this post was submitted on 18 Dec 2023
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Enough Musk Spam

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[–] drdabbles 15 points 11 months ago (1 children)

As I said on another post:

This segment was sort of a let down, because the same lies about reusable rockets were repeated without researching them apparently. Some of musk’s most agreed upon accomplishments were achieved 30-40 years ago, but people on TV can’t help but give him the accolades.

Also not much digging into the Starlink for Ukraine debacle, or the fact that he didn’t actually donate all that hardware, didn’t donate the service, and it wasn’t being used in nearly the capacity initially reported because the people receiving the units were happy to bullshit for him as long as they got gear to use.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 11 months ago (1 children)

What are the lies about the reusable boosters?

Imo it's really an important milestone in rocketry. What launch vehicle in history has been better in terms of reusability and reliability than the Falcon 9 series? And how often could they launch and what was the turnaround of those reusable parts?

I haven't followed SpaceX closely in a few years (Elon is crazy and it has gotten pretty boring (but impressive) with the constant launches) so I are not that up to date. But last I checked, a lot of the launches used reused first stages and in some cases the stages had been used 3 times.

A quick search query finds that the record is a booster having been reused 16 times. Hell they even reuse the fairing these days.

The space shuttles are cool but they waste quite a lot and they are very expensive.

And no I don't like Elon but I have to give credit where credit is due. SpaceX is a game changer in rocketry, nothing even comes close.

[–] drdabbles 0 points 11 months ago (1 children)

SpaceX did not pioneer reusable launch systems. Flat out. They've been experimented with since the 1960s, commercial companies were experimenting with them in the 1990s. Even the name FALCON comes from a project DARPA was working on.

There was also this famously reusable system in the US called Shuttle Launch System, consisting of a reusable shuttle, two reusable solid boosters, and an expendable extension tank.

Hell they even reuse the fairing these days.

No they don't, they stopped that attempt because recovering them was pointless and difficult.

The space shuttles are cool but they waste quite a lot and they are very expensive.

Yes, imagine if we used a capsule system like Russia kept using.

give credit where credit is due

Ok, then start thanking the people that developed these things in the 60s through the 90s.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (1 children)

No one has said that they invented reusable launch systems.

They did very much perfect them though.

No one else has been able to reuse boosters with the frequency and reliability of the Falcon 9. In fact no one has been able to produce any rocket whatsoever with a better reliability than the Falcon 9

Sure the shuttle had reusable boosters but the turnaround time was significant because they landed in the sea using a parachute.

Yes, imagine if we used a capsule system like Russia kept using.

What capsule system are you refering to? I am not familiar with it. Btw SpaceX does have a reusable capsule.

No they don't, they stopped that attempt because recovering them was pointless and difficult.

I couldn't find any indication that they have stopped recovering the fairings, quite the opposite actually. Article from November: https://www.space.com/spacex-starlink-payload-fairing-recovery-sea-photo

It seems like they have stopped with the net boats though. It was apparently too hard to catch them and fairing is supposedly not that hard to clean. So they just pick up from the water.

Ok, then start thanking the people that developed these things in the 60s through the 90s.

True. But do we have to thank them every single time someone bring up SpaceX? That's ridiculous. One can't claim to invent such an obvious concept and demand credit 20-70 years later for something that is also reusable but not similar in any other way.

It's not like those old systems are anywhere close to how SpaceX is operating nowadays anyways.

It's not like we thank Carl Benz every time someone makes a good car in the 2023