Impressive

[Fred588]

If you have not yet seen the very recent launch of the Falcon Heavy Rocket, get to YouTube and do so. Not so much the launch itself - we have seen those before - but the simultaneous landing of two of the three spent booster cores. Even though the third one did not quite make it the whole thing is worth seeing.

[Duncan Edwards]

Being an uber-spacegeek for life there was no way I was going to miss this. I almost jumped in the truck and made the drive but work and life conspired against me. Below is one of about a thousand YouTube videos of the launch but this one is not only shot from the roof of the Vertical Assembly Building but it gets launch, landing, and the audio as you were there. Really well done.

It begins with the journey to the top of the VAB. I've been inside this building and just standing on the floor and looking up 54 stories to the ceiling is mind-blowing enough. Being on top of that and looking to Launch Complex 39A, three and half miles away, is too cool for school. The video is 16 minutes long but the action begins about 9 minutes in. Stay with it all the way as the silence turns to ground shaking roar when the sound finally catches up. Then wait for the twin double sonic booms from the booster return hits after they have landed and the sound continues to build. It's really well done.

Extended Cut - The Incredible Sounds of the Falcon Heavy Launch - (BINAURAL AUDIO IMMERSION)
https://youtu.be/x7uQ8OWiheM

[Duncan Edwards]

Here's another good one of launch and return synced with second source audio captured at Playalinda Beach. I've been there for three shuttle launches and some lesser stuff back in the day and the sound is always one of the most awesome parts of the experience.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnfAqYtL_nM

[Fred588]

I rather like the video produced by SpaceX itself. The sound wasn't so impressive as is described by Duncan but they did have simultaneous camera shots of the two side boosters landing, the core booster descending (until it crashed) and the payload. Part of the time the footage of the boosters descending was from onboard cameras looking down.

[Fred588]

I rather like the video produced by SpaceX itself. The sound wasn't so impressive as is described by Duncan but they did have simultaneous camera shots of the two side boosters landing, the core booster descending (until it crashed) and the payload. Part of the time the footage of the boosters descending was from onboard cameras looking down.

Nice second-source sound. The video is the same as what I had scene before, but edited to be a bit shorter.

[Mynock]

The Space Shuttle could carry 25 tons of cargo to LEO (Low Earth Orbit) at a total cost of 1.5 BILLION dollars per launch. That's $30,000 per POUND of cargo.

Falcon Heavy, if they burn all the boosters dry and don't recover them, can take 70 tons to LEO, at an advertised cost of $1,000 per pound.

Almost 3x the cargo, 3% of the cost. THAT is how you innovate.

[Fred588]

The Space Shuttle could carry 25 tons of cargo to LEO (Low Earth Orbit) at a total cost of 1.5 BILLION dollars per launch. That's $30,000 per POUND of cargo.

Falcon Heavy, if they burn all the boosters dry and don't recover them, can take 70 tons to LEO, at an advertised cost of $1,000 per pound.

Almost 3x the cargo, 3% of the cost. THAT is how you innovate.

May I ask where the 70 tons figure comes from. I am seeing different numbers. I see one figure of 4 tones to GTO from last April and another figure of 53 tones to Orbit.

It would appear that a good deal of the improvement in payload, certainly not all, is that the shuttle had to take itself into orbit, so advances in materials are probably a good deal of the improvement.

[Mynock]

Wiki has the max payload listed at 140,700lbs (70.35 tons). It's been changed quite a few times and also depends on if you are willing to sacrifice the boosters or not. If you want to recover the boosters capacity goes down but the cost drops even further.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falcon_Heavy

[Fred588]

Wiki has the max payload listed at 140,700lbs (70.35 tons). It's been changed quite a few times and also depends on if you are willing to sacrifice the boosters or not. If you want to recover the boosters capacity goes down but tye cost drops even further.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falcon_Heavy

Got it

[Duncan Edwards]

There are many variables that go into rocket performance stats. Elon keeps referring to the FH as being twice the capability of anything else and that's about right. Whatever a Delta-IV Heavy will do is about half the lift to low earth orbit that FH will do. The shuttle had about the same delivery capability as a Delta IV-H but couldn't go anywhere beyond LEO. Fred is right about a big part of the Shuttle stack lifting ability was just getting into orbit with the orbiter. Ever heard about a camel being a horse designed by committee? That's what the shuttle was. Way too big just to carry seven people into orbit but the cavernous payload bay was needed to get Air Force support for it's development. Complete re-usability was the original design but budget compromises lead to what we got. NASA has been working on The Space Launch System - SLS - (Senate Launch System) in one form or another since 2004 or 2012 depending on who you ask and spent either 6 or 14 billion dollars, again depending on who you ask, without flying anything yet. Right now it's still two years from first flight and even that might slip further. When it does fly it will have about the same performance as Falcon Heavy to low earth orbit but cost about a billion dollars per flight with a max flight rate of 2 per year. Spacex can launch the FH at least four times a year without any strain for only $90,000,000 per flight and most of it is reusable. SLS gets completely thrown away each time. With a new upper stage yet to be developed the SLS will be a much better rocket able to send people to the moon but by then Elon will also be flying his BFR (Big Falcon Rocket or insert your favorite "F" word) - The BFR will be completely reusable and able to carry stupid loads into space all over the solar system. This is what gets people so excited. NASA flies billion dollar PowerPoint presentations all the time. Elon cuts metal, blows stuff up, does not ask easy questions, and flies.

And if you think that's cool just wait until you see what Jeff Bezos of Amazon.com has coming. Remember, he's a lot richer than Elon.