Successful Booster Catch by Launch Tower “Chopsticks”

 

This morning SpaceX conducted its first successful landing of the Starship first stage booster.  After separation from the Starship payload, the booster returned to Earth where it was caught by the “chopsticks” on the launch tower.  The amazing video below is queued to a few seconds before landing, when the booster emerges from the clouds, hurtling groundward at 3,500 kilometers per hour.  At less than a kilometer in altitude, the rockets ignite, slowing the booster to a standstill and gently depositing it into the waiting arms of the launch tower from which it had departed 7 minutes earlier.

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  1. Bryan G. Stephens 🚫 Banned
    Bryan G. Stephens
    @BryanGStephens

    It is amazing 

    • #1
  2. Stad Coolidge
    Stad
    @Stad

    Too cool!

    • #2
  3. Susan Quinn Member
    Susan Quinn
    @SusanQuinn

    Awesome! Another Musk masterpiece!

    • #3
  4. Gossamer Cat Coolidge
    Gossamer Cat
    @GossamerCat

    Incredible!  Thanks for posting.

    • #4
  5. Doctor Robert Member
    Doctor Robert
    @DoctorRobert

    It that a rising sun or a setting sun?  The symbolism is very deep…

    • #5
  6. 9thDistrictNeighbor Member
    9thDistrictNeighbor
    @9thDistrictNeighbor

    Private sector for the win!

    • #6
  7. Douglas Pratt Coolidge
    Douglas Pratt
    @DouglasPratt

    I’ll bet against the damn Yankees, but I won’t bet against Musk ever again. Not that I did, precisely…I just thought it was a lot to pull off. 

    • #7
  8. cdor Member
    cdor
    @cdor

    That was incredible!!!!!!!!!!

    • #8
  9. Blondie Thatcher
    Blondie
    @Blondie

    Just WOW!!!! 

    • #9
  10. Not a Banana Republican Coolidge
    Not a Banana Republican
    @Dbroussa

    Doctor Robert (View Comment):

    It that a rising sun or a setting sun? The symbolism is very deep…

    Rising sun. The Spaceport is at the southernmost point in Texas right up on the border with Mexico.  They launch eastward (to get the advantage of the Earth’s spin) over the Gulf of Mexico.  

    It is the dawn of a new era of space exploration. 

    • #10
  11. Doctor Robert Member
    Doctor Robert
    @DoctorRobert

    Not a Banana Republican (View Comment):
    It is the dawn of a new era of space exploration.

    Yes indeed, you caught my meaning.

    • #11
  12. Randy Weivoda Moderator
    Randy Weivoda
    @RandyWeivoda

    That is astonishing!  A parade should be thrown for those engineers.

    • #12
  13. The Reticulator Member
    The Reticulator
    @TheReticulator

    Randy Weivoda (View Comment):

    That is astonishing! A parade should be thrown for those engineers.

    The left won’t help. They hate heroes.   These are not heroes in the same sense as an elderly hairdresser who tackles a bad guy and detains him for the police, but it’s much the same thing as far as the left is concerned. They hate things that aren’t properly supervised and managed by the government.  Be prepared for the snide remarks and putdowns.  

     

    • #13
  14. Hartmann von Aue Member
    Hartmann von Aue
    @HartmannvonAue

    Randy Weivoda (View Comment):

    That is astonishing! A parade should be thrown for those engineers.

    No joke, man. The precision of the catch and the water landing were astonishing. This was a staggeringly beautiful piece of engineering. Wow.

    • #14
  15. Steven Seward Member
    Steven Seward
    @StevenSeward

    Truly Astounding.  Words do not convey.  And “Bathtub Boy” Keith Olberman proposes kicking Elon Musk out of the country.  Also astounding………..

    • #15
  16. Richard Easton Coolidge
    Richard Easton
    @RichardEaston

    Elon’s explanation, before today,  of how it works with video of the landing.

    • #16
  17. Clavius Thatcher
    Clavius
    @Clavius

    It was amazing!  Go Go Go!!


    Sad to note than the California Coastal Commission has denied a request for a 50 launch permit for SpaceX that was fully supported by NASA and the Space Force for purely political reasons.  They don’t like Musk’s politics.

    • #17
  18. Percival Thatcher
    Percival
    @Percival

    Clavius (View Comment):

    It was amazing! Go Go Go!!


    Sad to note than the California Coastal Commission has denied a request for a 50 launch permit for SpaceX that was fully supported by NASA and the Space Force for purely political reasons. They don’t like Musk’s politics.

    Wow. How many jobs do you suppose those bozos just wrote off?

    But icky Elon won’t be bothering them. Do they suppose that having political tests on possible employers will help or hinder the region?

    • #18
  19. The Reticulator Member
    The Reticulator
    @TheReticulator

    Percival (View Comment):

    Clavius (View Comment):

    It was amazing! Go Go Go!!


    Sad to note than the California Coastal Commission has denied a request for a 50 launch permit for SpaceX that was fully supported by NASA and the Space Force for purely political reasons. They don’t like Musk’s politics.

    Wow. How many jobs do you suppose those bozos just wrote off?

    But icky Elon won’t be bothering them. Do they suppose that having political tests on possible employers will help or hinder the region?

    It will help Democrats to maintain control.  If that isn’t helping the region, what is? 

