So apparently someone with a **** ton of money is paying SpaceX to fly them around the moon next year.

http://www.spacex.com/news/2017/02/2...moon-next-year

It'll make for a hell of a story if nothing else.

And be a kick in the ass to the 2019 SLS/Orion unmanned trip around the moon. Not that I expect SpaceX to be on time, but if they launch a manned mission within months of NASA's unmanned mission? Wow. Can you imagine man's first trip back to the moon being a couple of rich tourists?

Wish I was rich. I'd sign up in a heartbeat.

Totally cool. I am very glad to see the beginnings of space tourists is happening. SpaceX is working very hard to get humanity back into space, not just orbiting our little rock.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Static fire of Falcon 9 just completed. Targeting EchoStar XXIII launch from <a href="https://twitter.com/NASA">@NASA</a>&#39;s Kennedy Space Center on Mar. 14, early morning EDT. <a href="https://t.co/g8moLfwfnP">pic.twitter.com/g8moLfwfnP</a></p>&mdash; SpaceX (@SpaceX) <a href="https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/839981566054998017">March 9, 2017</a></blockquote>
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For the night owls tonight/tomorrow morning:

<iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FSpaceX%2Fposts%2F10158883045330131%3A0&width=500" width="500" height="442" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowTransparency="true"></iframe>

Seems weird to see one without legs. Admittedly, assuming it goes fine, this won't be the most exciting launch to watch.

Weather is iffy, but as of this moment they're planning to go for it in an hour. 2.5-hour window, so even if it's not there at the beginning, they could possibly postpone.

Don't think I'm staying up if it gets delayed though.

EDIT: Scrubbed for weather. Good night.

Not sure I'm gonna make it tonight, but in case anyone's a night owl.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">All systems go for Falcon 9 launch of <a href="https://twitter.com/EchoStar">@EchoStar</a> XXIII. Liftoff now set for 2:00am EDT, 6:00am UTC. Watch here → <a href="https://t.co/gtC39uBC7z">https://t.co/gtC39uBC7z</a> <a href="https://t.co/lLKF5HEhZB">pic.twitter.com/lLKF5HEhZB</a></p>&mdash; SpaceX (@SpaceX) <a href="https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/842231864286896128">March 16, 2017</a></blockquote>
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I'll probably watch if I can't sleep.

The first previously-flown booster is now on the clock. This one I'm excited for. (Glad they didn't blow Echostar up, though.)

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">SpaceX has March 27 (Window 1658-2058 Eastern) *Range Approved* for the SES-10 launch on the historic Falcon 9R 1021 (re-)launch! <a href="https://t.co/HJRzD7sefh">pic.twitter.com/HJRzD7sefh</a></p>&mdash; Chris B - NSF (@NASASpaceflight) <a href="https://twitter.com/NASASpaceflight/status/842482961907892224">March 16, 2017</a></blockquote>
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This has since been bumped to March 29th due to a conflicting ULA launch being delayed.

I watched the replay this morning and was super-unstoked once I found out that they had to burn longer, thus no 1st stage landing. Bummer, but I understand...

Yeah, certainly wasn't the most exciting launch they've done in a while. Next one should hopefully make up for it though. If they successfully re-launch it and re-land it, it's gonna be a hell of a party in Hawthorne.

I'd love to see #1 what the refit/refurb effort amounts to, and #2 what the criteria is for a go/no-go decision reusing the 1st stage..

Couple of cool developments this week. First, SpaceX has apparently engineered and produced some sort of crazy robot (being referred to as a giant roomba) called Optimus Prime that will live on the drone ship and automatically go out after a landing to secure the rocket to the ship. According to theory, that will help to eliminate some of the dangerous aspects of securing the ship and hauling it back. There aren't very good pictures out there, but this gives you the idea (more here):

http://i.imgur.com/rbRdZ4h.jpg

Second, they have leased a big warehouse at Port Canaveral that they are going to use specifically to refurbish rockets, so they won't have to ship them across the country to clean them up anymore.

Pretty cool to see the effort they're now putting toward IMPROVING the recovery process rather than just landing them in the first place.

First launch of a previously-flown rocket is coming up in a week.

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Static fire test complete. Targeting Thursday, March 30 for Falcon 9 launch of SES-10. <a href="https://t.co/0tZ7u6gngI">pic.twitter.com/0tZ7u6gngI</a></p>&mdash; SpaceX (@SpaceX) <a href="https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/846428353435332608">March 27, 2017</a></blockquote>
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24-hour bump. Tomorrow's launch will be historic if nothing goes wrong. If they can successfully launch and re-land this booster for a second time, things are gonna accelerate quickly.