SpaceX launch capsule - Launched Sat 30-05-20

[jonty]

Launching with two astronauts on board for the first time
https://www.spacex.com/launches/

[HibeeSince85]

The rocket may be visible over Edinburgh at around 9:45 tonight.

[-Jonesy-]

Elon musk is a total fanny

[Hibrandenburg]

Elon musk is a total fanny

**** him!

[LustForLeith]

It’s a bit weird and a bit unrelated but...

I have a pension with an old employer. Late last year I switched it into a fund and forgot all about it. Then when I was doing my to do list during lockdown I had a look at it fearing the worst.

I had put £28000 in it up to last year. The most recent value is £43000. The fund I randomly picked is made up of American companies that have done well during lockdown such as Amazon, Netflix but the biggest performing one is Tesla.

If this has a more positive effect on my pension then I hope it goes well!

[BroxburnHibee]

Build up to launch is live on YouTube now.

[Ryan91]

Elon musk is a total fanny

He maybe a bit of a knob, but what he's doing for spaceflight is incredible, it's an incredibly exciting time for humans and space exploration, SpaceX is making it significantly cheaper to put cargo and people into space.

Watching rockets land is something that seemed like science fiction only 10 years ago.

[brianmc]

CNN just reporting a quote from NASA saying there's only a 40% chance of the launch going ahead today due to weather.....

[Billy Whizz]

Build up to launch is live on YouTube now.

Got a link

[jonty]

Got a link

same as here https://www.spacex.com/launches/

[James310]

It says take off is 4.33pm Eastern time, which is 9.33pm our time. Is that right, seems far away as they are basically strapping themselves in now.

[Pretty Boy]

It says take off is 4.33pm Eastern time, which is 9.33pm our time. Is that right, seems far away as they are basically strapping themselves in now.

Astronauts being on board and strapped in 2-3 hours before lift off was common throughout the old shuttle programme. So this ties in with that.

[Billy Whizz]

It says take off is 4.33pm Eastern time, which is 9.33pm our time. Is that right, seems far away as they are basically strapping themselves in now.

Still think it’s around 9.45 or so for us

[Bristolhibby]

Apparently in the South of England we should be able to see it 15 minutes after launch if we look to the West.

J

[brianmc]

Weather front clearing. Optimistic this'll go ahead tonight 🤞

[Pretty Boy]

Is there any particular environment that would make the best vantage point for seeing this over Edinburgh? I'm going to try and time my run tonight with seeing it but wondering if there is anywhere in particular I should head.

[patch1875]

Is there any particular environment that would make the best vantage point for seeing this over Edinburgh? I'm going to try and time my run tonight with seeing it but wondering if there is anywhere in particular I should head.

From Tim Peake

Lots of people are asking about timings for tonight's spacecraft sightings. For the UK:
@Space_Station
, 21:20 (look west, right of the moon)
@SpaceX
launch, 21:33 (watch here: https://nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/#public…), then about 21:50, it will be following the same path as the ISS over the UK.

[BroxburnHibee]

Weather is causing concern

[Pretty Boy]

Preparing to abort the launch. Almost no chance it's going ahead.

[jonty]

Boooo


bloody weather

[Pretty Boy]

And it's officially off.

[Billy Whizz]

And it's officially off.

That’s a blow

[patch1875]

Saturday now.

[DaveF]

Due for launch at 7:22pm our time.

[speedy_gonzales]

Due for launch at 7:22pm our time.

Is it not 19:22 GMT, so we'll be 20:22 BST?

(Assuming you're in the UK)

[James310]

8.22pm UK time, is it still going to be visible? Last time was right side of the moon.

[DaveF]

Is it not 19:22 GMT, so we'll be 20:22 BST?

