The Astronomy Thread

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Mudcrush Durtfeet

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It was clearly a failure, the goal was to test reentry among other things, which is very important.

They did get a lot of good data, though.
 
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Aaron

Goonsquad Officer
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I cringe at the expense of progress. Nice to see that it did manage its primary goal of lift off, but the cost of just that goal is numbing.
While true that this is a colossal sum of money that is going into it, it is also the price you pay for progress. One that I think is a good investment. Meanwhile, all of SpaceX's budget and financing is but a drop in the water compared to the gigantic sums of money that are blown on shitty systems trying (and failing) to get poor people to stop being poor. More SpaceX and the like, plz.
 
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Sanrith Descartes

You have insufficient privileges to reply here.
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While true that this is a colossal sum of money that is going into it, it is also the price you pay for progress. One that I think is a good investment. Meanwhile, all of SpaceX's budget and financing is but a drop in the water compared to the gigantic sums of money that are blown on shitty systems trying (and failing) to get poor people to stop being poor. More SpaceX and the like, plz.
Latest equity funding round in Jan came in at a valuation of $137b. They can afford it.
 

Tuco

I got Tuco'd!
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pharmakos

soʞɐɯɹɐɥd
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It was clearly a failure, the goal was to test reentry among other things, which is very important.

They did get a lot of good data, though.
Exactly. Just because they achieved at least a few of their goals does not mean this was a success. Can't believe media when they say it was a complete failure but you also can't believe SpaceX when they judge themselves and say it was a success...
 

Captain Suave

Caesar si viveret, ad remum dareris.
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While true that this is a colossal sum of money that is going into it, it is also the price you pay for progress. One that I think is a good investment.

In the long run they save money by not over-engineering everything and rapidly building economic scale in the production pipeline. By running tests where total equipment loss is a real possibility you learn exactly where the minimum viable thresholds are. If you design such that you never blow anything up you're both far slower and can't learn where to save expense.

No one at SpaceX seems particularly perturbed by losing the launch site. They're all more excited about having conclusively established the limits of this approach.

When Mars missions really get started it's going to be a much harder PR endeavor because it's pretty much guaranteed that some of the first people out there will die.
 

Larnix

Blackwing Lair Raider
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Claiming this as a failure is lame and a product of our expecting perfect results right away. I was on Kwajalein Atoll when SpaceX sent up their first launch and it failed in 06 from meck island. I was lucky enough to visit the island many times while the rocket was there. All the naysayers talked sbout how no private company would ever be able to successfully launch a rocket while all the SpaceX team were pumped the rocket even left the launch pad on the first attempt.

I have friends who work for SpaceX and they all see this as a success and are excited for the future. It's so easy to sit behind your keyboard and nitpick how things could have been better but nobody here is part of the process.

 
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