Elon Musk taunted Russia and US President Donald Trump vowed to beat it to Mars.
Moscow, Russia:
Moscow space officials on Sunday said they were puzzled by "hysteria" around the successful SpaceX flight as Elon Musk taunted Russia and US President Donald Trump vowed to beat it to Mars.
On Saturday, SpaceX made history by becoming the world's first commercial company to send humans into orbit, leading Russia to lose its long-held monopoly on space travel.
Musk lobbed a jab at Dmitry Rogozin, the Russian space chief who once said Washington may one day be forced to "deliver its astronauts to the ISS by using a trampoline".
"The trampoline is working," quipped Musk at a post-flight news conference alongside NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine.
Both men laughed. "It's an inside joke," Musk added.
Rogozin remained conspicuously silent for most of Sunday but offered his congratulations to Bridenstine after the Crew Dragon capsule with two NASA astronauts docked with the ISS.
"It's safe to congratulate you at this point with a successful launch and docking. Bravo!" he tweeted.
"Please convey my sincere greetings to @elonmusk (I loved his joke) and @SpaceX team. Looking forward to further cooperation!"
In 2014, Rogozin, then deputy prime minister, mocked the lack of a US manned flight programme after Washington announced new sanctions against Moscow which included some space industries.
While Russia saluted the United States, it also stressed Sunday it was puzzled by the frenzy unleashed by what many hailed as the dawn of a new era.
"We don't really understand the hysteria sparked by the successful launch of a Crew Dragon spacecraft," Roscosmos spokesman Vladimir Ustimenko said.
"What should have happened a long time ago happened," he added, tweeting excerpts of Trump's congratulatory speech.
New rocket tests
Speaking at the iconic Kennedy Space Center in Florida after the flawless SpaceX launch, Trump vowed that US astronauts would return to the Moon in 2024 "to establish a permanent presence and a launching pad to Mars".
"And the first woman on the Moon will be an American woman and the first nation to land on Mars will be the United States of America," he said.
"We are not going to be number two anywhere."
The Russian space agency shot back, saying it was not planning to sit idle, either.
"Already this year we will conduct tests of two new rockets and resume our lunar programme next year," Ustimenko tweeted.
He did not elaborate but Rogozin has earlier said the country planned to conduct a new test launch of the Angara heavy carrier rocket this autumn.
Rogozin has also said Russia is pressing ahead with the development of its new intercontinental ballistic missile, the Sarmat, also known as Satan 2 by NATO's classification.
In 2018, President Vladimir Putin boasted that the Sarmat was one of the new Russian weapons that could render NATO defences obsolete.
Russia had for many years enjoyed a monopoly as the only country able to ferry astronauts, and Saturday's launch meant the loss of a sizeable income. A seat in the Soyuz costs NASA around $80 million.
Roscosmos insisted that the US still needed Moscow.
"It's very important to have at least two possibilities to make it to the station. Because you never know...," Ustimenko said.
Some officials in Moscow sought to downplay the US feat.
"This is a flight to the International Space Station, not to Mars," said Alexey Pushkov, a member of the upper house of parliament.
The Russian space programme sent the first man into space in 1961 and launched the first satellite four years earlier.
But since the collapse of the USSR in 1991, it has been plagued by corruption scandals and a series of other setbacks, losing expensive spacecraft and satellites in recent years.
The US launch and Musk's joke set Russian social media alight, with wits ridiculing Rogozin and the Russian space chief's name trending on Twitter.
"How do you like this, Dmitry Rogozin?" one critic prodded.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
Jim Bridenstine, the first politician to head NASA, President Trump, Vice President Pence, and Karen ... [+] Pence appear before a later-scrubbed launch attempt.
AFP via Getty Images
Today the Space X Dragon “Endeavour” launched. It was the first time since 2011 that the U.S. had launched humans into space. The Commercial Crew Development Program was started during the George W. Bush administration, and was expanded through the NASA Authorization Act of 2010, approved by Congress and signed by President Obama.
Jim Bridenstine, the Administrator of NASA, was nominated by President Trump in 2017 and the Senate confirmed him in 2018 with a party-line vote, 50-49. All previous NASA administrators, with the exception of one out of twelve, have been scientists or engineers — Bridenstine is neither. He is the first elected official to head NASA, as he was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Oklahoma’s First Congressional District. He was the executive director of the Tulsa Air and Space Museum and Planetarium, and served on the Armed Services Committee and the Science, Space, and Technology Committee. Previously he was a U.S. Navy pilot and then he was in the U.S. Navy Reserve. Bridenstine was viewed as a controversial nomination, in part, due to his previous statements regarding climate change, stating on the House floor in 2013 that global temperatures had “stopped rising 10 years ago.” However, in May 2018 he became the only Trump administration official to endorse the federal government’s National Climate Assessment findings.
