Space X Falcon 9 (flight 2)

[Consumer]

Congrats to the Pay-Pal and Tesla nerd.

Launches for Falcon 9 (medium-heavy lift): 2 for 2

This flight:

• capsule in orbit where they want it: check
• Micro-sats deployed and communicating: check
• Orbital manuring: check
• De-orbit burn: check

We'll see how the "hot part" goes and if splashdown is successful.
If it is, it's the first successful commercial re-entry and recovery for something this big. Gives NASA a cargo hauler for the ISS (rather than relying on the EU or USSR...er...Russia). Plans to man-rate the capsule move forward.

Congrats to Space X for what they've done so far.

Now you really CAN buy a rocket. The US Government at large will be pleased. NASA won't.

Updates in about 20 minutes when they do or don't have splashdown.

Between this and the X-37, the US stays in the space business after the shuttle shuts down.

 

[Consumer]

Oh, forgot to add Orbital Science's little capsule too (cheaper, but MUCH smaller, and will never be man-rated).

De-orbit and re-entry sounds like it's gone well, the capsule's talking to the ground again after the hottest part of re-entry.

Interesting tidbit: the heat-shield's over-designed to allow for lunar re-entry (which has a lot more energy than an orbital re-entry).

 

[Consumer]

BTW, all updates per the "REAL" space BBS.

Re-entry: check
Drogue and main chute deploy: check
Splashdown (controlled): check

That's it. They did it.

 

[ThatSunrise]

Hoorayses! Having tracked them for like 7 years now this is much goodness.

 

[Consumer]

Agreed. Sarcasm and Ironic Persona aside: I'm VERY happy with this news!

This is also going to move Bigallow Aerospace forward too (they make "inflatable" space-stations) as they needed an orbital transportation system to get people to/from their stations. Lots of good secondary effects from a successful flight.

I'm betting that the "secret payload" that they are starting to talk about on this flight was an instrumented dummy in a spacesuit to prove that the conditions in the cabin would have sustained a crew.

 

[ThatSunrise]

Nope, cheese.

http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/spacex-secret-space-cheese-wheel-101209.html