Falcon heavy successful launch


http://www.cbsnews.com/news/spacex-falcon-heavy-launch-spectacular-maiden-flight/


Watch it in full screen.

Watched it. Pretty darn impressive...

Nice, but 2 things... First, I don't like how Obama got rid of the iconic American space program, and every one of these launches seems to be a big waste of fuel... I mean, can't they invest more money into new, less wasteful ways to get to space?

This is a private company owned by Elon Musk. I think that they get some funding from NASA but most funding comes from launching stuff, satellites
and ISP. The 3 rocket engines come back to earth and re-used, saves a lot of money. Musk launched one of his cars in this one. It's on the way to
orbit Mars. With the earth being flat that saves a lot of money too.

tea, I knew about that... I was talking about how much fuel was used in that, 27 engines in 3 groups of 9 each... I'm not a scientist, but there has to be a better way...

No problem, using this instead will save a lot of fuel.


What ever happened to the "space elevator"? The last story that I read
said that it was possible. Haven't heard anything about it recently.

Personally, I don't really care about how much fuel is used. The more successful missions the more efficient they will become. Take the 50s & 60s gas guzzlers to today's efficient cars.

The privatization of space is vital to expanding our interplanetary science. Right now its like carrying a few boxes for people but this could turn into a tourism or mining business easily once all the kinks are worked out.

Currently it is an expensive process fraught with many dangers but the more successful launches there are the more efficient and safer it becomes.

As for tethering a platform to construct a space elevator...
Human technology is still a long way from making it happen.
One of the biggest hold-ups is in the construction materials of the ribbon (tether). Even with carbon nano tube lattices the strength to weight ratio becomes impossible.
Another serious issue is in the connecting of the two weights. Most people would think you just lower one end of the ribbon down to its anchor point on Earth. Thru the fluid dynamics of the different layers of atmosphere. Easier said than done.
Additionally, once the attachment is made, something will need to take up the slack. To do so will double, if not triple, the forces on the structure itself and the anchor and the platform.

Here is The International Space Elevator Consortium
http://isec.org/

I wrote a rather long paper on the space elevator and what would work and what won't work. I forget which forum I published it on, it was a few years ago.
iSec will give you the current state of affairs of the effort.
There is also a wiki that mentions Google X's Rapid Evaluation R&D stating in 2014 that no one had yet manufactured a perfectly formed carbon nanotube strand longer than a meter.

However, I personally have read of many advancements in recent time that promise new ways of manipulating carbon nano-tubes and nano lattices.

Personally, I feel the biggest obstacle besides the construction material will be the deployment physics. However, If it can be successfully deployed and secured, maintaining the tension is doable. As long as there isn't sabotage or materials fatigue.