(Assuming you're in the UK)

Aye you are correct. I blame sunstroke 🌞

[speedy_gonzales]

Aye you are correct. I blame sunstroke 🌞

So not the lockdown beers 🤣

[Pretty Boy]

Should be visible if you are facing south about 15-20 minutes after launch. A 2nd pass might be visible at 10.15ish if it's too bright first time around.

[stoneyburn hibs]

Anywhere that we can watch the launch live?

[Billy Whizz]

Anywhere that we can watch the launch live?

https://youtu.be/bIZsnKGV8TE

[stoneyburn hibs]

https://youtu.be/bIZsnKGV8TE

Excellent, thanks mate.

[Tobias Funke]

Some really cool footage so far. No doubt the flat earthers will argue that the clear curvature of the earth shown is some sort of CGI trickery 😂

[BroxburnHibee]

It's funny how often the camera cuts out when the first stage lands on the drone ship.

Conspiracy theorists will love it. :greengrin

[Pretty Boy]

Bit annoying the footage cut just as the rocket landed. Still some amazing footage though.

[Hibby Bairn]

Pity the signal was lost just as the first bit was due to land in the drone ship. And again when the second bit separated and floated off in camera.

I admit that the first bit looked a bit false but hopefully they have the full footage to show later. Suddenly it was just there 😃 Perfectly in the circle.

[GlesgaeHibby]

Folk on twitter claiming to have seen it. Couldn't see anything from my garden in Haddington

[Billy Whizz]

Folk on twitter claiming to have seen it. Couldn't see anything from my garden in Haddington

I’ve been looking too, couldn’t see anything
We’ll done to the team that got this away safely

[The Pointer]

It's incredible. I've been alive since space travel started and the difference in this launch compared to the Apollo series is massive.

Black and white TV, a massive mission control in Houston, no cameras in the capsule, voice communications followed by a bleep knowing these guys had no chance if the pre-digital technology failed (as sadly eventually happened).

What does amuse me is they look like they're wearing wellies as part of their Dan Dare outfits.

[stoneyburn hibs]

Never seen anything, be great to see it later hopefully.
The footage on YouTube was amazing.

[Hibrandenburg]

Nothing in Berlin due to cloud cover.

[The Pointer]

Some really cool footage so far. No doubt the flat earthers will argue that the clear curvature of the earth shown is some sort of CGI trickery 😂

The Flat Earth Society are saying that social distancing is pushing some of their members over the edge. 😁

[Sir David Gray]

I was hoping to see it as the sky was totally clear but never saw a thing.

[Pretty Boy]

The general consensus I read was it was too bright to see anything. Better chance after 10. Look low, just above the horizon.

[offshorehibby]

Me and bairn were convinced we saw it (or something) over the back garden on Easter Road. To fast through the sky for one of they dam seagulls, coming from the South, heading out over the Forth.

[Billy Whizz]

I was hoping to see it as the sky was totally clear but never saw a thing.

I think it’s too light just now

[Hibee87]

The general consensus I read was it was too bright to see anything. Better chance after 10. Look low, just above the horizon.

If I'm standing at bottom of st Clair street, would you say the stadium would block it if it's too low?

[jonty]

bollox forgot about this tonight. will catchup on the launch and landings. Still looks like a computer simulation!
will be checking after 10 though.

[Hibby Bairn]

https://youtu.be/sYmQQn_ZSys

[Sir David Gray]

https://youtu.be/sYmQQn_ZSys

I don't think that's from today's launch, that video was posted 4 years ago.

[Hibby Bairn]

I don't think that's from today's launch, that video was posted 4 years ago.

I know. They didn’t show it so I’m just sharing what it was meant to look like.

Here’s another one https://youtu.be/Tkk9VIKWw2w

[Sir David Gray]

I know. They didn’t show it so I’m just sharing what it was meant to look like.

Here’s another one https://youtu.be/Tkk9VIKWw2w

Ah right got you.

[jonty]

The general consensus I read was it was too bright to see anything. Better chance after 10. Look low, just above the horizon.

