Science Falcon Heavy Launch Discussion - A big fucking rocket, but not the Big Fucking Rocket

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In about 24 hours, SpaceX will launch what will be the most powerful American rocket since the retirement of Saturn V. 27 engines, 5 million pounds of thrust, and a Tesla roadster blasting David Bowie's Space Oddity as payload.

Here's a Verge article, but I'll tl;dr it and cover anything they didn't.

FAQ

why is there a car on the rocket
elon musk is autistic

isn't this just three falcon 9s glued together
yes

is this the most engines ever on a rocket
no, but the only rocket with more exploded

space is dumb
your feedback has been recorded

Falcon Heavy will have the same payload as an Atlas V in a fully reusable configuration (all cores return), 20% more payload than a Delta V Heavy in a fully expendable configuration (nothing returns), and an unknown middle-ground payload in a semi-expended configuration (one core spent, two return). It uses the same fly-back mission architecture as Falcon 9, and will be made from "block v" Falcons designed for 10 flights between refits and 100 flights on each airframe. And rockets flying backwards looks fucking cool.

Most of the interest in Falcon Heavy right now comes from using it instead of Delta or SLS for deep space probes to distant moons like Europa, and it will return the ability for America to fly men to the moon (one such flyby is planned for late 2018 / 2019 by two Russian tourists). It will also be able to launch heavy payloads to high orbits, and is being entered in the EELV competition for US National Recon Office spy satellite launches.

Falcon Heavy is the steppingstone in SpaceX's business plan to the Big Fucking Rocket, which is their next project. The BFR will enable manned missions to Mars with dozens of passengers, including colonial missions.
 
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Alec Benson Leary said:
I think a lot of the hype we all heard growing up about all the amazing tech we got from NASA was more about hyping the USA over the Soviets than anything else.
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You're not wrong, but 40-50 years ago... things like velcro, tang and other stuff from NASA we completely take for granted now. Velcro was some seriously cool shit in the 60's.
 
I find it really sad and depressing that Musk just had to load his spaceship up with pop culture nerd shit. It's really insulting that he thinks he has to pander to tired pop culture references to get anyone's attention. He may as well have thrown the box set of all 26 seasons of the big bang theory into the car's trunk too.
 
Alec Benson Leary said:
I find it really sad and depressing that Musk just had to load his spaceship up with pop culture nerd shit. It's really insulting that he thinks he has to pander to tired pop culture references to get anyone's attention. He may as well have thrown the box set of all 26 seasons of the big bang theory into the car's trunk too.
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"Don't panic", a David Bowie song and a Matchbox Tesla with a tiny Starman on the dashboard. I wouldn't call that "loading a spaceship with pop culture nerd shit". And given the reactions of many people (who aren't, mind you, blithering redditards), I would say it's not so bad.
He turned it into a show, sure, but at least that makes it more fun to watch.

It certainly beats using a slab of concrete as a dummy-payload.
 
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Wow. A car in space. Big deal. I remember when they did that in 1969. Only it landed on the moon and then drove on the fucking surface of the moon. Then they came back.

The bar has been lowered so much people clap like trained circus seals over nothing.
 
This was cheaper. But yes it's sad how far we've fallen. At least this is a step back up instead of the slow decay we'd had for decades.

Also everyone seems to be forgetting one of the main unspoken points of the original space race was as a component of the arms race between the USA and USSR. A lot of the same tech developed there was necessary for stuff like ICBMs.
 
Man oh man I was just reading a guardian article on it.

https://www.theguardian.com/comment...nto-junkyard-for-billionaires-elon-musk-tesla

Money shot:
Yet, up in yonder outer space we’ve established a giant garbage dump replete with huge hulks of rusting metal and, as of last week, a $200k American sports car.

The car is in a hohmann and not subject to oxidation. It will corrode, but saying it will rust is shit you should have learned in elementary school.

I like the fact he sent a spaceman up in a car with the 'don't panic'. This is how we get kids to dream about the future.
 
Your Weird Fetish said:
This was cheaper. But yes it's sad how far we've fallen. At least this is a step back up instead of the slow decay we'd had for decades.

Also everyone seems to be forgetting one of the main unspoken points of the original space race was as a component of the arms race between the USA and USSR. A lot of the same tech developed there was necessary for stuff like ICBMs.
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Of course it was cheaper. All the legwork has already been done. If he could get another government subsidy like he did with Tesla, he'd do that too.
 
Wesley Willis said:
Of course it was cheaper. All the legwork has already been done. If he could get another government subsidy like he did with Tesla, he'd do that too.
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Why don't you do something useful if it's so easy and the government will throw money at you to do it?

SpaceX invested $1B of private money into reusable spacecraft, and all you have to show for your side of the argument is "hurr durr muh apollo". If the Apollo architecture was financially sustainable, it would still be flying.
 
xxXDxx said:
Why don't you do something useful if it's so easy and the government will throw money at you to do it?

SpaceX invested $1B of private money into reusable spacecraft, and all you have to show for your side of the argument is "hurr durr muh apollo". If the Apollo architecture was financially sustainable, it would still be flying.
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PayPal sucks, too.
 
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