"SpaceX"? In this a pr0n TV channel satellite?

Now that's some good stuff. Kudos SpaceX!

My husband and I watched in real-time...a thing of beauty! Congratulations, SpaceX!

They the ones that have the Falcon rocket?

re: #4 Peacekeeper

They the ones that have the Falcon rocket?

Yes...

Truly, a Brave New World.

Take that, China! Private industry does work.

Any relation to Rid X?

re: #7 Honorary Yooper

Take that, China! Private industry does work.

Not according to the dems.

Awesome vid.

re: #1 Ward Cleaver

Nah, that's SpaceXXX.

/Look for advertisements on rockets soon.

Website looks neato.

Way to go Spacer X!

This is good.

I like that there is something to feel good about this week.

To Infinity! And Beyond!

We need a frontier to explore.

We as a nation, as a species, need this.

3,000 m/s?! Yowsers!

re: #11 mitthrawnurdo

Nah, that's SpaceXXX.

/Look for advertisements on rockets soon.

Rockets with purple nosecones?

/

glad spacex got it off the ground before the feds took all the money away.

IIRC, this amazing success came after only 6 years and 3 previous launch attempts.

re: #15 bosforus

3,000 m/s?! Yowsers!

make that, 5,200 m/s!

I'll bet Space-X didn't release press releases touting there successes before they actually accomplished them, like a certain country known for rolling over its own citizens with their tanks, for simply wanting to be free.

re: #11 mitthrawnurdo

Nah, that's SpaceXXX.

/Look for advertisements on rockets soon.

Trojan sponsoring the next launch?

re: #18 scottishbuzzsaw

IIRC, this amazing success came after only 6 years and 3 previous launch attempts.

i understand that kim jong illlness has been deriding them all morning

This is great! Congratulations, SpaceX! Yay!

PIMF-

I'll bet Space-X didn't release press releases touting there successes before they actually accomplished them, unlike a certain country known for rolling over its own citizens with their tanks, for simply wanting to be free.

re: #16 Ward Cleaver

Or other "things" on them.

/ewww.

This is very cool. I hope the technology doesn't end up in the hands of the jihadis or their sponsors.

Sorry to go OT, but can't resist...

Was watching (don't shoot me) This Week with George S yesterday, and he showed a clip from Jon Stewart's Daily Show where Joe Biden was talking about his hunting/shotguns, etc. and made the point that he had a Beretta (nobody gonna take it away, etc.).

Stewart's (joke) response included the fact that Beretta is a handgun.

Oops.

Daily Show writers = morons.

3.23 miles per second. Take that Usain Bolt.

re: #14 Syrah

No thanks to Nixon.

Oh well, thanks to Bush we'll be going back to the moon soon. Even if it is 50 years too late.

Huge congratz to SpaceX. Now to replace all of NASA with them. :)

re: #27 subsailor68

Guns are evil so there is no need to know anything about them...

/sarc

OT: Rush playing the Youtube video from the 2004 hearing on Fannie May and Freddie Mac. Good stuff.

Color me surprised. Elon Musk (CEO and CTO of Space X) is quite possibly the foremost egomaniac of our time. His goals and claims (Space X mission is to colonize Mars) are so outrageous and his resume so thin for accomplishing such tasks my bs meter has been off the chart. I would now like to renounce my doubts of Mr. Musk and pronounce him my hero. It is nice to see someone who refuses to accept limitations and who actually follows through and accomplishes what they set out to do.

Yay!

L5 in '95! '25!

re: #27 subsailor68

Sorry to go OT, but can't resist...

Was watching (don't shoot me) This Week with George S yesterday, and he showed a clip from Jon Stewart's Daily Show where Joe Biden was talking about his hunting/shotguns, etc. and made the point that he had a Beretta (nobody gonna take it away, etc.).

Stewart's (joke) response included the fact that Beretta is a handgun.

Oops.

