I can't wait! SpaceX is the most amazing company right now. They're work is the exact opposite of the trivial-to-start social networking apps, the tedium of online advertising.
They want to send people to Mars. And they're launching to the ISS tomorrow, the most expensive object ever built by humanity. They have the world's trust. They have the world's best engineers. And they have some intense ambition and lots of money. So awesome.
I had a phone interview for a software position there just a few days ago (didn't get it) and it was the most thrilling experience I'd had, like, ever. I have to work hard and study more so I can try again in a couple months.
Please continue trying, your head is definitely in the right place and I'm sure you'll be a great asset when you get to where they need you to be.
I am such a huge Elon Musk fan that there really are no words to convey. When you think of the phrase "anything is possible if you put your mind to it" this guy is the true personification of it. It is also a personal dream of mine to be able to work with him some day.
When I was young I was thinking how much of a shame it was I missed out on the 60s. But then I got to live through seeing Steve Job do what he did (I was born less than 2 months before Apple was incorporated)... and now I'm seeing this guy just tear it up in multiple industries cracking some really difficult and important problems. I'm totally dazed; what a great role model.
I was actually thinking the other day about the people alive today who might be household names in 500 years - if Elon Musk achieves his goals for reaching Mars then his is probably the only name on that list.
I would love to work there but they only recruit U.S. citizens and although I was contacted by them last year, it ended up going nowhere when I mentioned this "small" detail.
And best of luck getting your job there. If I were younger I'd do the same thing. The mission tomorrow is I think the beginning of the privatization of space exploration.
I'd love to work there. Just had a friend interview in fact (didn't quite make it but enjoyed the experience). The only concern is salary and working conditions. I mean I get the impact of the work and it is true that is by far the most important consideration for any engineer. But I have worked for smaller companies before where salary was well below average and there were 70-80-90 hour weeks. It was incredibly demoralizing. It would be nice to hear that isn't how SpaceX is.
I'll add my voice to the chorus of folks gushing about how awesome this is, but here's a list of reason on just WHY this is so awesome.
Straight off the top, this is only the third launch of the Falcon 9. This rocket alone represents a dramatic disruption of the entire orbital launch industry, offering to make launch of both humans and cargo cheaper than it's ever been by an incredibly wide margin. If this rocket proves to be a reliable workhorse and proves that the existing cost structure is workable then it will both dramatically lower the cost of access to space and drive billions of dollars of revenue to SpaceX.
Second, this represents a significant advance in being able to deliver supplies to ISS, largely replacing a vehicle that is vastly more expensive than the Dragon Cargo. And finally putting American spaceflight back in the game of ISS resupply post-Shuttle.
Third, the Dragon Cargo shares an enormous amount of heritage with the manned Dragon capsule in development. As they prove out elements of the vehicle design in unmanned ISS resupply missions they are effectively proving out the manned version as well. The manned Dragon capsule will represent a huge leap for the US space program, catapulting us back into having the capability to send crew into orbit and to the ISS.
Fourth, given the costs of Falcon/Dragon flights they should be enormously disruptive to manned spaceflight, representing a vastly cheaper way to put humans in orbit even than the Russian Soyuz. That will likely translate into far more people beingable to go into orbit and the development of a sustained orbital tourism industry on an impressive scale which will fuel further innovation and drive down cost of access to space even more.
Finally, all of this is being done by a private company working toward its own ends rather than a company on a strict government contract. This represents a new paradigm for launch vehicles and for manned spaceflight, potentially transforming the nature of the entire endeavor into something that is self-sustaining regardless of government enthusiasm for spaceflight.
In short, this represents nothing less than fundamentally rebooting the entire space program going all the way back to Sputnik, and it could quite readily represent the opening up of spaceflight for commercial applications, space science and exploration, and for manned exploration and colonization to a degree that will make the scifi dreamers of our past look like forecasters.
In short, they will be launching 1200 pounds of supplies, remotely doing a bunch of maneuvers designed to prove to NASA that they can get around safely in space, and if those go OK, docking with the ISS.
This is so much cooler than a facebook IPO, I must say -- commercial US robot rocket ISS reloading. Come on!!
We could be explorers again like Magellan or Shackleton, this time charting the vast, infinitude of the stars. We could see planets and moons that are but specks in a telescope. It has been so easy, over the last few years, to become jaded with politics and our society and the minutia of technology. SpaceX gets me excited about "the future (of our species)" which hasn't happened in a long time.
