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by tommoose
4171 days ago
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The news on a radio station in my area commented on this, saying something like: "...just like you recycle your milk bottles, cardboard etc. a company has tried to /recycle/ a rocket and it blew up...haha" It made me sad since I knew it was SpaceEx, understood the complexity of what they're attempting and they reduced it to comparing it to throwing an empty beer bottle in a bucket. I am relieved to see that SpaceEx is viewing it largely as a success/excellent learning experience; in my opinion they are by far the most exciting thing in science/technology at the moment. |
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Nevertheless, this work is one of the most important things going on in human civilization right now. That may seem like a bit of hyperbole, but go back and look at things like the invention of the transistor or the internet. Nobody perceived fully how impactful either of those things would be though they've transformed the lives of billions and spawned trillions of dollars in economic activity. If reusing rockets becomes feasible, and there's every reason to believe it will be, then it will lower the costs of spaceflight by one to two orders of magnitude right off the bat. And that will vastly accelerate our investment, colonization, and exploration of space and kickstart a positive feedback loop of growth in activities in space (from infrastructure like GPS and commsats to human presence) spurring investment in improving space and launch systems which then increases activity levels (due to increasing capabilities and lower costs) which then spurs improvements, and so on. Ultimately culminating in mankind becoming not just a multi-planet species but a space faring civilization no longer confined to either the Earth or even this Solar System. And all of that will have grown from the tiny kernel of spaceflight activities in the present, with SpaceX's activities being particularly relevant for that future.