SpaceX launches rocket from historic NASA pad in Florida

[Spike]

A SpaceX Falcon rocket blasted off on Sunday from a Florida launch pad once used to send NASA astronauts to the moon, a step forward for billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk and his company's goal of ferrying astronauts to the International Space Station.

The 229-foot tall (70-meter) Falcon 9 soared off a seaside launchpad at the Kennedy Space Center at 9:39 a.m. ET carrying a Dragon cargo ship bound for the station.

Nine minutes after blastoff, the main section of the rocket flew back to a landing pad at nearby Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, the eighth successful touchdown for Space Exploration Technologies Corp.

"Baby came back," Musk wrote on Twitter, celebrating the re-landing, which came a day after SpaceX decided to delay the mission 13 seconds before launch due to concerns about the steering system in the rocket's upper stage, the company said.

Sunday's launch was the first for SpaceX from Launch Complex 39A, originally built for the 1960s-era Apollo moon program and later repurposed for the space shuttles.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-s...7648&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_source=twitter

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I am all for the private industrialization of space.

 

[Steelin]

It's the new frontier. This is pretty cool.

 

[CharlesDavenport]

The phase one re-entry and landing was right out of a 1950s sci fi rocket landing.

 

[Stewey]

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I am all for the private industrialization of space.

You evil capitalists.. also in favor of all the global warming this will cause???

 

[Steelr4evr]

Damn it I wish I had known . I could have watched it go up.

 

[Ironcitysteelers]

Damn it I wish I had known . I could have watched it go up.

It was a **** day to watch. Very overcast.

During the mini series Mars they showed a lot on the landing. Such an awesome feeling watching the "team" fail over and over only to have it land. Musk ran out side as it came down for the fist time and was like a little kid. Cool ****

 

[deljzc]

My sister's family went to the original launch time to watch it and it got canceled at T-minus 13 seconds....

Very unlucky.

 

[IndySteel]

My sister's family went to the original launch time to watch it and it got canceled at T-minus 13 seconds....

Very unlucky.

Yeah, it delayed my flight out of FLL by two hours, for nothing. I didn't get home until 1:30am. ********....

 

[Spike]

It was a **** day to watch. Very overcast.

 

[Spike]

The phase one re-entry and landing was right out of a 1950s sci fi rocket landing.

 

[CharlesDavenport]

 

[JMM]

The landing was fascinating to watch. They started to show many more angles and phases of flight at the end of the Shuttle era and its great to see it continue with the SpaceX flights.

I'm used to seeing a room full of veteran controllers so it was a little weird seeing some kid with a laptop giving the play by play of the rocket's flight.

Definitely great to see us flying again. Hopefully it will inspire the next generation to keep exploring. We need to keep pushing or else the human race is doomed to live out its end of days in constant turmoil on this overcrowded rock.

 

[JMM]

Oh yeah, lets see the Ruskies top that landing..

 

[Spike]

The Russians own space, we are just along for the ride - better hope SpaceX can get a people lifter going, or we'll be grounded



NASA has no plans to buy more Soyuz seats, and it may be too late anyway

NASA is sure enough that Boeing and SpaceX can safely launch astronauts to the International Space Station by early 2019 to hold off paying Russia to keep flying U.S. crews to the research complex, and one official says a deadline to order parts for new Russian Soyuz crew capsules may have already passed.

Boeing and SpaceX are working on new commercial capsules designed to transport at least four astronauts to and from the orbiting outpost, but their schedules appear to be slipping, this time due to technical woes, not the lack of funding that caused previous delays in the program.

NASA last year signed a $490 million agreement with the Russian government for six round-trip seats on Soyuz missions, with launches in 2018 and landings extending into early 2019. The space agency is sending nearly $82 million to Russia for each ticket.

Even as the commercial crew schedules move later into 2018, NASA officials say they are not considering extending the contract with Roscosmos — the Russian space agency — for more launches in 2019. The last Soyuz launch seats reserved for U.S. astronauts are at the end of 2018.

http://spaceflightnow.com/2016/10/1...re-soyuz-seats-and-it-may-be-too-late-anyway/
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U.S. needs up to 18 more Russian rocket engines: Pentagon

The Pentagon will need to buy up to 18 more Russian-built RD-180 engines to power rockets carrying U.S. military satellites into space over the next six years or so, Deputy Defense Secretary Robert Work said in an interview on Friday.

Congress banned use of the Russian RD-180 rocket engines for military use after 2019, following Russia's annexation of the Crimea region of Ukraine in 2014.

But U.S. lawmakers eased the ban late last year, worried that it could drive United Launch Alliance, a joint venture of Lockheed Martin Corp and Boeing Co, out of business and leave only privately held SpaceX to lift satellites into space.


http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-space-russia-idUSKCN0X600H