Doesn't it bother you that you won't be the one doing the exploring? I'm insanely envious of these people and sometimes I wish manned spaceflight would end. Standing on the Moon sounds like the most amazing experience I can imagine and it pains me that I won't ever get there and even if I would, I would just be the umpteenth tourist, littering up the place.
Keep in mind, this is still just a test. If they get off the pad without exploding that's awesome, getting to orbit is super awesome, and actually reaching the ISS is simply amazing.
Just to make it clear, it's just the launch tomorrow - they won't be attempting to dock until Tuesday (mission day 4), after (hopefully) they've passed all the manoeuvring tests.
I'm impressed that NASA is allowing this. Can you imagine what it would be like to be the guy who has to sign off on that decision? Even if you have every confidence, imagining what would happen if things went wrong?
This mission has been planned for a long, long time.
There have been several delays for more testing. At the end of the day, it seems that getting the software right was the biggest deal, but they've done many many simulation runs.
There's also a substantial on-orbit demonstration before Dragon is allowed anywhere near ISS.
There's still a lot that can go wrong, but almost all of it will result in a decision to de-orbit Dragon rather than going ahead with ISS docking.
When the Japanese HTV resupply vehicle was designed to do this same mission (being berthed with the robotic arm to US segment instead of docking like Russian Progress or ESA's ATV), the Japanese wanted to dock on their first launch. NASA said "do you really value the lives of our astronauts so little?" and demanded this test program. SpaceX have to pass the same test NASA had for JAXA back in the day. (source - JAXA video on HTV program. Please link if you can find it again because I can't.)
By the time it's anywhere near the station, it'll be moving at a pretty small speed relative to the ISS. The station's going to manually grab and pull in the spacecraft to avoid any automated docking "oopsies". Beyond those, the risk is pretty squarely in SpaceX's court.
SpaceX is definitely cheaper to NASA. But it is not really cheap considering space programs like that of India (ISRO). For example PSLV used for Chandrayaan-1 costs $17m per flight. A little outsourcing won't hurt NASA here.
Watching this live discussion is fascinating. There's a teacher who teaches 7 and 8 year olds asking how their love for Legos and video games could translate into a career in space exploration.
A career in space exploration. That's real today.
Just imagine how much more real it will be when those 7 and 8 year olds are all grown up.
There will also be live streaming on the SpaceX website. They've invested in better video streaming infrastructure since the COTS1 launch, so hopefully this will stand up to demand. Everything worked well during the static-fire test a couple of weeks ago -- which is obviously less popular than the actual launch, but still drew in a fair few viewers.
It means the launch has to happen at that exact moment, otherwise the path of the spacecraft in orbit will be too far away from the space station for a rendezvous to be possible.
From what I heard, they have multiple such launch windows, each about an hour and a half apart (each corresponding to an orbit of the earth by the ISS)
[+] [-] cryptoz|14 years ago|reply
They want to send people to Mars. And they're launching to the ISS tomorrow, the most expensive object ever built by humanity. They have the world's trust. They have the world's best engineers. And they have some intense ambition and lots of money. So awesome.
I had a phone interview for a software position there just a few days ago (didn't get it) and it was the most thrilling experience I'd had, like, ever. I have to work hard and study more so I can try again in a couple months.
Best of luck SpaceX.
[+] [-] brandall10|14 years ago|reply
I am such a huge Elon Musk fan that there really are no words to convey. When you think of the phrase "anything is possible if you put your mind to it" this guy is the true personification of it. It is also a personal dream of mine to be able to work with him some day.
When I was young I was thinking how much of a shame it was I missed out on the 60s. But then I got to live through seeing Steve Job do what he did (I was born less than 2 months before Apple was incorporated)... and now I'm seeing this guy just tear it up in multiple industries cracking some really difficult and important problems. I'm totally dazed; what a great role model.
[+] [-] arethuza|14 years ago|reply
I was actually thinking the other day about the people alive today who might be household names in 500 years - if Elon Musk achieves his goals for reaching Mars then his is probably the only name on that list.
[+] [-] slug|14 years ago|reply
Can you elaborate on your phone interview?
[+] [-] mmaunder|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] revorad|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] nightski|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] MPSimmons|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] 38f0ia|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] InclinedPlane|14 years ago|reply
Straight off the top, this is only the third launch of the Falcon 9. This rocket alone represents a dramatic disruption of the entire orbital launch industry, offering to make launch of both humans and cargo cheaper than it's ever been by an incredibly wide margin. If this rocket proves to be a reliable workhorse and proves that the existing cost structure is workable then it will both dramatically lower the cost of access to space and drive billions of dollars of revenue to SpaceX.
