SpaceX Grasshopper *OT*
by Mid7night 
, Rocket BSCHSHCSHSHCCHGGH!!!!!!, Friday, July 12, 2013, 14:24 (4129 days ago)
I CAN'T BELIEVE I didn't see this sooner; SpaceX has now demonstrated (multiple times) a vertical takeoff AND VERTICAL LANDING ROCKET. I don't know how in text on the internet how to impress upon you what an enormously amazing incredibly difficult astounding breathtaking EXCITING accomplishment this is! Watch the videos, watch how rock-solid the entire flight is, and marvel at how they brought a rocket back down from HOVERING and landed only FEET away from where they took off...
O_O
Even after all that gushing, I still don't think I can properly put into words how exciting an accomplishment this is in the aerospace industry.
You know all those movies where spaceships descend through the atmosphere and land gracefully on the ground, instead of crashing through and burning up and splashing into the ocean?
THIS IS WHERE THAT STARTS FOR REAL.
Admins, please forgive the double-B.O.-posting, this is just too exciting not to share everywhere! :)
Very cool.
by Malagate , Sea of Tranquility, Sunday, July 14, 2013, 17:11 (4127 days ago) @ Mid7night
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SpaceX Grasshopper *OT*
by General Vagueness , The Vault of Sass, Monday, July 15, 2013, 16:45 (4126 days ago) @ Mid7night
This is awesome in a way that's hard to appreciate unless you know how it works and what the issues are-- but having some idea of how that goes, I'm impressed.
SpaceX Grasshopper *OT*
by Reconcilliation , Imagination Station, Thursday, July 18, 2013, 03:11 (4124 days ago) @ Mid7night
This is the research and development step of re-usable rockets.
Normally, you build these complicated, expensive rocket motors, launch them off and then let them crash back into the ground or ocean. It's a waste of resources.
SpaceX is making them re-usable. A single rocket could make dozens of flights; without the need to re-build your fleet of rocket engines every year.
This could reduce cost to orbit by an entire order of magnitude, which would result in a dramatic increase in space commercialization and industry.