Landing the first stage is almost becoming nominal! :smile: :tu:

I take it, then, that it got successfully aloft. BRAVO!

One milestone down, many more to go for 2017.

[url=https://arstechnica.com/science/2017/02/nasas-longshot-bet-on-a-revolutionary-rocket-may-be-about-to-pay-off/]NASA’s longshot bet on a revolutionary rocket may be about to pay off[/url] | Ars Technica

Ion propulsion. [Sorry, no Elon Musk future-foo PR-blurbs in this one.]

Musk (acting as SpaceX CEO) announced today that SpaceX has received a "significant" deposit from two as-yet anonymous private individuals who have purchased a cislunar free return tourism flight around the moon, to be flown by a Dragon 2 launched aboard a Falcon Heavy, and last approximately a week. The current plan is late 2018, though many of that skeptical timeline for a variety of reasons, not least of which is because Musk mentioned deferring to NASA.

Space Tourism
 

[url]http://www.skyandtelescope.com/astronomy-news/spacex-announces-moonshot-mission-2018/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_campaign=sky-mya-nl-170303&utm_content=926395_EDT_SKY_170303&utm_medium=email[/url]

NASAs plan for an Europa lander:
[URL]https://arstechnica.com/science/2017/03/inside-nasas-daring-8-billion-plan-to-finally-find-extraterrestrial-life/[/URL]

[QUOTE=VictordeHolland;454532]NASAs plan for an Europa lander:
[URL]https://arstechnica.com/science/2017/03/inside-nasas-daring-8-billion-plan-to-finally-find-extraterrestrial-life/[/URL][/QUOTE]
[FONT="Courier New"][CENTER]ALL THESE WORLDS
ARE YOURS EXCEPT
EUROPA
ATTEMPT NO
LANDING THERE
USE THEM TOGETHER
USE THEM IN PEACE[/CENTER][/FONT]
[CENTER]:leaving::no::buddy::max:[/CENTER]

[QUOTE=richs;454516][URL]http://www.skyandtelescope.com/astronomy-news/spacex-announces-moonshot-mission-2018/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_campaign=sky-mya-nl-170303&utm_content=926395_EDT_SKY_170303&utm_medium=email[/URL][/QUOTE]
From the article-
[QUOTE]Many noted the number of delays the promised Falcon Heavy rocket[SUP]1[/SUP] has already faced. Others took issue with millionaires purchasing a place in history[SUP]2[/SUP] ahead of seasoned astronauts.[/QUOTE]1. Better to find bugs now, than to let bugs blow things later. As most folks here would know, we're talking about a monstrously complex vehicle, which while immensely powerful, is also extremely fragile if conditions get too far out of spec.

2. Those purchased seats help continue the program so that the "seasoned astronauts" will have something to ride in. And, to be really crass, isn't it kind of cool to have willing, [U]paying[/U] [STRIKE][URL="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guinea_pig"]guinea pigs[/URL][/STRIKE] test subjects? Trying out the equipment first could help preserve the pool of seasoned astronauts, which I believe would all be Soyuz riders at this point.

[QUOTE=Uncwilly;454534][FONT=Courier New][CENTER]A[FONT=Courier New]ALL THESE WORLDS
ARE YOURS EXCEPT
EUROPA
ATTEMPT NO
LANDING THERE
USE THEM TOGETHER
USE THEM IN PEACE[/FONT][/CENTER]
[/FONT]
[CENTER]:leaving::no::buddy::max:[/CENTER]
[/QUOTE]
The Odyssey book(s) are still on my reading list :book:

[QUOTE=kladner;454540]From the article-
1. Better to find bugs now, than to let bugs blow things later. As most folks here would know, we're talking about a monstrously complex vehicle, which while immensely powerful, is also extremely fragile if conditions get too far out of spec.
[/QUOTE]

It's less about finding bugs and more about the fact that development resources are being continually diverted. It was six months away in 2013, and now four years later it's still six plus months away. The two "anomalies" haven't helped, especially when one of those destroyed a pad... not to mention the constant iteration of the base F9.