Daily Show writers = morons.

when he said over/under beretta; I had to look it up. BUT, I did look it up.

re: #30 rboa

Huge congratz to SpaceX. Now to replace all of NASA with them. :)

Spouse would agree...he recently left the Ares project in disgust...he's so pleased the private sector is taking on the challenge.

re: #27 subsailor68
That's not a gun....Now this is a gun!
Moonbat clueless moron!
Excuse the redundancy!
Space X Cool.....
Feeling the need to wear a hardhat all day, not cool!
Foil hats will not!

It will be an exciting week, (in a watching a train wreck kind of way).

Back in 12

Are they using the same soundstage that NASA used to stage the moon-walk shots?

We'll be on Mars within a few years with people like this.

re: #39 MandyManners

Are they using the same soundstage that NASA used to stage the moon-walk shots?

No that week the Myth Busters were using it to debunk the 'we never went to the moon' myth.

re: #28 bosforus

3.23 miles per second. Take that Usain Bolt.

5 miles/sec (8 Km/sec) is orbital velocity, 8 mi/sec (13 Km/sec) escape.

When they hit the 8 mi/sec mark they are truly on their way.

BTW, this is all financed through PRIVATE funding (about $100M so far), and you have to get a special license from the Gubmint to launch *any* guided rocket platform. I'm all in favor of getting NASA put on a back shelf where it can get dusty - it's already ossified...

JAFLW

re: #39 MandyManners

Are they using the same soundstage that NASA used to stage the moon-walk shots?

no, they got a different one in the Mojave desert. its more realistic and they can just bury the evidence when they are done.

re: #27 subsailor68

Beretta also makes shotguns. I own a Silver Pigeon 28. Paid through the nose for it, too. But worth every cent.

re: #27 subsailor68

Sorry to go OT, but can't resist...

Was watching (don't shoot me) This Week with George S yesterday, and he showed a clip from Jon Stewart's Daily Show where Joe Biden was talking about his hunting/shotguns, etc. and made the point that he had a Beretta (nobody gonna take it away, etc.).

Stewart's (joke) response included the fact that Beretta is a handgun.

Oops.

Daily Show writers = morons.

Beretta also makes excellent shotguns, being famous for their over and under. Because of the expense though, they are primarily known for a series of semi-auto pistols in America. But not in Italy, where the shotgun is more well known.

re: #34 The Other Les

Yay!

L5 in '95! '25!

Let's get those habitats in Lagrange orbits! On the count of three, everybody, PUSH!

JAFLW

re: #44 thefallingman

Beretta also makes shotguns. I own a Silver Pigeon 28. Paid through the nose for it, too. But worth every cent.

So an elitest snob like Biden points to his uber expensive shotgun as proof he is of the common man. Idiot.

Which is the bigger achievement? That the Chinese government sent three kaitonauts into space, including a space walk, or this?

I'd say this - a private venture, putting up private money, to send satellites into orbit.

It's a small step, but an important one.

Was Barney Frank piloting the rocket?

/no? ... that sucks

re: #44 thefallingman

My 12 ga Browning beats your 28ga..LOL
Too bad neither can be concealed!

re: #48 lawhawk

Which is the bigger achievement? That the Chinese government sent three kaitonauts into space, including a space walk, or this?

I'd say this - a private venture, putting up private money, to send satellites into orbit.

It's a small step, but an important one.

The only reason the Chinese space program is where they are at today is they have done an excellent job of buying/stealing the technology to do so.

Just imagine where they'd be if they had to do the R&D themselves... about where the Islamonuts would be, I bet...

JAFLW

re: #47 Hard Right

Good point. Especially if he owns more than one. Mine is the only one I'll ever have, but sometimes you just have to have something.

re: #51 just another four-letter word

It also puts into context the Iranian missile efforts.

re: #50 reloadingisnotahobby

My 12 ga Browning beats your 28ga..LOL
Too bad neither can be concealed!

My entry in the Shotgun Ego Contest

/yeah, I wish!

what are they now, one for five?

Yippee! Maybe Private Enterprise still lives, in spite of the recent attempts by our Best and Brightest to kill it.

re: #50 reloadingisnotahobby
I don't think I've ever shot a Browning shotgun. How does she do?

