Elon Musk, love him or hate him, you have to give him credit for his space program. Tonight (June 23) was another of his Space X lauches from Vandenberg Space Force base in central California. The wife an I drove to the rim of the San Bernardino mountains where we live to watch the launch. Lasted maybe 5 minutes but cool to see. Even spotted the booster coming down west of Ensenada. Bill
Awe inspiring for sure Bill. Kind of makes you feel a bit small in the world. Saw one go up here in Florida over on the space coast, incredible to watch and brought out a real sense of pride for our country. Thanks for sharing.
Randy McConnell
Reeltyme
I watched it from bechers bay at Santa rose island relatively close to vandenberg. We didn't realize what it was a first. Pretty impressive, the sonic boom was pretty loud
Great picture Bill.
I have some stock shares in Tesla. You never know what E.M. Is gonna do, or why, but it sure seems to affect the share price.
Great job getting the astronauts to the space station, but how are they going to get them back. Dominick
That's cool. I grew up in Brevard county FL 20 miles south of Cape Canaveral. I got to see a ton of rocket and shuttle launches. Some from really close up. No matter how many you see, it never gets old.
I have a tremendous amount of awe and respect for Elon Musk.
Not his personal life, or work ethic, or demands upon others.
That aspect is way out of balance, IMO.
Here is a guy who came from South Africa to the US —-
Invented and operated Pay-Pal, Solar-City, Tesla, SpaceX, Horizontal Boring capabilities, global internet, modern battery technology, and much more.
Governments, individuals, investors, and others may ridicule him —- but they all end up using his companies and services.
Over 5.8 million Teslas have been manufactured.
My observation and concern is that he will burn out too soon...
He is a genius, but that self-made type of brilliance and forward thinking is dependent on only one guy —- Elon. That is unbalanced and putting too much trust into one guy.
However, I always am looking to see what he comes up with next!
As a kid in the late 50's and earliest 60's —- we lived in Orcutt, Santa Maria, and Arroyo Grande. All close to Vandenburg AFB. I saw dozens of rocket launches both day and night, felt the tremendous power and vibrations, and also witnessed a few launches that ended up in self-destructions as things went off plan.
Best, Fred
Quote from: Swami805 on June 24, 2024, 01:16:22 PMI watched it from bechers bay at Santa rose island relatively close to vandenberg. We didn't realize what it was a first. Pretty impressive, the sonic boom was pretty loud
Yeah that was special.
Elon may be called to send one of his rockets up to recover the two Boeing Astronauts at the International Space Station.
Seems the engineers at Boeing have a reentry concern and may fly the return module back remotely just in case.
The Boeing crew should have returned on the 10th or 11th after a June 5th launch.
What else could go wrong for Boeing at this point? It's going to be really embarrassing for them and the share holders if Space X is called on to rescue the Boeing Astronauts.
Safety first though.
Steve
Couple years ago late August about 11pm starlink went directly over my house. It was an amazing sight to see
Quote from: foakes on June 24, 2024, 04:16:56 PMI have a tremendous amount of awe and respect for Elon Musk.
Not his personal life, or work ethic, or demands upon others.
That aspect is way out of balance, IMO.
Here is a guy who came from South Africa to the US —-
Invented and operated Pay-Pal, Solar-City, Tesla, SpaceX, Horizontal Boring capabilities, global internet, modern battery technology, and much more.
Governments, individuals, investors, and others may ridicule him —- but they all end up using his companies and services.
Over 5.8 million Teslas have been manufactured.
My observation and concern is that he will burn out too soon...
He is a genius, but that self-made type of brilliance and forward thinking is dependent on only one guy —- Elon. That is unbalanced and putting too much trust into one guy.
However, I always am looking to see what he comes up with next!
As a kid in the late 50's and earliest 60's —- we lived in Orcutt, Santa Maria, and Arroyo Grande. All close to Vandenburg AFB. I saw dozens of rocket launches both day and night, felt the tremendous power and vibrations, and also witnessed a few launches that ended up in self-destructions as things went off plan.
Best, Fred
Musk didn't start up Tesla!
Musk didn't start up Tesla!
——————————————————————————-
True, Mark —- but he has been the driving force behind Tesla after the two original partners —- Tarpenning & Eberhard left to pursue other interests. Maybe not an amicable parting —- but that is business, I suppose.
I saw several hundred Teslas on our 22 day trip back East.
It seems that Musk is very volatile and unpredictable as a large business owner. Both in his personal life and his business life decisions.
That is why it may be a short-lived ride without Musk.
Solid, established companies and corporations have succession plans in place so that no one individual or person, when not on the scene anymore —- will cause a company to eventually shut down when one person is gone.
Two of the largest and most successful auto manufacturers — Toyota & Honda, have 5 and 10 year plans in place —- as well as 25, 50, and 100 year long range goals established. This is the Japanese way of doing business. The success of their brand is dependent on the quality of their leadership teams. Not just one person.
Elon is like a candle burning bright —- but a wind is coming.
Just my opinions.
Best, Fred
The thing is he didn't invent or start any of the things Fred listed. He saw potential in things others had started and either bought or invested heavily in them. He also wasn't self made by any means his dad owns diamond mines in Africa.
In his defense, he doesn't go around saying he invented these things or that he's self made. But he dang sure doesn't seem to mind people thinking so, and doesn't make any effort to correct them.
