<html><head><style type="text/css"><!-- DIV {margin:0px;} --></style></head><body><div style="font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:12pt"><DIV>Thanks for the update. It sounds like an all around success.</DIV>
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<DIV>What I'm really waiting to see is private launcher to a private space station -- not a private launcher that's merely another government contractor.</DIV>
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<DIV>Regards,</DIV>
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<DIV>Dan</DIV>
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<DIV style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><FONT face=Tahoma size=2><B><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">From:</SPAN></B> David Lubkin <lubkin@unreasonable.com><BR><B><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">To:</SPAN></B> ExI chat list <extropy-chat@lists.extropy.org><BR><B><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Sent:</SPAN></B> Wed, December 8, 2010 4:54:01 PM<BR><B><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Subject:</SPAN></B> Re: [ExI] SpaceX launch<BR></FONT><BR>Dan wrote:<BR><BR>> Yahoo says it splashed down and was recovered.<BR><BR>I just watched the press conference with Musk et al on NASA TV. Everything worked<BR>better than they'd planned. 17 of 18 engines were fine, 1 burbled. 1 of 3 chutes<BR>needed to land, but all worked. Wanted to land within 10 km of target, looks like it<BR>was 800 m. All comm systems worked. Landed within 50 seconds of pre-launch<BR>prediction. Heat shields designed for Mars or lunar re-entry; heated to
1% of capacity.<BR>Launched a micro-sat for the Army from the second stage (first Army launch in 50<BR>years). Flight would have been nominal for passengers -- max 5G. NASA said if this<BR>went well, they'd okay the next flight going to the ISS; Musk expects this will happen.<BR>Only downside is that they didn't get the first stage, but he says that wasn't a mission<BR>goal. Coming soon -- LEM-style landing on helipad, retaining the fallback to parachute.<BR><BR>-- David.<BR>_______________________________________________<BR>extropy-chat mailing list<BR><A href="mailto:extropy-chat@lists.extropy.org" ymailto="mailto:extropy-chat@lists.extropy.org">extropy-chat@lists.extropy.org</A><BR><A href="http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat">http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat</A></DIV></DIV></div><br>
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