Looking south just now towards Edinburgh from Dunfermline. No clouds but a bit hazy

[Carheenlea]

Not a cloud in sky over Peebles but surrounded by hills so not sure how low I’m meant to be looking. Still very light which makes things trickier too.

[Hibee87]

Never seen it again. Mrs said she seen a orange dot, it went behind the west stand corner from where I was stood, my eyesight is crap though!

[Sir David Gray]

Nothing through my way again that I could see.

[hibsbollah]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3nzoPopQ7V0

[LustForLeith]

Random fact but I’m sure I heard that the average age of the folk on the control centre with the Neil Armstrong moons landing was 27

[LustForLeith]

It’s a bit weird and a bit unrelated but...

I have a pension with an old employer. Late last year I switched it into a fund and forgot all about it. Then when I was doing my to do list during lockdown I had a look at it fearing the worst.

I had put £28000 in it up to last year. The most recent value is £43000. The fund I randomly picked is made up of American companies that have done well during lockdown such as Amazon, Netflix but the biggest performing one is Tesla.

If this has a more positive effect on my pension then I hope it goes well!

Pensions took a bit of a dip on Friday after the non event of Wednesday. I’m hoping it makes a recovery next week!

[Glory Lurker]

I don't think the visibility advice, tonight or on Wednesday, would have been reliable in the northern end of GB, given our lighter skies.

[lord bunberry]

I was out in my garden but I didn’t see anything, mainly because I wasn’t looking. This whole exercise was nothing more than a publicity stunt that doesn’t in anyway further space exploration. This is a subject that I feel passionately about and the survival of our species depends on it. We need to be setting up a moon colony or a huge expansion of the space station. Launching crafts from the Earth is completely impracticable due to the amount of fuel that’s needed to break earth orbit, a rocket needs to travel at 13 miles per second just to get into space and the fuel needed to do that is huge. We need to be building space craft on the moon or in space, it took the Messenger space probe 7 years to get to mercury, not because is so far away but because they had to use the gravitational pull of other planets to slow it down because it didn’t have enough fuel to slow it down on its own. A direct route would’ve taken less than a year. A launch from the moon or the space station would have allowed the craft to fly direct with the fuel to slow it down.
Were absolutely miles from where we should and need to be on this.

[RyeSloan]

I was out in my garden but I didn’t see anything, mainly because I wasn’t looking. This whole exercise was nothing more than a publicity stunt that doesn’t in anyway further space exploration. This is a subject that I feel passionately about and the survival of our species depends on it. We need to be setting up a moon colony or a huge expansion of the space station. Launching crafts from the Earth is completely impracticable due to the amount of fuel that’s needed to break earth orbit, a rocket needs to travel at 13 miles per second just to get into space and the fuel needed to do that is huge. We need to be building space craft on the moon or in space, it took the Messenger space probe 7 years to get to mercury, not because is so far away but because they had to use the gravitational pull of other planets to slow it down because it didn’t have enough fuel to slow it down on its own. A direct route would’ve taken less than a year. A launch from the moon or the space station would have allowed the craft to fly direct with the fuel to slow it down.
Were absolutely miles from where we should and need to be on this.


A publicity stunt? Seriously?

That was the first ever commercial launch with humans on board. All from a company founded only 18 years ago. It’s the complete opposite of a publicity stunt, it’s a landmark event.

The whole reason NASA are using commercial providers for this type of launch is to allow them to focus on moon and Mars exploration.

You also can’t just build stuff in space without the ability to you need to get everything up there in the first place. Space X have, like no one has done before, managed to slash the cost of those launches and are thus paving the way to make such a ‘build it in space’ a reality. The estimated cost of the ISS is about $150bn. Only 4 years ago it was estimated to cost about $60,000 - $100,000 per kilo of supplies to the ISS....you ain’t gonna be able to do any of what you want at that price! Hence why the development of the falcon and the like is so critical.

