Dragon 2 Reveal

[steve...]

7:09 Pacific and nothing's happening.

[GGD]

steve... wrote:
7:09 Pacific and nothing's happening.

7:19 same as above.

[StingMe]

On now...

[sekker]

Musk really is our generation's Howard Hughes.

1) Totally reusable.

2) Printing technology to make the critical component, the super cool thrusters.

3) Change the assumption - land on land, just add new fuel to go again. Even the Space Shuttle did not achieve that goal.

[ztirffritz]

He's big on ideas but he's terrible at presentation. Part Steve jobs part cowering nerd.

[mrlynn]

Terrific development. That's how we always thought rockets should land (tail first):

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0042393/

/Mr Lynn

[ztirffritz]

I don't doubt that someone else can do what SpaceX is doing. What impresses me is how someone, presumably Elon Musk, lays out a plan looking years into the future and manages these MASSIVE projects to reach those goals. It is impressive to say the least. He's done it multiple times with multiple companies.

[Paul F.]

Locheed-Martin, Boeing, United Launch Alliance - in business for 60 years (in one form or another), making rockets... "We can make a new man-rated expendable rocket... fully disposable, and it'll only take us 15 years.".

SpaceX;
Started in 2002, with no employees, no facilities, no aerospace engineering background... "In 15 years, we'll have a man-rated heavy lift rocket, with a reusable first stage, for 1/2 the cost of traditional expendable launchers".

Twelve years later;
Loch-mart, Boeing, ULA; "We're only 10 years away from having a man rated expendble launcher..."

SpaceX; "We've flown Falcon 9, we'll have Falcon Heavy flying in a year, our unmanned Dragon capsule is flying, our manned Dragon is a year away... our reusable first stage has had it's first test flights, we expect full-reuse in two years".

Could another company do the same thing?
Absolutely...
But in 60 years, no other company HAS.

[sekker]

Howard Hughes, Jr.

I just want Elon to pilot the first Dragon 2 flight...