Bridenstine gave a speech after the launch where the focus was put on the accomplishments of Trump, and the previous administrations’ roles in this mission were never mentioned. Bridenstine made a point to mention that there were layoffs at NASA in 2010, a possible jab at the Obama administration. The reason for the layoffs was that the space shuttle missions were wrapping up. However, the NASA Authorization Act of 2010, signed by President Obama, as you read above, expanded the crew development program. All contracts for today’s mission, including SpaceX’s, were completed during the Obama administration. SpaceX’s contract for this mission was awarded in 2014. Trump and Pence also spoke at the event. Trump falsely claimed that Kennedy Space Center was going to be shut down four years ago. Space.com described Trump’s address after the launch as something that “sounded like a campaign speech.” Peter Baker of The New York Timeswrote, “There seems to be little doubt that the moment will make it into a Trump campaign ad soon enough.”
Later, Bridenstine gave an interview where the questions were focused on Trump. Bridenstine offered, “We now have an administration that is fully supportive of our spaceflight initiatives…but also from a Space Force perspective.” Keep in mind, again, that the crew development program was started during the George W. Bush administration, and expanded due to an act signed during the Obama administration.
The U.S. Air Force already had jurisdiction over space, so the creation of the Space Force was redundant. Pentagon officials resisted the formation of the Space Force, with Defense Secretary Jim Mattis stating in a memo to Senator John S. McCain III, “I oppose the creation of a new military service and additional organizational layers at a time when we are focused on reducing overhead and integrating joint warfighting functions.” Astronaut Mark Kelly said of Space Force in a tweet, “This is a dumb idea. The Air Force does this already. That is their job. What’s next? We move submarines to the 7th branch and call it the under-the-sea force?”
Bridenstine added during the interview, “[Trump] also said were going to go to the moon by 2024. That means he's putting himself at risk to say, 'look, I'm going to be accountable, potentially, I'm going to be accountable to the initiatives that I put forward,' and I think that's, we have not had that kind of leadership for space in a long, long time and I'm so grateful for it."
This speech and interview were a marked shift from statements Bridenstine made three days prior, a day before the initial planned Dragon launch. On May 27th, an interview with Elon Musk and Bridenstine had comments from Bridenstine that focused on the contributions of NASA and SpaceX to the Dragon mission and didn’t mention Trump.
Some space enthusiasts expressed dismay at Bridenstine’s speech and interview, including the focus on Trump. Journalist Henry Brean tweeted, “What better moment is there for the NASA administrator to talk about the big risk the president is taking than when two astronauts are riding a rocket into space?”
CAPE CANAVERAL, FLA. --
SpaceX delivered two astronauts to the International Space Station for NASA on Sunday, following up a historic liftoff with an equally smooth docking in yet another first for Elon Musk's company.
With test pilots Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken poised to take over manual control if necessary, the SpaceX Dragon capsule pulled up to the station and docked automatically, no assistance needed. The hatches swung open a few hours later, and the two Dragon riders floated into the orbiting lab and embraced the three station residents.
Unlike the SpaceX and NASA flight control rooms, where everyone was spaced well apart, there was no social distancing or masks needed in orbit.
"The whole world saw this mission, and we are so, so proud of everything you have done for our country and, in fact, to inspire the world," NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said in a call from Mission Control in Houston.
Hurley credited SpaceX and added, ""It's great to get the United States back in the crewed launch business."
It was the first time a privately built and owned spacecraft carried astronauts to the space station in its more than 20 years of existence. NASA considers this the opening volley in a business revolution encircling Earth and eventually stretching to the moon and Mars.
"NASA is not going to purchase, own and operate rockets and capsules the way we used to," Bridenstine said. ""We're going to partner with commercial industry."
The docking occurred barely 19 hours after a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket blasted off Saturday afternoon from Kennedy Space Center, the nation's first astronaut launch to orbit from home soil in nearly a decade and drawing a Washington delegation led by President Donald Trump. NASA said peak viewership online hit 10 million.