And of course the money Space X are making through massively reducing near earth launches is feeding their own Mars programme.

No doubt Space exploration suffered hugely due to governments not funding them, bureaucracy, and NASA spending silly amounts on the shuttle, something that was meant to be reusable but ultimately wasn’t, cost up to $1.5bn per launch (depending on what metric you use but was never less than half a billion) and was only ever an Earth orbiter anyway. To be fair it was actually a half decent cargo plane but one that was prone to failure and was rather demanding and expensive on the maintenance front!

But the likes of Space X and Blue Origin have shown them how it’s done and at the same time hugely reinvigorated the drive back to the Moon and then to Mars.

So I’m summary you could suggest that I’m suggesting calling it a stunt is missing the point completely [emoji2957]

[Billy Whizz]

We have gone backwards on travel/universe exploration.
We had Concorde 40 or so years ago, that flew faster than anything we have now

Think someone said, the speed that SpaceX was travelling, would do London to New York in 29 mins

[Kato]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3nzoPopQ7V0Mars is there to be exploited though. Like in a childrens fairy story.

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[Moulin Yarns]

I thought I saw it today passing over the garden, it was a 737 heading for the USA, the pilot waved 😁


https://www.instagram.com/p/CA2QgqOpOoH/?igshid=1mzabn77cokdj

[lord bunberry]

A publicity stunt? Seriously?

That was the first ever commercial launch with humans on board. All from a company founded only 18 years ago. It’s the complete opposite of a publicity stunt, it’s a landmark event.

The whole reason NASA are using commercial providers for this type of launch is to allow them to focus on moon and Mars exploration.

You also can’t just build stuff in space without the ability to you need to get everything up there in the first place. Space X have, like no one has done before, managed to slash the cost of those launches and are thus paving the way to make such a ‘build it in space’ a reality. The estimated cost of the ISS is about $150bn. Only 4 years ago it was estimated to cost about $60,000 - $100,000 per kilo of supplies to the ISS....you ain’t gonna be able to do any of what you want at that price! Hence why the development of the falcon and the like is so critical.

And of course the money Space X are making through massively reducing near earth launches is feeding their own Mars programme.

No doubt Space exploration suffered hugely due to governments not funding them, bureaucracy, and NASA spending silly amounts on the shuttle, something that was meant to be reusable but ultimately wasn’t, cost up to $1.5bn per launch (depending on what metric you use but was never less than half a billion) and was only ever an Earth orbiter anyway. To be fair it was actually a half decent cargo plane but one that was prone to failure and was rather demanding and expensive on the maintenance front!

But the likes of Space X and Blue Origin have shown them how it’s done and at the same time hugely reinvigorated the drive back to the Moon and then to Mars.

So I’m summary you could suggest that I’m suggesting calling it a stunt is missing the point completely [emoji2957]
:agree: You’re completely correct, it wasn’t a publicity stunt. My alcohol fulled rant did completely miss the point yet again. I get really frustrated at the slow progress on space exploration when it could undoubtedly make all our lives better in the long run.

[The_Exile]

:agree: You’re completely correct, it wasn’t a publicity stunt. My alcohol fulled rant did completely miss the point yet again. I get really frustrated at the slow progress on space exploration when it could undoubtedly make all our lives better in the long run.

It's one of our most dismal failings as a species, we have the capability to start exploring the logistics of moon bases and shipyards in space to save us having to use so much fuel getting up there but our governments just don't prioritise it, it's just not sexy enough, spend X £billions on science and space tech when we've got so many social issues just now, there's a strong case against it.

The survival of the species will eventually rely on our capability to be space-faring. On the flip side, it's exciting we've got private companies and people with the means and the will making progress with this now. Ultimately it may take a few mavericks (both private and state/public) to get us up and running with this again. Science is chronically underfunded and I don't really get it, I do remember reading a few years ago that for ever £1 we spend on Science we eventually get around £4 back, although as mentioned above, it's not immediate, and there are plenty immediate problems needing money, and of course given the state of the planet at the moment, there won't be much money being spent on anything over the next few years I'd imagine.

