Elon Musk’s SpaceX has completed the first privately funded exploration of space. With help from NASA, the Crew Dragon space capsule splashed down safely. The first NASA water landing in 45 years.
Related: SpaceX has credible competition rocketing its way
Suspended under four giant billowing orange-and-white parachutes, the Crew Dragon settled into calm waters near Pensacola, Fla. at a gentle pace of 15 miles per hour. Two small SpaceX boats arrived quickly to begin the operation to prepare the capsule to be pulled out by the main recovery ship, where crews will tend to the spacecraft’s passengers.
Doug and Bob (Hurley and Behnken, not MacKenzie, so like, this is me in space, eh?) took the SpaceX vehicle to the International Space station. Hung out for a bit, just over two months, then came home. I know, they missed most of the riots, poor them. But hey, they are still going on, and that won’t stop with all this defunding the police business.
Not just Musk
Boeing is also developing equipment for NASA to assume space missions and (presumably) the corporatization of space. Aside from performing third party work for the US Space Agency, private space interests and sightseeing tours are expected to take advantage of the new vehicles.
Jeff Bezos and the Amazon Empire also have a toe in this aerospace water with the Blue Origin Federation.
Competitive access to orbit will prove lucrative. I’m betting there are plenty of science, engineering, and other research that could benefit from “easy” access to a weightless atmosphere.
And, super-wealthy people will be able to buy tickets and go into space. I’m not sure what the insurance looks like on that (or the paperwork absolving the carrier of liability in the event of a problem), but that never stopped the free market from finding ways to separate people from their money with desirable products or services.
I am wondering when BLM will add this to their list of inequities. Space travel is an elite expression of white male colonial power blah, blah, blah.
You laugh. Or, maybe you don’t.
Wait. Remember when Obama tasked NASA with Muslim outreach. That was funny. It also didn’t go anywhere. He also hitched NASA up to the climate cult which has been dealt with in part but not whole. NASA and NOAA have been pulling that crap wagon for 40 years.
