On July 1 a rocket that was on its way to resupply the International Space Station, exploded 139 seconds after launch. Falcon 9 is SpaceX's ship, it follows a couple of disastrous space launches last year that Russia and NASA had to endure. In SpaceX's case I can imagine that the agony of the failure must have been difficult for its founder Elon Musk, who was probably anticipating a successful launch as part of his 44th birthday celebration. Instead it had turned to a moment of reflection. Fortunately the mission was unmanned but unfortunately the International Space Station Astronauts who should be venerated as global heroes will need to wait longer for another essential resupply mission.
If the mission was a success I would have been eagerly anticipating news on whether SpaceX was able to successfully retrieve their launch vehicle which will be a major breakthrough for our collective future on Earth. This recent string of expensive rocket failures goes to show just how dangerous and expensive venturing into space still is. However challenging this tragedy must be for SpaceX, I can bet Mr. Musk must be cooking up something to turn this tragedy into a victory; like setting a record recovery period to the next successful launch. I think it will a valuable lesson that would propel SpaceX into greater heights.
As earthbound as 99.999% of us are, there is an important future for mankind in space. There will probably be a human colony on Mars by the turn of this century and substantial career opportunity in space from mining asteroids to manning cargo ships and space operations. For this to happen there is only one company in the world invested in making space travel more affordable–SpaceX. If we are all hoping for the kind of life that we are living today to get better for the coming generations Mother Earth herself will eventually be in need of resupply. So for the sake of the future–Go SpaceX, Go Elon Musk.
If the mission was a success I would have been eagerly anticipating news on whether SpaceX was able to successfully retrieve their launch vehicle which will be a major breakthrough for our collective future on Earth. This recent string of expensive rocket failures goes to show just how dangerous and expensive venturing into space still is. However challenging this tragedy must be for SpaceX, I can bet Mr. Musk must be cooking up something to turn this tragedy into a victory; like setting a record recovery period to the next successful launch. I think it will a valuable lesson that would propel SpaceX into greater heights.
Check out retrievable Falcon rocket boosters in this SpaceX video.
As earthbound as 99.999% of us are, there is an important future for mankind in space. There will probably be a human colony on Mars by the turn of this century and substantial career opportunity in space from mining asteroids to manning cargo ships and space operations. For this to happen there is only one company in the world invested in making space travel more affordable–SpaceX. If we are all hoping for the kind of life that we are living today to get better for the coming generations Mother Earth herself will eventually be in need of resupply. So for the sake of the future–Go SpaceX, Go Elon Musk.
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