Science!

re: #51 just another four-letter word

The only reason the Chinese space program is where they are at today is they have done an excellent job of buying/stealing the technology to do so.

Just imagine where they'd be if they had to do the R&D themselves... about where the Islamonuts would be, I bet...

JAFLW

Their original concept for a manned spacecraft was a clone of the US Gemini spacecraft. But the (Not so) Great Helmsman managed to gum up the works.

re: #51 just another four-letter word

The only reason the Chinese space program is where they are at today is they have done an excellent job of buying/stealing the technology to do so.

Just imagine where they'd be if they had to do the R&D themselves... about where the Islamonuts would be, I bet...

JAFLW

And don't forget the Clinton Adminstration gave/sold them some of the key technology.

re: #55 itellu3times

Yeah, somewhere around there. I'll bet their clients were getting tired of having their satelites blowed up.

re: #52 thefallingman

Good point. Especially if he owns more than one. Mine is the only one I'll ever have, but sometimes you just have to have something.

Nothing wrong with owning one. I know a lot of people who drool over them.
I'm more of a beer than champaigne guy. I've been eyeing a Mossberg 500 for a while now.

re: #57 thefallingman
Since I shoot a field very little now I've not a lot to compare
with!.I've spent the last 5 years bench rest intermediate ......
It' real purddy tho! LOL

re: #63 reloadingisnotahobby

Well, all you guys are smarter than I am. For some reason I bought an LC Smith 16 ga. field grade made in the early 30's...try finding shells for that one!

(Actually I can, but man, they cost a bundle!)

Bravo spacesex. Or something like that. But on a serious note, bravo to China as well. Humanity needs this. Here we are, rooting through the remnants of a single asteroid fall in Australia for a good fraction of all our iron ore needs. Call it driftwood. We're Iceland, and we only get what wood floats to our shores. Over there in Norway, there's trees galore.

There's an abundance of solar energy and valuable metals in space. We just need to learn how to navigate that new sea and go get it.

You remove government rules and designs get cheaper as the technology dribbles down to industry. I realize the scope of sending a person to Mars, but given the fact we just committed to spending $700,000,000,000 on a bailout our space program is imperiled as a cost cutting measure.

That's saddening since we were the country to first land humans on the moon and safely bring them back. We were honest in our space program and never hid bodies. I suspect that when NASA went from being run bya bunch of engineers to being run by bean counters that politics crept in.

I applaud these folks with SpaceX as true explorers in the same vein as early arctic explorers.

Rush is having fun today.
More OT, I've noticed the left wing trolls are all putting forth the theme that "everybody was at fault and it isn't a political or partisan problem." I have looked around several chat rooms on the web, did some surfing and searching, I think that this is a coordinated party line campaign. Could some brave soul with hip waders find out if this is merely fortuitous synergy or a directed response?

The tech for the Chinese space walk was sold to them by Russia. In fact a group of Russian scientist oversaw the construction of the space suits, which incorporated Russian parts. And while not announced, I am sure the launch rocket incorporated Russian parts, likely the explosive bolts, sensors, and perhaps even the engines themselves.

re: #66 Perplexed

Man, I couldn't agree more with everything you say. Any American who can watch films like The Right Stuff and Apollo 13 without choking up has no heart!

SpaceX - you go guys!

re: #67 lifeofthemind

Rush is having fun today.
More OT, I've noticed the left wing trolls are all putting forth the theme that "everybody was at fault and it isn't a political or partisan problem." I have looked around several chat rooms on the web, did some surfing and searching, I think that this is a coordinated party line campaign. Could some brave soul with hip waders find out if this is merely fortuitous synergy or a directed response?

I suspect it is directed, and is more or less true, too.

If any one human were at fault, it would be Alan Greenspan.

re: #67 lifeofthemind

Rush is having fun today.
More OT, I've noticed the left wing trolls are all putting forth the theme that "everybody was at fault and it isn't a political or partisan problem." I have looked around several chat rooms on the web, did some surfing and searching, I think that this is a coordinated party line campaign. Could some brave soul with hip waders find out if this is merely fortuitous synergy or a directed response?

