SpaceX maiden flight reaches orbit...

[Omaroo]

'Mazing.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100604/sc_nm/us_space_commercial_4

Terrible video effort, but the only one that I could find. Cool wasp.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sP5gykvTBpM&feature=youtube_gdata

Space taxis are a near reality. :thumbsup:

[Kal]

Wonder of this is related to the UFO spottings an hour later across Australia?

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/06/05/2919095.htm

[renormalised]

Geez they love hyperbole, don't they...the great "inspirational" sound bite at the end of the video.

Good to see it work well, at least they now have something that got off the ground successfully:)

[renormalised]

Probably not...it was only in orbit for a short while. However, that spiral does look a little like a rocket exhaust plume.

[Nesti]

I don't believe so, as most rocket testing for low earth orbits tend to fly equatorial paths for that extra boost. Brisbane isn't even close.

If it was the booster stage of that rocket, that gas plume would be the size of a Sydney...and I doubt they had much left in the tanks when the booster shut-down.

The speed of the 'thing', is very slow...unless it was very high (100km) which makes the plume even bigger.

That's probably something quite different.

Something strange! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-b5aW08ivHU)

[supernova1965]

Actually I heard on ABC news radio that it was the SpaceX rocket that was seen in australia they said it was the right time and was the "UFO"

[DavidU]

The initial stages of the Falcon 9 ascent appeared normal as the rocket climbed straight up and then arced away to the northeast on a trajectory tilted 34.5 degrees to the equator. So that would explain how it passed over Aust.

[Nesti]

Why did they do that...safer to rain debris over poor Australia...like Skylab???

[Vartigy]

ROFL. Esperance actually got a cheque that the council fined the US for littering over that skylab debacle.
See if we can score another $400 from the US.