[BroxburnHibee]

I think they see getting back to the moon in 4 years as the next step. Then to set up a base there.

Also building ships in space for heading towards Mars.

Its all very Star Trek :greengrin

[RyeSloan]

:agree: You’re completely correct, it wasn’t a publicity stunt. My alcohol fulled rant did completely miss the point yet again. I get really frustrated at the slow progress on space exploration when it could undoubtedly make all our lives better in the long run.

Aha no probs and kudos for coming back on it [emoji736]

I’m with ya re the frustration though...I find this type of thing inspiring and we really have lost a decade or two on this front.

Still I think times are a finally changing and the crewed dragon launch was a sign of that.

The James Webb is also due up this year I think...while hugely delayed this will be a really really exciting event. I watched a video on the NASA website on just how it will all work, an amazing feat to say the least and I never realised just how far out the thing is going to be parked. If it does work as planned it should give mankind the ability to look back to the very start of time!

OK it won’t get us to the moon but will be a massive step forward in giving us the tools to understand the universe that bit more.

[Kato]

I think they see getting back to the moon in 4 years as the next step. Then to set up a base there.

Also building ships in space for heading towards Mars.

Its all very Star Trek :greengrin

More like the cruddier end of Space 1999 - no warp drive, no Star Trek.

[BroxburnHibee]

More like the cruddier end of Space 1999 - no warp drive, no Star Trek.

Yeah I fully expect it to be 'Moon Base Alpha' :greengrin

[lord bunberry]

Aha no probs and kudos for coming back on it [emoji736]

I’m with ya re the frustration though...I find this type of thing inspiring and we really have lost a decade or two on this front.

Still I think times are a finally changing and the crewed dragon launch was a sign of that.

The James Webb is also due up this year I think...while hugely delayed this will be a really really exciting event. I watched a video on the NASA website on just how it will all work, an amazing feat to say the least and I never realised just how far out the thing is going to be parked. If it does work as planned it should give mankind the ability to look back to the very start of time!

OK it won’t get us to the moon but will be a massive step forward in giving us the tools to understand the universe that bit more.
Sadly it’s next year for James Webb I think, it was supposed to be a few years ago but they ran into problems. The thing that excites me the most about James Webb is that it will be able to study exoplanets in much greater detail. It will almost certainly be able to detect if there’s life on other planets. If there is of course.

[lord bunberry]

It's one of our most dismal failings as a species, we have the capability to start exploring the logistics of moon bases and shipyards in space to save us having to use so much fuel getting up there but our governments just don't prioritise it, it's just not sexy enough, spend X £billions on science and space tech when we've got so many social issues just now, there's a strong case against it.

The survival of the species will eventually rely on our capability to be space-faring. On the flip side, it's exciting we've got private companies and people with the means and the will making progress with this now. Ultimately it may take a few mavericks (both private and state/public) to get us up and running with this again. Science is chronically underfunded and I don't really get it, I do remember reading a few years ago that for ever £1 we spend on Science we eventually get around £4 back, although as mentioned above, it's not immediate, and there are plenty immediate problems needing money, and of course given the state of the planet at the moment, there won't be much money being spent on anything over the next few years I'd imagine.
I completely agree with all of that, that’s why I was so wrong to call the space x launch a publicity stunt. I honestly believe that if governments relied on scientific advice rather than what’s popular enough to get them re-elected we’d be in a position that poverty and global warming wouldn’t exist.

[jonty]

On its way back to earth for an expected splashdown off the coast of Florida at around 19:45 today.

https://www.spacex.com/launches/

[BroxburnHibee]

Surprised at the camera quality of the feed.

[Just Alf]

How loooonnng does it take to open a door! :greengrin


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