Edgar on the previous thread is blaming the greedy financiers on Wall Street. That has been a recurring theme in some circles.

re: #64 subsailor68

Well, all you guys are smarter than I am. For some reason I bought an LC Smith 16 ga. field grade made in the early 30's...try finding shells for that one!

(Actually I can, but man, they cost a bundle!)

I have an ummatched set of LC Smiths. 12, 16, and 20.

re: #64 subsailor68
They're pricey...but if you like it.... load it!
Reloading is the only way I can afford to blow shit up! LOL
Back to work for me!
Before we turn this into A Beer,boobs,guns,drinking thread~!
Loader!

re: #70 itellu3times

the ball was rolling way before greenspan

Blumenthal

Top brass from the Army, Navy, and Marine Corps were arguing about who had the bravest troops. They decided to settle the dispute using an enlisted man from each branch.

The Army general called a private over and ordered him to climb to the top of the base flagpole while singing "The Caissons Go Rolling Along," then let go with both hands and salute. The private quickly complied.

Next, the admiral ordered a sailor to climb the pole, polish the brass knob at the top, sing "Anchors Aweigh," salute smartly, and jump off. The sailor did as he was told and landed on the concrete below.

Finally, the marine was told to do exactly as the Army and Navy men had done, but in full battle gear, with pack filled with bricks and loaded weapon carried high. He took one look at the Marine general and said, "You're out of your mind, sir!"

The Marine commander turned to the others. "Now THAT'S guts!"

re: #71 vxbush

Edgar on the previous thread is blaming the greedy financiers on Wall Street. That has been a recurring theme in some circles.

Yes, the left leaning, populist, and ignorant circles.

re: #62 Hard Right

Like I said. It was just something I had to have. A dealer back home got the SP V and I just had to have it. Yeah, it's an ego piece, but it's MY ego piece. I've got a couple Mossberg rifles myself, so I'm not going to knock the 500.

re: #67 lifeofthemind

Rush is having fun today.
More OT, I've noticed the left wing trolls are all putting forth the theme that "everybody was at fault and it isn't a political or partisan problem." I have looked around several chat rooms on the web, did some surfing and searching, I think that this is a coordinated party line campaign. Could some brave soul with hip waders find out if this is merely fortuitous synergy or a directed response?

It is being directed and Barney Frank seems to be the leader of the "don't blame the politicians, blame the capitalists" crowd

"The private sector got us into this mess. The government has to get us out of it."
That's Barney Frank's story, and he's sticking to it.

re: #75 Fat Jolly Penguin
OH FUCKIN' RAH!

re: #68 pat

The tech for the Chinese space walk was sold to them by Russia. In fact a group of Russian scientist oversaw the construction of the space suits, which incorporated Russian parts. And while not announced, I am sure the launch rocket incorporated Russian parts, likely the explosive bolts, sensors, and perhaps even the engines themselves.

Yes, but the guidance and command & control they stole directly from us, since the Russian C&C is mostly crap.

JAFLW

re: #71 vxbush

Edgar on the previous thread is blaming the greedy financiers on Wall Street. That has been a recurring theme in some circles.

On the last thread I asked for an Ignore button. People should stop feeding the Trolls.

Speaking of people who say one thing and then some time later, state the opposite as if they never said the first thing:

That was then:

Now let me be clear - I suffer no illusions about Saddam Hussein. He is a brutal man. A ruthless man. A man who butchers his own people to secure his own power. He has repeatedly defied UN resolutions, thwarted UN inspection teams, developed chemical and biological weapons, and coveted nuclear capacity. - Obama, 2003

This is now:

And so John likes -- John, you like to pretend like the war started in 2007. You talk about the surge. The war started in 2003, and at the time when the war started, you said it was going to be quick and easy. You said we knew where the weapons of mass destruction were. You were wrong. - Obama, Sept. 27, 2008

re: #78 Neo Con since 9-11

They should lock Barney up in a women's prison to ensure that he is lonely.

re: #72 pat

That's very cool!