    • #19
  20. Percival Thatcher
    Percival
    @Percival

    The Reticulator (View Comment):

    Percival (View Comment):

    Clavius (View Comment):

    It was amazing! Go Go Go!!


    Sad to note than the California Coastal Commission has denied a request for a 50 launch permit for SpaceX that was fully supported by NASA and the Space Force for purely political reasons. They don’t like Musk’s politics.

    Wow. How many jobs do you suppose those bozos just wrote off?

    But icky Elon won’t be bothering them. Do they suppose that having political tests on possible employers will help or hinder the region?

    It will help Democrats to maintain control. If that isn’t helping the region, what is?

    It has the potential to reduce the tax base, if they’re noxious enough.

    • #20
  21. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    Percival (View Comment):

    The Reticulator (View Comment):

    Percival (View Comment):

    Clavius (View Comment):

    It was amazing! Go Go Go!!


    Sad to note than the California Coastal Commission has denied a request for a 50 launch permit for SpaceX that was fully supported by NASA and the Space Force for purely political reasons. They don’t like Musk’s politics.

    Wow. How many jobs do you suppose those bozos just wrote off?

    But icky Elon won’t be bothering them. Do they suppose that having political tests on possible employers will help or hinder the region?

    It will help Democrats to maintain control. If that isn’t helping the region, what is?

    It has the potential to reduce the tax base, if they’re noxious enough.

    They don’t seem to mind creating a dystopian hellscape as long as they’re in charge of it.  But they probably think it won’t be a hellscape for them too, which is largely false.

    • #21
  22. The Reticulator Member
    The Reticulator
    @TheReticulator

    Percival (View Comment):

    The Reticulator (View Comment):

    Percival (View Comment):

    Clavius (View Comment):

    It was amazing! Go Go Go!!


    Sad to note than the California Coastal Commission has denied a request for a 50 launch permit for SpaceX that was fully supported by NASA and the Space Force for purely political reasons. They don’t like Musk’s politics.

    Wow. How many jobs do you suppose those bozos just wrote off?

    But icky Elon won’t be bothering them. Do they suppose that having political tests on possible employers will help or hinder the region?

    It will help Democrats to maintain control. If that isn’t helping the region, what is?

    It has the potential to reduce the tax base, if they’re noxious enough.

    Less money for government. What’s not to like? 

    • #22
  23. Percival Thatcher
    Percival
    @Percival

    The Reticulator (View Comment):

    Percival (View Comment):

    The Reticulator (View Comment):

    Percival (View Comment):

    Clavius (View Comment):

    It was amazing! Go Go Go!!


    Sad to note than the California Coastal Commission has denied a request for a 50 launch permit for SpaceX that was fully supported by NASA and the Space Force for purely political reasons. They don’t like Musk’s politics.

    Wow. How many jobs do you suppose those bozos just wrote off?

    But icky Elon won’t be bothering them. Do they suppose that having political tests on possible employers will help or hinder the region?

    It will help Democrats to maintain control. If that isn’t helping the region, what is?

    It has the potential to reduce the tax base, if they’re noxious enough.

    Less money for government. What’s not to like?

    Yabbut these are progressives we are talking about. They need that money to solve the problems that they inevitably make worse.

    • #23
  24. GPentelie Coolidge
    GPentelie
    @GPentelie

    This astounding, revolutionary scientific and engineering achievement has received no acknowledgement from the President and Vice President of the United States of America.

    Ugh.

     

    • #24
  25. Douglas Pratt Coolidge
    Douglas Pratt
    @DouglasPratt

    GPentelie (View Comment):

    This astounding, revolutionary scientific and engineering achievement has received no acknowledgement from the President and Vice President of the United States of America.

    Ugh.

     

    If they can’t claim credit for it or blame Trump, they’re not interested.

    • #25
  26. Bob Armstrong Thatcher
    Bob Armstrong
    @BobArmstrong

    That was really impressive!

    • #26
  27. The Reticulator Member
    The Reticulator
    @TheReticulator

    Douglas Pratt (View Comment):

    GPentelie (View Comment):

    This astounding, revolutionary scientific and engineering achievement has received no acknowledgement from the President and Vice President of the United States of America.

    Ugh.

     

    If they can’t claim credit for it or blame Trump, they’re not interested.

    It’s traditional among Democrats.  FDR and his minions worked hard to make sure that Herbert Hoover got zero credit for bringing about the Boulder Dam (officially named the Hoover Dam after FDR died, even though Congress and the public had often called it that from the beginning).  The Wikipedia page about the dam gives quite detailed coverage of this issue.

    • #27
  28. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    I got to thinking it’s fortunate Elon came along at this time, just a few years ago much of what he’s been doing would have been simply impossible, technologically.

     

     

    • #28
  29. Full Size Tabby Member
    Full Size Tabby
    @FullSizeTabby

    I am late to notice this (we’ve been busy with grandchildren), but that is something! My father worked in aerospace for decades (his technical specialty was how to get spacecraft back to earth without burning up in the atmosphere). We lived around Cape Canaveral during my late elementary school years (late Gemini, early Apollo), so I saw plenty of launches. They still impress me. But to see a ship come back to a gentle catch is almost magic to an old guy like me. 

    • #29
  30. mildlyo Member
    mildlyo
    @mildlyo

    So cool.

    • #30
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