Despite the coronavirus pandemic, thousands jammed surrounding beaches, bridges and towns as SpaceX ended a nine-year launch drought for NASA. The achievement, years in the making, is expected to drive down launch costs so more people might be able to afford a ticket to space in the coming years.
Behnken told the welcoming committee at NASA's Johnson Space Center that the Dragon was "a slick vehicle" and said he was surprised at how rough the ride was on the latter part of ascent, compared with the space shuttle, which he and Hurley rode twice.
"Dragon was huffing and puffing all the way into orbit," he said.
Two Texas members of Congress at Johnson for the docking -- Sen. Ted Cruz and Rep. Brian Babin -- said the flight offered inspiration and hope during a particularly tough time of protests and pandemic.
"Having it go off without a hitch was a tremendous blessing for our country," Babin told the astronauts.
Gleaming white in the sunlight, the Dragon was easily visible on NASA TV from a few miles out, its nose cone open and exposing its docking hook as well as a blinking light. Hurley and Behnken took over the controls and did a little piloting less than a couple hundred yards (meters) out as part of the test flight, before putting it back into automatic for the final approach.
Once on board the space station, Hurley said the capsule handled extremely well. He was the pilot on the last U.S. spaceship to visit the space station -- the last shuttle flight, by Atlantis, in July 2011.
Restoring American launch capability nine years later, he noted, "is just one effort that we can show for the ages in this dark time that we've had over the past several months to kind of inspire, especially the young people in the United States, to reach for these lofty goals."
There was one small glitch: Hurley bumped his head entering the space station and frequently wiped his forehead during the welcoming ceremony.
NASA turned to private industry to pick up the slack following the shuttle fleet's retirement, hiring SpaceX and Boeing in 2014 for space station taxi services. Boeing's first astronaut flight isn't expected until next year.
Until Saturday, SpaceX had launched only space station supplies or satellites. The company's employees took to calling the astronauts "dads" to drive home the fact that two lives were at stake in this highly technical effort.
Clearly relieved, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine tweeted a big "welcome home" to the Dragon fliers -- "America's two favourite dads."
NASA has yet to decide how long Hurley and Behnken will spend at the space station, somewhere between one and four months. While they're there, they'll join NASA's Chris Cassidy and two Russian station residents in performing experiments and possibly spacewalks to install fresh station batteries.
While U.S. astronauts will continue to catch a ride on Russian Soyuz rockets, it will be through a barter system now that NASA's commercial crew program has finally taken flight. NASA had been shelling out tens of millions of dollars for every Soyuz seat.
In a show-and-tell earlier Sunday, the astronauts gave a quick tour of the Dragon's sparkling clean insides, quite spacious for a capsule.
The blue sequined dinosaur accompanying them -- their young sons' toy, named Tremor -- was also in good shape, Behnken assured viewers. Tremor was going to join Earthy, a plush globe delivered to the space station on last year's test flight of a crew-less crew Dragon. Behnken said both toys would return to Earth with them at mission's end.
An old-style capsule splashdown is planned.
After liftoff, Musk told reporters that the capsule's return will be more dangerous in some ways than its launch. Even so, getting the two astronauts safely to orbit and then the space station had everyone breathing huge sighs of relief.
As always, Musk was looking ahead.
"This is hopefully the first step on a journey toward a civilization on Mars," he said Saturday evening.
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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
3pm EDT SpaceX update: New SpaceX launch video and video replays have been added embedded via YouTube and Twitter below, so you can rewatch the highlights, from liftoff on the Dragon Endeavor to docking with the International Space Station. Next up is a post-arrival news conference at the Johnson Space Center at 3:15pm EDT.
1:47pm EDT update: The live stream video just showed the Dragon Endeavor crew being greeted by NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine, NASA Johnson Space Center Director Mark Geyer, US Senator Ted Cruz, and US Representative Brian Babin on a video call from Mission Control in Houston, Texas.
1:30pm EDT update: The two NASA astronauts who went up on the SpaceX Dragon capsule yesterday have joined three other astronauts on the ISS (International Space Station): American Chris Cassidy and Russians Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner.
1pmEDT update: The hatch is now open (as of 1:02pm EDT on March 31), meaning the hatch between the SpaceX Dragon capsule and the ISS is open and the two NASA astronauts can float through the International Space Station.
The live stream continues below via a YouTube video, and it's happening after the two astronauts established pressure equalization in SpaceX Dragon capsule.
