I checked into SpaceX's founding anniversary. Last year, sources on the always reliable internet displayed May 6, 2002. Wiki has since changed their entry to 3/14/02, but other websites (example below), still list 5/6/02. At least misinformation has kept me in the game!

SpaceX - Crunchbase Company Profile & Funding

SpaceX is an aviation and aerospace company that designs, manufactures, and launches advanced rockets and spacecraft.

www.crunchbase.com

 

[Mayer]

It was 20 years ago today:

Not Sgt Peppers;
Not the Beatles; but,
Tesla!

Happy 20th Birthday Tesla!