Second, this represents a significant advance in being able to deliver supplies to ISS, largely replacing a vehicle that is vastly more expensive than the Dragon Cargo. And finally putting American spaceflight back in the game of ISS resupply post-Shuttle.
Third, the Dragon Cargo shares an enormous amount of heritage with the manned Dragon capsule in development. As they prove out elements of the vehicle design in unmanned ISS resupply missions they are effectively proving out the manned version as well. The manned Dragon capsule will represent a huge leap for the US space program, catapulting us back into having the capability to send crew into orbit and to the ISS.
Fourth, given the costs of Falcon/Dragon flights they should be enormously disruptive to manned spaceflight, representing a vastly cheaper way to put humans in orbit even than the Russian Soyuz. That will likely translate into far more people beingable to go into orbit and the development of a sustained orbital tourism industry on an impressive scale which will fuel further innovation and drive down cost of access to space even more.
Finally, all of this is being done by a private company working toward its own ends rather than a company on a strict government contract. This represents a new paradigm for launch vehicles and for manned spaceflight, potentially transforming the nature of the entire endeavor into something that is self-sustaining regardless of government enthusiasm for spaceflight.
In short, this represents nothing less than fundamentally rebooting the entire space program going all the way back to Sputnik, and it could quite readily represent the opening up of spaceflight for commercial applications, space science and exploration, and for manned exploration and colonization to a degree that will make the scifi dreamers of our past look like forecasters.
[+] [-] joshuahedlund|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ChuckMcM|14 years ago|reply
An in-orbit depot system for fuel would open up the moon pretty effectively.
[1] http://www.ulalaunch.com/site/docs/publications/Integrated%2...
[+] [-] vessenes|14 years ago|reply
This is so much cooler than a facebook IPO, I must say -- commercial US robot rocket ISS reloading. Come on!!
[+] [-] baq|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] StevenRayOrr|14 years ago|reply
We could be explorers again like Magellan or Shackleton, this time charting the vast, infinitude of the stars. We could see planets and moons that are but specks in a telescope. It has been so easy, over the last few years, to become jaded with politics and our society and the minutia of technology. SpaceX gets me excited about "the future (of our species)" which hasn't happened in a long time.
[+] [-] kmm|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ericxb|14 years ago|reply
3 Mission Highlights 4 Mission Overview 6 Dragon Recovery Operations 7 Mission Objectives 9 Mission Timeline 11 Dragon Cargo Manifest 13 NASA Slides – Mission Profile, Rendezvous, Maneuvers, Re-Entry and Recovery 15 Overview of the International Space Station 17 Overview of NASA’s COTS Program 19 SpaceX Company Overview 21 SpaceX Leadership – Musk & Shotwell Bios 23 SpaceX Launch Manifest - A list of upcoming missions 25 SpaceX Facilities 27 Dragon Overview 29 Falcon 9 Overview 31 45th Space Wing Fact Sheet
http://www.spacex.com/downloads/COTS-2-Press-Kit-5-14-12.pdf
[+] [-] Nogwater|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] NickPollard|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mikeash|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dasmoth|14 years ago|reply
There have been several delays for more testing. At the end of the day, it seems that getting the software right was the biggest deal, but they've done many many simulation runs.
There's also a substantial on-orbit demonstration before Dragon is allowed anywhere near ISS.
There's still a lot that can go wrong, but almost all of it will result in a decision to de-orbit Dragon rather than going ahead with ISS docking.
Nonetheless, <fingers firmly crossed>
[+] [-] wolf550e|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ceejayoz|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] anuraj|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mkr-hn|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] timjahn|14 years ago|reply
A career in space exploration. That's real today.
Just imagine how much more real it will be when those 7 and 8 year olds are all grown up.
Amazing!
[+] [-] simondlr|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] TeMPOraL|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dasmoth|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] nutmeg|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] rbanffy|14 years ago|reply
It would be sooooo cool.
[+] [-] MikeCapone|14 years ago|reply
This is amazing! Really impressive how much progress this startup is making in just a few short years.
[+] [-] may|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] marvin|14 years ago|reply
From what I heard, they have multiple such launch windows, each about an hour and a half apart (each corresponding to an orbit of the earth by the ISS)
[+] [-] horsehead|14 years ago|reply
Captain's log, star date 1312.4
[+] [-] StevenRayOrr|14 years ago|reply
Hmm. Actually, and woman. Gender neutrality powers, activate!