The SpaceX hatch is opening a little more than two hours after docking with the ISS. The SpaceX Dragon docking with the ISS was a success and happened autonomously, at first with a soft capture, then there were 12 latches around the docking ring that created a pressure-tight seal. An umbilical cord was then deployed to link the SpaceX Dragon and the ISS to share power and data – think of it has a giant USB-C cable in space.
It took a total of 19 hours for the SpaceX Dragon capsule to navigate to the ISS for docking on Sunday, following a successful SpaceX launch live stream. You can see a video replay of the liftoff below, along with four other can't-miss highlight videos.
SpaceX live stream video
Here's where you're able to watch the NASA astronauts float around in space board the SpaceX Dragon capsule. The live stream commentary has been brilliant, insightful and inspiring regarding the future of commercial space travel.
SpaceX video: see the NASA astronauts arrive at ISS
For the first time, NASA astronauts arrived at the International Space Station from a commercially-made spacecraft. Watch Doug and Bob join three other astronauts from the Dragon Endeavor (what they named their capsule after the launch).
This is the first time in human history @NASA_Astronauts have entered the @Space_Station from a commercially-made spacecraft. @AstroBehnken and @Astro_Doug have finally arrived to the orbiting laboratory in @SpaceX's Dragon Endeavour spacecraft. pic.twitter.com/3t9Ogtpik4May 31, 2020
SpaceX hatch opening video replay
The SpaceX hatch opened at 12:45pm EDT, a little more than two hours after the Dragon capsule first linked up with the ISS. NASA astronauts equalized the pressure between the two spacecrafts so that they could move to the ISS.
They made it. After launching from @NASAKennedy on the @SpaceX Dragon Endeavour spacecraft yesterday, @AstroBehnken and @Astro_Doug have officially joined the @Space_Station crew today at 1:02pm ET — making history in the process. pic.twitter.com/A7oExw0SlDMay 31, 2020
SpaceX docking with ISS video replay
You can see the ISS docking in this video below. It shows the SpaceX Dragon and ISS linking up in what's called a 'soft capture'. It happened autonomously, and then a set a 12 latches or hooks create a pressurized seal so that the two crafts orbit together.
This particular SpaceX video is of the more visually-pleasing soft capture (there's no good video vantage point for the more internalized hard capture with latches).
Docking confirmed – Crew Dragon has arrived at the @space_station! pic.twitter.com/KiKBpZ8R2HMay 31, 2020
SpaceX toy dinosaur floating in zero gravity
You can't buy the "Ty Flippable Tremor The Aqua/Pink Sequin Dinosaur" on Amazon anymore. It's sold out after it was seen floating in space. The NASA astronauts took it onboard for their kids to see it experience zero gravity.
Two humans (and one dinosaur) went to space today #SpaceX pic.twitter.com/U4CbHJShkwMay 30, 2020
Best SpaceX video replays
All of the important SpaceX video replays are below, from launch to right now.
Both SpaceX and NASA are providing a bunch of footage – both live video and video replays – to capture this space mission. Here are the best videos to check out.
1. SpaceX launch video replay – see the liftoff again
Liftoff happened at 3:22pm EDT Saturday, and it was spectacular, especially after a nine-year hiatus for NASA launches on US soil. You can rewatch the launch again.
Just beyond the T-0 countdown, we saw the SpaceX Falcon 9 booster return to Earth – and land successfully. Having a reusable rocket is a huge milestone for the future of space travel when it comes to cost.
Commentators on the SpaceX live stream compared the Space Shuttle era rockets falling into the ocean (and being scrapped) as throwing away an airplane engine every time a plane pulled into an airport gate. It's a great analogy to explain why what SpaceX pulled off on Saturday was a huge deal for space exploration.
Falcon 9 booster has landed on the Of Course I Still Love You droneship! pic.twitter.com/96Nd3vsrT2May 30, 2020
3. Falcon 9 second stage separates from Dragon capsule
Here's some great footage of the Falcon 9 second stage rocket separating from the Dragon Capsule and falling back to Earth.
Crew Dragon has separated from Falcon 9’s second stage and is on its way to the International Space Station with @Astro_Behnken and @AstroDoug! Autonomous docking at the @Space_Station will occur at ~10:30 a.m. EDT tomorrow, May 31 pic.twitter.com/bSZ6yZP2bDMay 30, 2020
4. NASA astronauts' first video transmission
Right now, NASA astronauts are above Earth in the SpaceX-made Dragon capsule as you read this (they'll be up there for 19 hours), and they're wearing SpaceX-designed spacesuits. The US government's Space Shuttle program ended nine years ago and the private SpaceX has picked up where NASA left off. It's a giant step for space exploration.