Guess we should get back on topic before we're accused - well actually I'm accused - of hijacking the thread. :-)

re: #36 scottishbuzzsaw

Spouse would agree...he recently left the Ares project in disgust...he's so pleased the private sector is taking on the challenge.

It was a NASA challenge and a good idea.

re: #75 Fat Jolly Penguin

"SIR, you're out of your mind. Sir"

re: #74 Eowyn2

the ball was rolling way before greenspan

Blumenthal

The ball was rolling when Caine asked if he were his brother's keeper, if not before.

re: #77 thefallingman

Like I said. It was just something I had to have. A dealer back home got the SP V and I just had to have it. Yeah, it's an ego piece, but it's MY ego piece. I've got a couple Mossberg rifles myself, so I'm not going to knock the 500.

Me, I think the shotgun you have is too nice to risk hunting with it. That's me tho. It's like a Ferarri. Drool inducing, but I'd be afraid to drive it lest it get damaged.

re: #84 subsailor68
Back on topic...Yay Space X! Yay Capitalism! They got one up successfully after only five tries they put their Falcon 1 in orbit. How many NASA rockets failed before the first one went up?

Bravo to the SpaceX team.

re: #88 Hard Right
I don't hunt with it. It goes with me once a year for a little skeet, then gets cleaned very carefully and put back up.

re: #87 itellu3times

The ball was rolling when Caine asked if he were his brother's keeper, if not before.

calls on forbidden fruit?

Ed Morrissey is going to talk about the Missouri Obama "truth squads" today!

re: #82 Kenneth

At least Obama got McCain's name right in that one. I heard him call McCain Jim and Tom.

/always find something nice to say

re: #88 Hard Right

Me, I think the shotgun you have is too nice to risk hunting with it. That's me tho. It's like a Ferarri. Drool inducing, but I'd be afraid to drive it lest it get damaged.

Agreed, I don't really grok high-priced shotguns. A shotgun is, by definition, a fairly blunt instrument; that's kind of the point. I can't really see how you improve its qualities as a shotgun by making the thing cost four or five grand. But I guess it's sort of like expensive mechanical watches; more jewelry than instrument.

re: #93 Typicalwhitey

Ed Morrissey is going to talk about the Missouri Obama "truth squads" today!

please to enlighten me.
I couldnt get much from the link.
truth squads in MO?

When all is said and done this is more important than the fiscal crisis, it might not seem like it at this brief moment in time.

re: #97 Thanos

When all is said and done this is more important than the fiscal crisis, it might not seem like it at this brief moment in time.

Very true. Which will be in the history books 300 years from now.

re: #98 pre-Boomer Marine brat

Very true. Which will be in the history books 300 years from now.

PIMF - didn't end with a question mark

Laura Ingraham is at it again...she just can't say no to Patty B!

[Link: www.lauraingraham.com...]

To me, she has revealed herself as a populist piece of shit, no better or worse than O'Reilly, etc.

re: #96 Eowyn2

please to enlighten me.
I couldnt get much from the link.
truth squads in MO?

Two circuit attorneys in St. Louis, and a St. Louis area Sheriff, who are openly pro-Obama teamed up (and said other prosecutors and members of law enforcement of Missouri were joining them) to form "Truth Squads" ostensibly to prosecute anyone who does political ads containing "false and misleading" statements. However, it was pretty clear they were only planning to go after people who made "false and misleading" statements about Obama, like "He's a Muslim" or "he's going to raise taxes." These are actual examples they brought up on the St. Louis (KMOV) news broadcast. State Senator Claire McCaskill (D) & the Obama campaign appear to be involved also.

Republican govenor Matt Blunt issued a stinging rebuke, and I understand there may be investigations into whether these prosecutors are violating the Constitution merely by threatening to prosecute political speech, let alone actually prosecute it.

re: #96 Eowyn2

please to enlighten me.
I couldnt get much from the link.
truth squads in MO?

