great way to start the year - successful launch and landing (in the dark)

That was unbelievably beautiful.

We could.see the first stage returning, doing first and second burns in the dark night sky, bright flaming orange.
It was like a 1950's Science Fiction movie in real life.

Fantastic! I ve seen Geminis, Apollos and Shuttle launches and landings.
This was a new kind of thrill.

And for pennies on the dollar for what NASA can do it.

Falcon Heavy at the end of the month.

Impressive for sure.

Very cool! I'm tempted to apply for a job with them!

I have been alive for the entire space program, and this is some cool stuff.

I dig it.

quote:

Originally posted by 4x5:
Very cool! I'm tempted to apply for a job with them!

Expect 60-80 hour mandatory work weeks, intense timeline pressure, no home life, and a culture where you are basically reminded that 1000 people are beating at the doors to replace you.

I wish them continued success. It would be quite a thrill to have human beings walking on the surface of Mars in my lifetime.

Awesome!!!

Next up Falcon Heavy!!!!

quote:

Originally posted by bubbatime:

quote:

Originally posted by 4x5:
Very cool! I'm tempted to apply for a job with them!

Expect 60-80 hour mandatory work weeks, intense timeline pressure, no home life, and a culture where you are basically reminded that 1000 people are beating at the doors to replace you.

Probably why they aren’t some other third rate company.

Also sounds kinda like how hard people worked getting us to the Moon.

I've heard the same regarding the work environment. I'm local and an engineer so I've thought about it as well.

quote:

Originally posted by Jus228:
I wish them continued success. It would be quite a thrill to have human beings walking on the surface of Mars in my lifetime.

Who should we send first?

This sure seems to be one Musk endeavor that is moving into the future very quickly and successfully. I wish them the best of luck with the upcoming Titan Heavy launch.

quote:

Originally posted by bubbatime:

quote:

Originally posted by 4x5:
Very cool! I'm tempted to apply for a job with them!

Expect 60-80 hour mandatory work weeks, intense timeline pressure, no home life, and a culture where you are basically reminded that 1000 people are beating at the doors to replace you.

That sounds like working at UPS

quote:

Originally posted by RaiseHal:

quote:

Originally posted by bubbatime:

quote:

Originally posted by 4x5:
Very cool! I'm tempted to apply for a job with them!

Expect 60-80 hour mandatory work weeks, intense timeline pressure, no home life, and a culture where you are basically reminded that 1000 people are beating at the doors to replace you.

That sounds like working at UPS

Or Amazon

Apparently, SpaceX is planning tourist trips to the moon as early as this year?

https://www.space.com/35850-sp...t-nasa-reaction.html

quote:

Originally posted by bubbatime:

quote:

Originally posted by 4x5:
Very cool! I'm tempted to apply for a job with them!

Expect 60-80 hour mandatory work weeks, intense timeline pressure, no home life, and a culture where you are basically reminded that 1000 people are beating at the doors to replace you.

My brother and his wife both work for SpaceX. Mandatory isn't the word. The culture of the workplace is one where the people working there....want to work those hours, and are very well rewarded for doing so. I wouldn't say they have no home life, they do very well financially and have a lot of paid time off...often as a part of the extensive bonus and reward system which is performance based. They travel around the world frequently, and play just as hard as they work. When they're at work, they work hard. When they're at home, the rest hard. Balance and health is encouraged by the company, but a fast paced and intense work environment isn't for everyone. Nor is everyone even invited to play... They take the best and the brightest. From what I hear, working with the best and the brightest is a welcome environment compared to working in other places. It must be awesome to work somewhere where everyone performs consistently at a high level, beyond the average person's capabilities. I've never experienced that.

might be a wee bit of bad news...from arstechnica

On Sunday night SpaceX launched the Zuma satellite into space. What we know for sure is that the first stage of the rocket behaved nominally enough such that it was able to safely return to Earth and make a land-based landing along the Florida coast.

SpaceX, however, never officially confirmed mission success. On Monday, Ars began to hear discussion from sources that the mysterious Zuma spacecraft—the purpose of which was never specified, nor which US military or spy agency had backed it—may not have survived. According to one source, the payload fell back to Earth along with the spent upper stage of the Falcon 9 rocket.

Later on Monday afternoon another space reporter, Peter B. de Selding, reported on Twitter that he too had been hearing about problems with the satellite. "Zuma satellite from @northropgrumman may be dead in orbit after separation from @SpaceX Falcon 9, sources say," de Selding tweeted. "Info blackout renders any conclusion - launcher issue? Satellite-only issue? — impossible to draw."

In response to a query on Monday afternoon, a SpaceX spokesperson told Ars, “We do not comment on missions of this nature, but as of right now reviews of the data indicate Falcon 9 performed nominally.” A media query to Northrop Grumman, which manufactured the satellite, was not immediately returned. This was just SpaceX's third national security mission and was seen as critically important in winning further lucrative business from the US Department of Defense.

Actions taken by SpaceX on Monday indicate its confidence in the rocket's performance during the Zuma launch. Earlier in the day, SpaceX founder Elon Musk shared photos of the nighttime launch on Twitter. Also, the company continued with preparations for future launches, including rolling the Falcon Heavy rocket back out to a different launch pad in Florida for additional tests.

Ars will update this story as more information arrives.

quote:

Originally posted by ulsterman:
And for pennies on the dollar for what NASA can do it.

Falcon Heavy at the end of the month.

This is done because the advance software and other tech not available during the Nasa hey days.A friend of mine worked for Nasa in those years and his stories of how they had to Gerry rig equipment to accomplish what they did would astound you.