SpaceX - Falcon 9, Flight 2

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On December 8, 2010, SpaceX became the first commercial company in history to recover a spacecraft from Orbit.

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• Category

  Science & Technology

[PhoxNews]

Enjoy watching this again and again - I wish I was that cheese onboard...

[flyhighj65]

This isn't a matter of preserving culture or "tradition," It's a matter of not botching unit conversions and operations. Science isn't limited to the national level anymore, it's an international cooperation between researchers littered across the world and requires a universal system of expressing measurement. The last thing a scientist or engineer needs to worry about is what units the other guy is using. Just look at what happened to the Mars Climate orbiter.

[dhbiza]

I AM used to it. for goodness sakes read b4 you type. I have a degree in geology and am an amateur astronomer, I am well versed in metric. But the PUBLIC hates the metric system and we NEED their support for our space program. Saying the orbit is X kilometers high is 100% MEANINGLESS to them. Dont shoot the messenger boy here...I am only stating facts. We need public support..why turn them off with this metric system? And YES it is an American space program I want supported.

[sayrith]

Here's how you relate to it. I use this all the time and it's so easy. Imagine a standard track and field track. One lap is 400m. Divide that by 4 you get 100m for each straight way and curve. 4 laps is about 1mile (4x400m=1600). It's easy. Get used to it. Fuck english system. It has to die.

[sayrith]

good GOD you are stupid.

[sayrith]

you are so fucking stupid its not worth spending a breath to explain this to you.

Quick how many kilometers in a milimeter.

idiot. I can do that without a cal. How many miles in an inch. you need a calculator. idiot illiterate fuck. you are whats wrong with this world. 

[LHFX]

We live in a world where the meter is defined by the speed of light not by a meter long stick kept in a vault somewhere. Physics does not work in imperial units. Using a calculator to convert units is just not good enough anymore...

[DoctorDeepSea]

the metric system was an attempt to get si units, because the force in pounds on something does not equal its mass in ounces multiplied by its velocity in yards per second. we need si units so that all the equations work.

[Johannes Feltes]

With an periapsis of 277km it should aerobrake and deorbit eventually.

However I don't know why they raised the apoapsis at the end. The only reason I could imagine for not making a breaking burn would be if they needed a platform for some experiments in orbit for a few weeks but didn't want to leave unnecessary debris in space after the they were completed.

Unfortunately I could not find the official reason, maybe someone else knows more about that.

[VTOLAircraftMad]

musk dont need no donations. :P

[dhbiza]

This isnt hard so lets go thru it once more. I AGREE THE METRIC SYSTEM IS MORE LOGICAL! I GET IT! But most Americans DONT. The reason why I think MOST donors are American is because it is an American based company. I would really like to see the numbers. And the metric system IS being forced on us. I'm just stating facts, don't shoot the messenger boy here. My head is not in the sand. I talk metric around people and its a blank stare. R U saying this program does not need publicity in America???

[VTOLAircraftMad]

nope, by privately funded, i mean Elon Musk (CEO) is a billionaire, (paypal). They pay for this from profit from space launches . also 4.5% of people live in the US. that isn't most people. Why would most donors be americans? Its not like the only people who are interested in developing private space flight are american. The metric system wasnt forced on you. you chose to watch this video containing the (much more logical) metric system.