Obama has enlisted various Prosecutors and Sheriff's in Missouri to join what he call his "truth squad".
In other words, those with the power to JAIL you will be part of his attack against opponents.
It is an attack against our free speech.
Watch this video

re: #66 Perplexed

You remove government rules and designs get cheaper as the technology dribbles down to industry. I realize the scope of sending a person to Mars, but given the fact we just committed to spending $700,000,000,000 on a bailout our space program is imperiled as a cost cutting measure.

That's saddening since we were the country to first land humans on the moon and safely bring them back. We were honest in our space program and never hid bodies. I suspect that when NASA went from being run bya bunch of engineers to being run by bean counters that politics crept in.

I applaud these folks with SpaceX as true explorers in the same vein as early arctic explorers.

I think NASA is also run by standard government contractors looking for projects.
Maybe 10-15 years ago, Robert Zubrin came up with a cheaper Mars mission. The idea was to send an unmanned craft first with hydrogen and a nuclear reactor. While on Mars, the craft would make methane and oxygen for the return flight from the CO₂ in the Martian atmosphere and the hydrogen it brought.
Two years later, a manned mission would go, with over a year on Mars before conditions were good for their return. The mission would not have to take their return fuel, but it would take another reactor and more hydrogen.

After being forced to consider it, over NASA's gold-plated mission, and decided that it didn't have adequate safety margin. Of course, that meant dropping the whole idea instead of fixing the problems and improving safety.

I think we'll see private manned missions to Mars before any government ones, unless the current economic problems make investment impossible.

What a perfect WMD delivery vehicle. Just another reason to promote "Unproven Missle Defense Systems" that NObama will gut.

OT: Have the House or Senate actually voted on the bailout plan yet? Is there any chance it could be defeated and put to another rewrite?

re: #105 Tigger2005

OT: Have the House or Senate actually voted on the bailout plan yet? Is there any chance it could be defeated and put to another rewrite?

No, and yes, respectively.

re: #91 thefallingman

I don't hunt with it. It goes with me once a year for a little skeet, then gets cleaned very carefully and put back up.

I don't blame you. I'd do the same thing. They are works of art IMHO.

re: #50 reloadingisnotahobby

My 12 ga Browning beats your 28ga..LOL
Too bad neither can be concealed!

OTOH My 12 ga Mossberg 500 can be concealed a little easier. Short barrel and folding stock. Front and rear pistol grips.

re: #101 Tigger2005

Two circuit attorneys in St. Louis, and a St. Louis area Sheriff, who are openly pro-Obama teamed up (and said other prosecutors and members of law enforcement of Missouri were joining them) to form "Truth Squads" ostensibly to prosecute anyone who does political ads containing "false and misleading" statements. However, it was pretty clear they were only planning to go after people who made "false and misleading" statements about Obama, like "He's a Muslim" or "he's going to raise taxes." These are actual examples they brought up on the St. Louis (KMOV) news broadcast. State Senator Claire McCaskill (D) & the Obama campaign appear to be involved also.

Republican govenor Matt Blunt issued a stinging rebuke, and I understand there may be investigations into whether these prosecutors are violating the Constitution merely by threatening to prosecute political speech, let alone actually prosecute it.

wow. that really is frightening. If this is happening BEFORE an election, what will happen IF obambi (please dont taze me sherif) becomes president?
I dont see how this is constitutional.

Obama has said he will not renew Bush's tax cuts. That means our taxes will go up. Is that not raising taxes?

re: #101 Tigger2005

... there may be investigations into whether these prosecutors are violating the Constitution merely by threatening to prosecute political speech, let alone actually prosecute it.

I am not an attorney, but I suspect that if these cats did this as officers of the court, then they may well be in a bit of a jam.

re: #110 Hard Right

Obama has said he will not renew Bush's tax cuts. That means our taxes will go up. Is that not raising taxes?

Well, your taxes will go up to what Clinton had them at. If you complain about this then you are obviously a white racist who needs re-educating at one of the federal camps.

