Happening tonight in ~ 3 min


http://spaceflightnow.com/falcon9/004/status.html - live stream

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/...aunch_blog.html - launch blog

Also if you have uverse it's on channel 264

i have mixed feelings on privatized space travel but its also inevitable and space is cool so im down

I'm all for commercial LEO operations. The risks are quantified, we know what we're doing with that. It's time Nasa and agencies like it stop focusing on going boldly where hundreds have gone before, and work on the exploration of deep space.

Also launch was a success. Dragon Capsule in orbit, Solar Arrays deployed.

what does this mean

Space X had it's first official resupply mission lift off tonight at 8:35 pm est. It was also the 4th successful falcon 9 launch w/ dragon capsule stack.

spacex has been trying/succeeding to prove themselves as ready and able to take over nasa as the entity able to, among other things, sustain the space stations. its still a work in progress ofc but since nasa retired the shuttle there is a big push to privatize the more mundane(lol) of space missions.

interesting tidbit: its run by the guy who founded paypal

This is one of those thoughts that makes me realize that I live in the future.

the part that gets me is that half their funding is from nasa, so the idea that its automatically better is a completely superficial one at this point. though i was listening to the science friday episode where elon musk was on and that dude sold me as the guy who can and will succeed at this. and the fact its no longer pure science is an indication that its ready for the free market to work its magic. hopefully nasa can keep the focus on science though.

That's the whole reason to privatize stuff like cargo runs. Nasa can stop worrying about spending a huge amount of their (meager) budget being a ferryman and LEO version of UPS/Waste Managment, and focus on advancing a space frontier.

In addition, it's showing to be vastly cheaper than doing it the "old way" (1.6b contract for 12 launches, while a each shuttle launch was over 1b).

Plus, it's making sure we keep that capability in house (ie US Space infrastructure for LEO doesn't go away).

Space X also is building a very respectable client list outside of NASA. As long as Congress stops fighting them favor of the "old guard" and insisting on using solids, a great deal can come from this.

Hopefully Orbital Sciences launch later this year goes as expected as well.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cygnus_1

i dont disagree, its just the caution that is needed whenst dealing with the marriage of public/private interests is important, and couple with that the implications that is space technology and i think its ok to bring up the possible conflicts.

obv i love space and science and i want nothing more than to spend my 75th birthday on the moon

didnt read anything in this toilet

is this about virgin air space flight?

its clearly really any different than military aerospace contracting

excuse me but the end of newts 2nd term is only 8 years away

please tell newt ill meet him on the dark side

Newt Vader.