Four rooms in the archive
Rooms
Each room is one story, told in about ten minutes. Each opens off the timeline at its dates.
How to read the plan
Four rooms
The corridor is the timeline, 2002 to 2013. Each room opens off it at its dates. Point at a room to look inside.
The corridor · 2002 to 2013
The timeline
Every update, article, launch and event of the decade, on one line. Each room is marked on it in this orange.
Open the timeline →2003 to 2013 · About 10 minutes
Failures are data
SpaceX treated every failure as data. It failed on purpose on the ground, then by surprise in flight. Each time it found the cause, published it, and flew the fix.
Enter the room →August 2008 to January 2009 · About 12 minutes
Hail Mary
With one rocket left, they flew it in eight weeks. Then they sprinted to win NASA.
Enter the room →May 2012 · About 12 minutes
Docking
For the first time, a spacecraft built by a company reached the International Space Station.
Enter the room →September 2012 to October 2013 · About 10 minutes
A software testing rig
SpaceX built Grasshopper to test its landing software against the real world. It flew eight times in a year, each time one step past the last.
Enter the room →In the four rooms
The objects, at one scale
Each room’s object, drawn to one scale beside a person 1.8 m tall. Point at one to light it, and its room on the plan.
10 m
Falcon 1, Flight 1, in pieces
Laid out after the failure · March 2006
2003 to 2013
Failures are data
SpaceX treated every failure as data. It failed on purpose on the ground, then by surprise in flight. Each time it found the cause, published it, and flew the fix.
About 10 minutesEnter the room →
Falcon 1, the Flight 4 rocket
21.3 m tall · September 2008
August 2008 to January 2009
Hail Mary
With one rocket left, they flew it in eight weeks. Then they sprinted to win NASA.
About 12 minutesEnter the room →
Dragon, as it flew to the station
6.1 m tall, 16.5 m across its arrays · May 2012
May 2012
Docking
For the first time, a spacecraft built by a company reached the International Space Station.
About 12 minutesEnter the room →
Grasshopper
32.3 m tall · 2012 to 2013
September 2012 to October 2013
A software testing rig
SpaceX built Grasshopper to test its landing software against the real world. It flew eight times in a year, each time one step past the last.
About 10 minutesEnter the room →