Private SpaceX Rocket Blasts Off For Space Station
Posted May 22, 2012 8:01 AM
From CBC | Technology & Science News:
A commercial rocket blasted off early Tuesday with a load of supplies for the International Space Station, opening a new era of dollar-driven spaceflight.
Re: Private SpaceX Rocket Blasts Off For Space Station
05/23/2012 7:40 AM
To put this in context, this launch is nothing really spectacular. First, SpaceX has about 1/3 of the development cost funded by tax payer money. That does not include what NASA will pay SpaceX for their services, which again, comes from the tax payers.
The space vehicle is a derivative of the Titan II (LGM-25C) intercontinental missile used for Project Gemini. This is not so much a breakthrough in technology, but a reversal.
Nor is Russia's Soyuz design any different, essentially a 1960s rocket with some embellishments over the decades.
Let's compared this to the rest of the world:
Iran is now able to put small satellites into orbit. Even North Korea is on the cusp of making LEO.
The ESA (ATV-3) and Japan (Kounotori) already are long ahead of SpaceX with their ability to get cargo to the ISS.
While the papers hail this as an incredible accomplishment (it is for SpaceX), this is really a bruising for the US by punctuating just how far behind we have fallen in the arena of space exploration and spaceflight.
We once put men on the Moon, but that was 40 years ago. Now the only way we can get back to LEO is with using technology developed 50 years ago.
Re: Private SpaceX Rocket Blasts Off For Space Station
