SpaceX Is Attempting Another First Next Week

DooKey

DooKey

[H]F Junkie
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SpaceX is going to do something next week that's never been done before. They are going to launch a refurbished Dragon Capsule and a refurbished Falcon 9 rocket on the same mission. Reusing two major components at the same time is going to drive down costs significantly in the future. Hopefully this mission goes smoothly and we'll see more of this as time goes by.

This is another huge advancement for reusable space technology. While SpaceX has launched refurbished Dragon capsules in the past, with the first lifting off back in June of 2017, the company is still working on optimizing the cost-effectiveness of reusing the spacecraft. Pairing the reusable spacecraft with reusable orbital rockets will undoubtedly do a lot to cut those costs.
 
The only Elon Musk story today is a positive one. Gunna be a slow-click day.
 
Can't say he isn't getting at least some press. We really haven't heard anything out of the other space players except to say they will beat Musk to Mars, not really any details of what they are doing.
 
jedijeb13 said:
Can't say he isn't getting at least some press. We really haven't heard anything out of the other space players except to say they will beat Musk to Mars, not really any details of what they are doing.
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Yeah it's pretty annoying how unopen they are to the public. Where as SpaceX pretty much makes the vast majority of what they do public including live streaming all launches even when they screw up.
 
sirmonkey1985 said:
Yeah it's pretty annoying how unopen they are to the public. Where as SpaceX pretty much makes the vast majority of what they do public including live streaming all launches even when they screw up.
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Yes, NASA and ULA seem to treat everything they are doing as if it is top secret. Unless they are trying to launch a military orbital fleet, then they should be open with all they are doing just like SpaceX is.
 
It's gonna take A LOT of successful reuses before humans get on board.
 
jedijeb13 said:
Yes, NASA and ULA seem to treat everything they are doing as if it is top secret. Unless they are trying to launch a military orbital fleet, then they should be open with all they are doing just like SpaceX is.
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I don't think it's because NASA is trying to keep a secret, rather there are no concrete plans of missions beyond LEO. However, they have been looking at proposed contacts for a Deep Space Gateway to allow operations in cislunar space. https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2017/12/nasa-evaluates-em-2-launch-of-space-gateways-ppe/
 
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