SpaceX's Dragon capsule, first privately owned spaceship, set to attempt launch into

[Donger]

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2010/12/06/2010-12-06_soaring_ambition_for_private_orbiter.html

The future of the space travel will undergo a crucial test Tuesday when the first privately owned spaceship attempts a launch into orbit.

If it succeeds, SpaceX's Dragon capsule will then try to reenter the atmosphere - also a first for a non government-owned spacecraft.

The outcome of the launch will play a vital role in determining the direction of U.S. space travel as NASA looks to private companies to fill in the gap as the space shuttle program is put into mothballs next year.

"[It is] a huge thing, gigantic, historic," TV science host Bill Nye told AOL News. "It may very well lead to everyday people having access to space."

Other commercial firms - most notably Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic - have achieved suborbital flight, but this would be the first to break free of the atmosphere.

SpaceX - founded by PayPal guru Elon Musk - signed a $1.6 billion contract with NASA in December 2008 to conduct 12 resupply missions to the International Space Station.

A second rocket-building company, Orbital Sciences Corp., has a similar $1.9 billion deal with NASA.

Tomorrow's test launch from Cape Canaveral will attempt to put the gumdrop-shaped Dragon capsule into orbit atop an 18-story Falcon 9 rocket.

If it makes it back, it's hoped the capsule will land in the Pacific off California.

It would mark an important step in showing that private industry is technologically up to snuff to take over travel into space.

Musk, 39, said when Congress authorized the private launch in October that it set "NASA on an exciting course" while "recognizing the valuable role American companies are ready to undertake."

[Donger]

Delayed until Thursday.

[Pants]

Thanks for the update, Donger, I was sitting here at work with bated breath.

[Donger]

Thanks for the update, Donger, I was sitting here at work with bated breath.

Well, take the bat out of your mouth.

[Donger]

They are going to try for launch at 10:43am EST today. Here's a link to NASA TV:

http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html

[Hydrae]

Excellent! Privatization of space is the future, about time we got it started.

[Donger]

T-10 minutes. Clock running.

[Donger]

T-9 minutes.

[Donger]

T-8 minutes

[Donger]

T-7 minutes

[Donger]

T-6 minutes

[Donger]

T-5 minutes

[Donger]

Internal power

[Donger]

T-4 minutes

[Donger]

T-3 minutes

[Donger]

LIGHT THE CANDLE!!!!1!1!!

[Donger]

Go for launch

[Donger]

Range is go. T-2 minutes

[Donger]

T-1 minute

[Beef Supreme]

Not the first private space launch. SpaceShipOne built by Paul Allen, Burt Rutan and his Scaled Composites team did it in 2004 and won the Ansari X Prize for it.

I know this because a) it was a big deal and b) because my father is an aeronautical engineer who has consulted with them on several projects. The guy who flew the drop plane used to come over to our house when I was a good bit younger and we worked on building a P-51 Mustang kit plane in my dad's garage.

Mike Melvill and Brian Binnie were the two test pilots for SpaceShipOne.

Edit to add link to Wikipedia article:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpaceShipOne

[Donger]

T-30 seconds, tanks pressurizing

[Donger]

T-10

[Donger]

Liftoff!

[Donger]

Tower clear

[Donger]

Gravity turn

[Donger]

Nominal stage one

[Donger]

GO BABY!

[Donger]

mach 1

[Donger]

Max Q

[Donger]

Stage one shutdown. MECO

[Donger]

Second stage propulsion nominal

[Donger]

Holy sh*t. They are going to get it.

[Donger]

WTF? I KNOW WHAT INFRARED IS!!!!

[Donger]

Dragon is in orbit!

[Pants]

Wow, good for them. Monumental.

[Beef Supreme]

Read page 2 between all of the spam posts by Donger. This is NOT the first private space flight. But it is an important step. Good for them.

[Donger]

Read page 2 between all of the spam posts by Donger. This is NOT the first private space flight. But it is an important step. Good for them.

No one claimed it was, you knob.

[Beef Supreme]

It's not really worth arguing about, but read the title of your own damn thread.

[AndChiefs]

Read page 2 between all of the spam posts by Donger. This is NOT the first private space flight. But it is an important step. Good for them.

SpaceShipOne only achieved sub-orbital flight I believe. This one actually completely broke free of the atmosphere.

[Donger]

It's not really worth arguing about, but read the title of your own damn thread.

The thread title says "first privately owned spaceship." You wrote: "This is NOT the first private space flight." No one claimed that it was. It IS the first privately-owned spacecraft to achieve orbit.

[Donger]

SpaceShipOne only achieved sub-orbital flight I believe. This one actually completely broke free of the atmosphere.

Correct.

[Beef Supreme]

SpaceShipOne left the atmosphere. It did not enter an orbit. But it did break completely free of the atmosphere and then some.

[Hydrae]

It is one thing to be a flying fish breaking out of the ocean for a few moments then falling back as opposed to some kind of a fish that could actually stay aloft for an extended period of time before having to return to the water. This is similar to the difference between SpaceshipOne and this one. SSOne was amazing, this is the next step beyond what it accomplished.

[Beef Supreme]

I agree that this is a big achievement. I just found the post title and the title of the article inaccurate.

SpaceShipOne could have entered an orbit, they were high enough to do so. But it wasn't really equipped for an extended flight. It did not, however, fall back to earth. Its flight path was quite intentional and had to go through re-entry like any other space ship. It was built for a $25 million of purely private money as opposed to quite a few billion that the Dragon Capsule spent, $6 billion of which was public funding, so I'm not sure how it really qualifies as a private space flight.

It's a great achievement either way. It's just not the first private space ship.

[Donger]

SpaceShipOne could have entered an orbit, they were high enough to do so.

Uh, no, it could not have.

[Beef Supreme]

Yes, it could have. It wouldn't have been able to survive re-entry, it wasn't built to be able to at those speeds, but it was high enough to enter orbit.

[Donger]

Yes, it could have. It wouldn't have been able to survive re-entry, it wasn't built to be able to at those speeds, but it was high enough to enter orbit.

Okay, you apparently have no idea what you are talking about.

In order to achieve orbit, you not only have to "high enough" but also fast enough. Orbital speed is ~Mach 25. SS1 only has enough thrust to achieve ~Mach 3.

As I hope you can see, Mach 3 isn't really very close to Mach 25.

[Beef Supreme]

Ok, you are correct. My main point was that they were high enough to be beyond the earth's atmosphere and in space. That makes it the first privately owned spaceship, contrary to your post title and the title of the article you linked.

I'm not trying to diminish the achievement made today. It is fantastic. But your post title is at the very least, misleading.

[Donger]

Ok, you are correct. My main point was that they were high enough to be beyond the earth's atmosphere and in space. That makes it the first privately owned spaceship, contrary to your post title and the title of the article you linked.

I'm not trying to diminish the achievement made today. It is fantastic. But your post title is at the very least, misleading.

I didn't write the thread title.

[Saul Good]

When does it return?

[Beef Supreme]

In a few hours.

[Donger]

Successful splashdown in the Pacific Ocean!