• tdgoodman@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    1 year ago

    On the first flight of SpaceX’s Falcon 1 rocket, a university satellite was the payload. Not only did the launch fail in just the first few seconds, but the payload crashed back. Landing in the shipping container it arrived in. First launches of rockets do not have good track records. Risking a silly car was arguably more fun than the equally useless “mass simulators” used on most first launches. If it were my satellite, I would not have wanted it on the first Falcon Heavy launch.

    • Wilzax@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      To give an otherwise unfunded project the chance to go to space, however slim, is worth far more than a tesla roadster with an astronaut mannequin, and costs far less. What was their satellite design going to do on earth?

      • LordCirais@pawb.social
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        1 year ago

        Plus if it blows up, you could still say your satellite blew up on launch. Not the worst story there is to tell.

    • MrSqueezles@lemm.ee
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      1 year ago

      There isn’t any way we could find a million high school students to donate experiments or golden records. What we need is to use government investment to shoot shameless product placement for my other company into space and live stream pictures of it.

      • tdgoodman@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        1 year ago

        What government investment are you talking about? SpaceX paid for the first flight with their own cash. Launch contracts for Falcon Heavy were for subsequent flights. Heck, SpaceX got in trouble from the US government for the live stream of pictures.