No recovery of the first stage. It's like back to the days of NASA 'n stuff..

Some cool stuff coming out from SpaceX this weekend. First, they've got the first crew Dragon test vehicle mounted to the booster and are doing fit tests. They're still a month or so from launching the first test, but the pictures are pretty damn cool (especially the one with the access arm leading out to the capsule).

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Preparing to return human spaceflight capabilities to the United States, Crew Dragon and Falcon 9 went vertical at historic Launch Complex 39A in Florida. <a href="https://t.co/igggZdCU9k">pic.twitter.com/igggZdCU9k</a></p>&mdash; SpaceX (@SpaceX) <a href="https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1081405732107370497?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 5, 2019</a></blockquote>
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Also, they're starting to build the first "hopper" test vehicle for the Starship in Texas. They're hoping to do hop tests in the next couple months. Still likely years away from an actual launch, though.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BocaChicaTEXAS?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BocaChicaTEXAS</a> sunrise this morning. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BFSBuild?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BFSBuild</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FogTweet?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#FogTweet</a> ��: Maria Pointer <a href="https://t.co/WB5cUCZZtI">pic.twitter.com/WB5cUCZZtI</a></p>&mdash; Cowboy Dan (@CowboyDanPaasch) <a href="https://twitter.com/CowboyDanPaasch/status/1081567268901928961?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 5, 2019</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Starship test vehicle under assembly will look similar to this illustration when finished. Operational Starships would obv have windows, etc. <a href="https://t.co/D8AJ01mjyR">pic.twitter.com/D8AJ01mjyR</a></p>&mdash; Elon Musk (@elonmusk) <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1081576707365064704?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 5, 2019</a></blockquote>
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So, a month away from a presumed unmanned Crew Dragon flight?

Roughly. Don't think they've set a specific date yet.

Brilliant!

Hope they spice that up somehow. Right now it looks like a dildo with an American flag slapped on it.

Guess you haven't seen pictures of New Shepherd...

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...109878c140.jpg

So, BFR is now "Starship"?

Technically BFS is now Starship. BFR is now Falcon Super Heavy. Wouldn't surprise me to see those change again.

Okay. WTF is BFS? And what is Falcon Super Heavy?

Starship (formerly BFS) is the part in the photo above that will house the crew/payload, travel to Mars, etc.

Falcon Super Heavy (formerly BFR) is the booster that will launch from Earth and then return to land.

It's kind of like F9 vs. Dragon.

Big ****ing Ship. Thats the second stage. Falcon Super Heavy is the booster stage.

Ah okay, thanks.

Honestly, I haven't kept much interest in any of the companies after it turned out everybody was going to continue using old school rocket designs rather than developing newer concepts like aerospikes. I get why (profit, faster time table) but it doesn't really...inspire me, I guess, to pay real close attention. It sort of feels like watching the 60s all over again, which is cool but...it doesn't really feel like we're going anywhere new. Not that I was alive then, of course, but being a child of the 70s, space was always kind of a big deal. Point being that I'm watching launches now (and I do watch sometimes, it's still neat...) that look pretty much like launches I watched forty years ago. Yeah the computer tech is incredibly advanced now and we can land them on ships in the middle of the ocean, but it just feels...old, at a fundamental level to see us still using basically the same kind of engines we had fifty years ago. Or eighty...

Maybe the kid inside 45-year old me just expected us to have a much cooler, much more space-explore-y world than we do at this point in time.