LAT: SpaceX Dragon capsule lifts off, reaches orbit

[Larry]

Link.

The company's massive Falcon 9 rocket blasted off from Cape Caneveral, Fla. on Wednesday at 7:43 a.m. Approximatley 10 minutes later, the Apollo-like Dragon space capsule appeared to reach low Earth orbit.

The capsule is scheduled to orbit the Earth twice before reentering the atmosphere and splashing down around 11 a.m. in the Pacific about 500 miles west of Southern California. The craft would deploy parachutes to slow its descent.

Not much more information at the link. But it has a link to the company's web site, and I assume that more info will be coming Real Soon Now.

[HighOnHendrix]

The Dragon capsule is considered a contender for the job of ferrying astronauts to and from the International Space Station after the space shuttle is retired in 2011.

So are they going to be selling these to NASA or is NASA just buying the "service" of transporting astronauts and material to ISS? I've been reading about this thing and can't seem to figure out who's doing what on this.

[Larry]

Well, if it's my company, then the design, technology, and all that stuff stays mine, and NASA hires me to deliver freight.

No doubt, in return, I have to pay NASA for the buildings and facilities that I rent, at the Cape. But then there's huge expanses of empty land, there. And no doubt a lot of empty buildings. (And soon to be many more.) If the rent isn't cheap I'd be really surprised.

[China]

The capsule is expected to land at 3:30.

[mjah]

So are they going to be selling these to NASA or is NASA just buying the "service" of transporting astronauts and material to ISS? I've been reading about this thing and can't seem to figure out who's doing what on this.

I believe the situation is closer to the latter: NASA buys the service.

...After having a tremendous influence over the design of the hardware, operations, and testing to be sure they're NASA-compliant, of course.

[Larry]

Actually, as to that earlier question:

Recall reading an editorial that was looking as to how (and I suppose, if) the government should encourage private development of space technology.

The editorial writer was making the claim that in his opinion, the thing which the US did, which contributed more to the development of airplane technology than anything else, was a law that specified that if any private company could build an aircraft that could meet certain minimum specs (the ability to deliver 100 pounds of cargo, over 200 miles), then the government would guarantee them the purchase of 200 flights, at a (specified) price. Even if somebody else showed up sooner, or with a better airplane.

(I'm pulling those numbers from memory, I have no idea how close they are.)

The idea was that under that type of government encouragement, the government only pays for success. If your airplane doesn't work, then you just lost your own money, the government doesn't pay you a dime. But that law meant that if Joe Adventurer thinks he's got an airplane, then it takes the uncertainty out of "will I have any customers, and how much will they pay me?"

It meant that the people who got into that field were gambling their own money, but they weren't gambling in an unknown market.

I don't think I'd have any trouble at all voting for a law that said that "Any company that can deliver 300 pounds of cargo to the ISS, NASA promises to buy 20 flights from them, at (some reasonable price)." Maybe a second law that says "If your company can deliver one astronaut, and return one, then we'll buy 10 flights at (some higher price)."

(Although maybe it's not necessary for NASA to do that, either. After all, there are commercial prices already out there for commercial satellite launches. It's not like SpaceX doesn't know what the current "market price" for launching satellites is, right now.)

---------- Post added December-8th-2010 at 02:47 PM ----------

The capsule is expected to land at 3:30.

There is no such thing as a water landing. The correct term is "crashing into the ocean".

- Carlin.

[China]

There is no such thing as a water landing. The correct term is "crashing into the ocean".

- Carlin.

I actually hesitated before typing that. I wasn't sure what to call it. Now, come to think of it, I should have called it splashdown.

[Larry]

It's down. Press release from the company.

Landed "shortly after 2:00 EST".

Press conference scheduled for 3:30. (Haven't found any links to it.)

NASA.gov has video of the launch.