Did the center stage land correctly on the ship? Wonder what the weather/wave/wind envelope is to do that. I would think the ship cannot be rocking too much for that.
I know it was just a test but why not put a useful payload on it anyway?
And G, I agree with you about Mr Musk but I wonder if they still did it for a bargain compared to today's NASA.
And on that positive note, the launch took me back to 4th grade where we took time out of the school day to watch the launch activities. Good to see a rocket (US) of size take off from Kennedy again.
What's also interesting to me is the naming of the Falcon 9 using the word 'heavy'. Back in the 50's the AF used that term on the big boy recon and bomber wings. For instance, my dad was a crew chief at Ellsworth AFB on the RB-36. 28th SRW, Heavy. SRW for you youngsters is Strategic Reconnaissance Wing.
I really don't care where Elon gets his money from. I'm glad my taxes helped support his efforts in space, cars, and solar technology. At least he's got something to show for it, unlike NASA at the moment who's still piddling with the Mars effort. I do agree that we should start using the Moon for bases, industrial mining and cheese (not necessarily in that order).
I'm also wondering why we haven't developed the technology to build the rockets in space or the moon where they don't require as much fuel to head to their destinations.
The center core was only able to relight one of the three engines necessary to land, and so it hit the water at 300 miles per hour about 300 feet from the drone ship. As a result, two engines on the drone ship were taken out when it crashed, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said in a press call after the rocket launch. “[It] was enough to take out two thrusters and shower the deck with shrapnel,” he said.
you still need to get all the components (including the fuel) up there so that in itself requires fuel.....
And screw Mars...we should be industrializing the moon. Supposedly has ice/water which means O2. It's out of the Earths gravity strongest well. yada yada yada