/s

Finally, I get to watch strippers in Russia.

re: #112 Perplexed

Well, your taxes will go up to what Clinton had them at. If you complain about this then you are obviously a white racist who needs re-educating at one of the federal camps.

/s

Actually, I'm only half white. That means I'm half as racist. Would I get half as much time at the camp? ;)

re: #78 Neo Con since 9-11

It is being directed and Barney Frank seems to be the leader of the "don't blame the politicians, blame the capitalists" crowd

"The private sector got us into this mess. The government has to get us out of it."
That's Barney Frank's story, and he's sticking to it.

In reality, it was Barney Frank, in person, in the Senate chambers, who told they finance guys that their fishy accounting would be all OK as long as they kept the spigot open to unqualified borrowers.

There's this funny thing about fusty old rules like 20% down, 28% cap on mortgage payments as a share of income, 30-years max duration. These rules had the consequence that most people who bought homes were able to sustain the payments. That's a protection for the buyer as well as for the bank. If you can't keep up with the payments and you have to sell, you better hope the price has gone up in the meantime. Otherwise, the transaction costs kill you.

The system was a Ponzi scheme. Prices cannot keep going up forever. Sooner or later, even with the hope of future price rises, and even if you qualify every grad student for a half-million condo, the system collapses. It's collapsed. That house of cards is rubble.

Now we're stuck sweeping up all the broken glass and rusty nails. It's maybe not fair that we have to pay for the cleanup, but if it's not done, we end up stepping on the glass and nails, and then, tetanus etc. Economic lockjaw wouldn't be pretty.

re: #114 Hard Right

Actually, I'm only half white. That means I'm half as racist. Would I get half as much time at the camp? ;)

Might get time off for being half white, but you might get 2X time for being a white person attempting to hide. Depends on the camp director's whim at the moment. Better not be wearing any glasses since that marks you as being an intellectual.

re: #95 Occasional Reader

Agreed, I don't really grok high-priced shotguns. A shotgun is, by definition, a fairly blunt instrument; that's kind of the point. I can't really see how you improve its qualities as a shotgun by making the thing cost four or five grand. But I guess it's sort of like expensive mechanical watches; more jewelry than instrument.

Bling bling for championship skeet and trap shooters. Definitely not field guns although Beretta does make field grade stuff. I have a 20 ga improved cylinder choke Beretta that I used to hunt quail with my uncle in Georgia when I was a teenager. It was my 15th birthday present and cost my dad $150.00 in 1975. It's a gas operated semi auto. An equivalent gun today would be around 1k.

Remington is now selling the Russian "Baikal" over and unders that used to be imported by EAA under their name now. If you want an inexpensive knockabout field grade o/u they are a good way to go. Dick's Sporting goods has them here in AZ for under $400. I really like an over and under for dove or quail because you can have a wide choke pattern for close up shots and a tighter one for distance.

re: #116 Perplexed

Might get time off for being half white, but you might get 2X time for being a white person attempting to hide. Depends on the camp director's whim at the moment. Better not be wearing any glasses since that marks you as being an intellectual.

I've never been mistaken for an intellectual.

Where was this launch? It was fascinating watching the ground "fall away" at temendous speed.

PIMF Tremendous

re: #85 debutaunt

It was a NASA challenge and a good idea.

It is too easy to assume that critics of NASA lump all of NASA into a wasteful bundle. NASA does perform valid, valuable science. The problem is that the cost is obscene. NASA could not have done this in the same timeline with 100 times the money. It is doubtful they could do it with 1000x the money.

re: #119 DaddyG

Where was this launch? It was fascinating watching the ground "fall away" at temendous speed.

I believe it was Kwajalein atoll in the Indian Ocean

(jumps up and down, cheers loudly, does happy dance, smiles broadly)

May it keep being done!

Just passing thru for a moment...

Way too late to participate in discussion, yaaar! my hats off to the Space-X team! Great job!

This was a major accomplishment by the private sector and a great leap in space exploration.Anytime you can remove government political beauracracy from the loop,the cost will fall and competition will spur an ever widening field of exploration.