Tonight at 19:30, raise a glass to...

Another word for that is fly-tipping.

Payload aside, this should be a fantastic launch. 

How pinch-mouthed can you get?

Spectacular launch & even more technically impressive recovery.   Shame the recovery only made 2 from 3.     

On the negative side:  mock payload of the car & a model in a spacesuit (space junk)  & an audio playlist incl Bowie's 'Space Oddity'  .....  errr .....  so sound travels in the vacuum of space,  oh well you learn something every day.

Well it was different approach to a mass dummy, Mike. Unfortunately in this day and age, more news interest will be generated from the Tesla going into space but otherwise, it's a great step forward with the new launcher.

Indeed James,  if I was the owner of Tesla who had a space rocket company as a sideline I would be sorely tempted to do the same - assuming that is it really did need a payload to prove the system,  given that its supposed to have a 64 tonne lift.  But whatever the pictures of the car & its little man from space are spectacular with a high degree of quirky fun.

I was more interested in the recovery TBH,  I've seen video of the experimental stuff & previous SpaceX flights.  To have the two side boosters land simultaneously was a real success.     These returned to landing zones a few miles south of KSC,  the third centre core section was planned to land on a floating platform a few hundred km's out at sea.   The reports say it had insufficient propellant to slow the descent & missed the target vessel & was destroyed.   

I just read the planned Mars orbit might not be 100% & it might end up in the asteroid belt. I guess time will tell.  

A Tesla as an asteroid? I need a better telescope!

(That of course is assuming that the people responsible for loading the Tesla on board didn’t secretly replace it with a cardboard cutout and sandbags...)

Wouldn’t they have done better to aim to land the Tesla on Mars? After all, it could be driven there, so could sit and wait for a driver, human or alien, fitted with solar panels on the body/roof for a trickle charge to ensure indefinite readiness...  (Though I guess it would have to be driven only very slowly to avoid overheating given the thin Martian atmosphere, and bearing in mind the lower energy density of the sun for solar panel recharging)

Yes Mike. It's not clear yet if it was propellant or engine relight issues that caused the problem during the descent. It clears the way for the next launch with real payloads later this year which is great news.

james n posted:

Payload aside, this should be a fantastic launch. 

Given the 50:50 chance of failure they should have loaded it up with something really valuable. (High Rising Terminal)

Appreciate the introduction of: "RUB" - "Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly" quite like "R.O.U.S" - "Rodents of Unusual Size".

Adam Meredith posted:

james n posted:

Payload aside, this should be a fantastic launch. 

Given the 50:50 chance of failure they should have loaded it up with something really valuable. (High Rising Terminal)

Appreciate the introduction of: "RUB" - "Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly" quite like "R.O.U.S" - "Rodents of Unusual Size".

I heard rumours that it was the one winky had on order......................

There you go again the yankees stealing our ideas.

“A meat-and-potato pie is launched towards space attached to a weather balloon in Wigan on Thursday. Space enthusiasts from Sheffield-based SentIntoSpace attached a camera and tracking equipment to monitor the pie’s progress. They wanted to see if its journey would change the molecular structure of the pie making it easier to eat.”