He's an interesting character for sure. It's safe to say he's a genius. And eccentric. And Fred is right he'll probably drive himself into an early grave.
There is a common character here the valley, practically a stereotype. A somewhat bright and extremely ambitious guy (it's almost always a guy) lands at the right place at the right time, starts a company, gets bought out, doesn't cash out, lucks out, and ends up buried in money. He is surrounded by sycophants and other lucky winners, and becomes convinced that his success is solely the product of his "genius".
But deep down he knows that he is mostly just lucky and begins to suffer from imposter syndrome. The resulting toxic narcissist vs imposter drama plays out in a series of public spectacles.
They start new endeavors to relive the rush and the glory - like a gambling addiction. They drive their subordinates mercilessly, often resulting in useful product advances (Hello, Apple!). Most of these jerks grow up just enough to maintain, a few flame out spectacularly.
I don't want to be too judgmental, many of us would probably turn out the same in similar circumstances, but I find it hard to look admiringly on such destructive, self-centered (expletive deleted).
Musk is one of the more extreme examples.
Musk has hired a bunch of experts in AI, and is trying to get approval to do human experiments to surgically implant devices to integrate the brain with AI processing. The company name is Neuralink. The only question here is which bad way is it going to go.
-J
Lots of bad ways for AI to go and as far as I see no good ways.
Medical is the only "good way" I see Lee.
But you know the Admirals and Generals are thinking up some pretty bas ways....
I worked for a "pioneering" startup ish co, that became #1 in the world,
Most of "brilliant" stuff was architected by 5 guys there.
The founder who took credit for the stuff, spent most of the day half naked on his yacht and finally croaked of skin cancer.
Successful = hire humans, smart ones and claim you are the shizzle ;) ;)
Quote from: Bill B on June 24, 2024, 04:15:04 AMElon Musk, love him or hate him, you have to give him credit for his space program. Tonight (June 23) was another of his Space X lauches from Vandenberg Space Force base in central California. The wife an I drove to the rim of the San Bernardino mountains where we live to watch the launch. Lasted maybe 5 minutes but cool to see. Even spotted the booster coming down west of Ensenada. Bill
Woa
Awesome pics Bill
I am reminded reading this of when Steve Jobs died. My Son worshiped him and was singing his praises to myself and my brother. I couldn't stand it. Based on what I knew of him from articles and documentaries , I launched into a tirade about what kind of person I thought he really was. Amongst many other things, I called him a cross between a self centered high-tech super nerd and Adolf Hitler. I really wanted to get across to him what really makes a man, a man; it's not what, or how much, you accomplish, but HOW you do it. Especially how you treat others.
I don't know if I got through to him, cause he was looking at me like; "man, my Dads an as——-e sometimes". He's a good man, though. What exasperated my concern was that the kid was working in the financial management industry at the time. I came-on to strong maybe, but it was worrisome. Oftentimes "We are whom we worship"...
Years latter, I watched a clip of Comedian Bill Burr, do a great roast on the man. YES! Spot-on!
Having worked at NASA (while employed with Lockheed) when Hubble was launched and while the International Space Station was in the planning stages, I am sad to see that the end of ISS is quickly approaching (2030). As a Lockheed employee, I once visited the mockups (ISS (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a9/Space_Vehicle_Mockup_Faciltiy_wide_angle_panorama.jpg/1024px-Space_Vehicle_Mockup_Faciltiy_wide_angle_panorama.jpg)) and had a walk through tour of the USA-ISS module. I was also fortunate to be able to watched the Canadian arm deployment movement while one of the astronauts was being trained. It was an exciting time being there.
"... As the agency transitions to commercially owned space destinations closer to home, it is crucial to prepare for the safe and responsible deorbit of the International Space Station in a controlled manner after the end of its operational life in 2030.
NASA announced SpaceX has been selected to develop and deliver the U.S. Deorbit Vehicle that will provide the capability to deorbit the space station and ensure avoidance of risk to populated areas. ..."
NASA Selects International Space Station US Deorbit Vehicle (https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-selects-international-space-station-us-deorbit-vehicle/?utm_source=TWITTER&utm_medium=NASA&utm_campaign=NASASocial&linkId=483261063)
Looks like we have a Friday launch scheduled at an optimum time; 8:14 PM. This will be a Govt. payload, so it will have a much different angle than the recent Starlink launches - this one will be angled out more to the Southwest into the Pacific as opposed to going down the coast, but still has potential to look pretty spectacular. - john
Thanks for the heads up. Might just head to the rim and see the launch. Bill
Launch window of 8PM for 2 hours. Should be clear skies
This evening's (June 28) launch of a Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg SFB, Calif. is on schedule. The vehicle is slated to lift off from south base between 8:14 and 10:14 p.m. PDT and carry the NROL-186 mission into orbit.
For countdown status and video feeds of the launch, go to:
https://www.spacex.com/launches/mission/?missionId=nrol-186
https://spaceflightnow.com
I like watch the count-down on Space X and as soon as I see first movement, I step outside and start counting up. At about 120 seconds it clears the horizon. I live on the Los Angeles/Orange County border.
Strange how the Boeing Space Crew being stranded on the ISS is no longer in the news.
I heard this morning had the Russian "satellite" that disintegrated in space put the ISS in jeopardy and everyone had to man the life boats.
Boeing's crew would of had no choice had the debris reached the ISS.
Can't see the launches in the Sacramento area, but I remember tracking the Space Shuttles as they orbited over.
Steve