NASA’s Artemis Rocket Hot Test

5 Responses to NASA’s Artemis Rocket Hot Test

1. pb says:

   January 17, 2021 at 00:08

   SLS and Bozos are so boring compared to SpaceX and Rocket Lab. The winning is in the doing and cold appraisal of fear. Also, having planned for complete detonation upon landing (SN8) helps too. SN9 has test fired and more or less ready to go.

   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qwLHlVjRyw

   Rocket lab are on a smaller scale but aiming for the moon this year and have already fished the first stage of an Electron out of the Pacific and giving it a blow dry and plan to use bits again.
   • Darin says:

     January 17, 2021 at 09:38

     It’s an exciting time to be alive, I hope all the competitors have success, our future is out there in the stars, not stuck on this rock.

     I like the Starship concept, if they can pull it off lifting a heavy payload, then they will have a chance.

     I still put money on ULA going forward, they have the right leadership and quality attitude with a proven track record. I posted this awhile back, but if you haven’t seen it, it’s worth the watch.

     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0fG_lnVhHw&t=2364s
     • K2 says:

       January 17, 2021 at 15:42

       Snort. Former 30 year Boeing engineer here. Both Lockmart and Boeing (who run ULA) are relics of the old military industrial complex where the government poured money into aerospace corporations. They did nothing unique or original because they were sucking on on the government teat and made sure the local politicians campaign chests were fully paid up. What SpaceX has done is something I’ve never seen in my lifetime – a private company taking chances and accomplishing something original and single handedly advancing the state of the art, significantly lowering the cost to orbit and making the US the orbital launch leader without huge government subsidies. Boeing and Lockmart could have done the same thing – but they didn’t need to – the profits continued to come in as long as they didn’t make waves. They were extensions of the government and had the politicians in their pockets.
       • Darin says:

         January 17, 2021 at 17:21

         Isn’t SpaceX doing the same thing though? Milking the “private space access” cow for government contract funds?

         Granted Musk wants to open the door to space tourism and low orbit transcontinental flight, but wasn’t the bulk of the money still coming off NASA’s bank account?

         They may be technically private, but financially I’m not getting that Wright Bros vibe.
2. Pb says:

   January 17, 2021 at 20:36

   Musk is an internet cowboy. Easily misunderstood. Some of his character is whacky and unlikeable (modems in your brain). His thing is a manufacturing disruptor. And hence has made many enemies amongst sclerotic corporates.. MSM largely hate him. He made $200M creating PayPal (software and banking) and risked it all on Tesla and Spacex. His private fortune. He’s applied non conventional software engineering to production manufacturing. Because he is strange he is always underestimated. Sure he is getting NASA money now, but not before he dropped the price of a launch from a billion$ for ULA style launches with no guarantee of finishing in our lifetime, to $50 million for a 10tonne load on a Falcon.

   I remember seeing a presentation where Tesla created its own chips for analysing the visual data from the eight cameras on the car, which allow it to recreate spatial reality and make fast decisions on driving. It reminded me of the Jobs style Apple company, back when they were innovating. I realised then people did not understand musk, and that Tesla would be a good investment risk.

   Full Self Drive autonomous drive has been released. Autonomy is here, and the regulators will approve it sooner or later.. That sort of risk appetite is unbelievable. One thing I realised, working for a multinational corporation, is that most employees are not businessmen. If you show an appetite for risk you get shunned. Employees are largely slaves to the corporate will. And the will has been infected by corporate socialism. You find more innovation and business acumen in a small business.

   I know I sound like a Tesla fan soy boy. Oh well. Despite not paying the best and working employees hard, it is a desirable place to work for graduate engineers. Sooner or later innovators will try to copy the business model, to try and emulate it.