Reusable Rockets: the Main Requirement for a Future in Space
May 10
Musk has indicated that the current model of single-use booster rockets for space travel will not survive. In our society, almost everything is reusable, with a big exception of space rockets. The future in space for commercial ventures relies on reusable rockets, which creates lower costs, making a space launch one hundred times cheaper. This correlates to reducing the price to around 1% of existing price to launch a rocket.
The testing process for the SpaceX Dragon mission has involved working with a number of agencies including NASA, to launch from the Florida based Cape Canaveral and California’s Vandenberg Air Force base. Since all are government institutions, it’s required some rather fancy negotiations with the U.S. government. As with all of the other space agencies around the world, the initial tests created nail-biting moments with emergency programmers sending new code to make adjustments when three out of four thruster pads experienced a malfunction. Those that have worked within the NASA realm know all too well what Musk and his team are going through. The first test allowed the take off, hovering and then turn around and landing at the same take off spot. The attending crowds cheered as they listened to the Johnny Cash soundtrack of “Ring of Fire”.
Source: http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/09/tech/innovation/elon-musk-sxsw/index.html
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5 Responses to “Reusable Rockets: the Main Requirement for a Future in Space”
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All I can say is – it’s about time. It’s sad that it took private industry to take this idea to the next level. Government officials can’t seem to get beyond big bulk buying without any conscious effort of reusing. It’s just not in their thought process. The closest thing we got to that was the space shuttle.
May 25th, 2013 at 6:20 pmAll I can say is – it’s about time. It’s sad that it took private industry to take this idea to the next level. Government officials can’t seem to get beyond big bulk buying without any conscious effort of reusing. It’s just not in their thought process. The closest thing we got to that was the space shuttle.
May 17th, 2013 at 3:49 pmHas anyone told Ed Begley and Bill Nye, the Science Guy about this? I would love to see a television show on it, especially if the two of them team up to work with SpaceX .
May 16th, 2013 at 4:50 pmIt would have been wonderful if the space budget would have included this, but sadly, they have cut that down to a bare minimum. Has anyone let them know that we have limited time on this planet? Our sun will burn out and we will be colliding with another galaxy. If we are to survive, locating another planet is the only answer.
May 15th, 2013 at 2:47 pmOur future depends on space travel and doing it the smart way seems to be the direction that this company is taking. I look forward to seeing other industries do the same thing. Who knows, maybe the idea of reusing will help them clean up the space junk we have left out there.
May 14th, 2013 at 2:28 pm