5. Live views of the SpaceX Dragon orbiting the Earth
The SpaceX cameras were able to capture some amazing live views of Earth as the Dragon capsule orbited the planet on its way to dock with the ISS. Here's a short clip of exactly that.
Tune in to hear @AstroBehnken and @Astro_Doug on Crew Dragon and for live views of Earth → https://t.co/bJFjLCzWdK pic.twitter.com/P5nxAyAJFnMay 31, 2020
The first hours of Saturday's SpaceX livestream felt like deja vu if you watched the SpaceX live stream Wednesday. But unlike that first launch attempt, Saturday's launch countdown didn't stop at T-minus 17 minutes. Instead, history was made.
(Image credit: SpaceX)
It wasn't always clear that Saturday's launch would happen, even minutes before the launch window. "We are predicting a 50/50 shot of going this time," said NASA administrator NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine at the top of the SpaceX live stream. "But given the fact that we are in late May – in Florida – we have to take every shot that we can get." They're glad that they did, despite the gloomy forecast.
Saturday's SpaceX Demo-2 mission was a delayed and a second attempt, but it was always going to be historic, as it's happening at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. It's the first such launch on US soil in nearly a decade – since NASA retired the Space Shuttle nine years ago. It's also the first time that a SpaceX reusable spacecraft has sent NASA astronauts into space. It's the birth of commercially-backed human space travel.
It's the birth of commercially-backed human space travel.
The destination of this SpaceX launch is the International Space Station (ISS) for a one- to four-month duration for NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken, according to our friends over at Space.com.
(Image credit: SpaceX)
SpaceX launch – as it happened on Saturday, May 30
The official Demo-2 SpaceX launch time, Saturday, May 30 at 3:22pm EDT, so the times across the continental US were 2:22pm CDT / 1:22pm MDT / 12:22pm PDT.
The UK SpaceX launch time was 20:22 BST. In addition to tuning into the video live stream, you were able to go outside soon afterward and maybe catch a glimpse of the SpaceX-built spacecraft in the night sky at around 20:40 BST.
In Australia, it was already Sunday morning, with the new launch time occurring at 5:22am AEST.
(Image credit: SpaceX)
SpaceX launch weather concerns subsided
Up until the last few minutes of Saturday's SpaceX launch, weather was a concern. It wouldn't have been time, as we saw this play out on Wednesday: "The weather got us," admitted NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine in a somber 30-second Twitter video on Wednesday. "I know there was a lot of disappointment today."
Bridenstine went on to explain the reasoning behind what we all saw: the SpaceX launch was scrubbed just 17 minutes inside the launch window, with NASA hanging on until the last minutes in an effort to save its efforts. The weather didn't cooperate.
NASA has strict weather rules for clearing spacecraft launches and noted that three weather violations existed, including the chance of the craft triggering 'natural lightning'. If they would have been able to wait ten minutes beyond the countdown, they could have cleared those three violations, according to SpaceX and NASA officials.
Waiting even ten minutes wasn't an option, though. Both Saturday's successful launch and Wednesday's scrubbed launch had what's known as an 'instantaneous launch window', meaning due orbital mechanics a delay wasn't possible if the crew wanted to get to the International Space Station (ISS) on time and lock in accurately. Blame Newtown's law of universal gravity, if you'd like.
The good news is that everything technical with the SpaceX craft and NASA crew was 'go for liftoff' on both days when the hatch door successfully closed. Weather was the only concern, according to NASA during the live streams.
Even with all of the exceptional planning ahead of this SpaceX launch, NASA and SpaceX can't control the weather (not yet anyway). Florida, while normally sunny, does have frequent quick-moving thunderstorms (anyone who has ever visited nearby Disney World knows that), and that's what the crew faced Wednesday and most of Saturday until the final half-hour.
.@AstroBehnken and @Astro_Doug arrive at historic Launch Complex 39A → https://t.co/bJFjLCzWdK pic.twitter.com/EZATwbKWfAMay 30, 2020
Another weather variable is the fact that the weather conditions need to be good everywhere this spacecraft might be. For example, if the crew had to abort anywhere along their ascent and come down, recovery crews would need to access the capsule, so it's more than just the immediate Florida launchpad that needs ideal weather.
What happened before the SpaceX launch
The live stream saw SpaceX founder Elon Musk visit suited-up astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken and exchange a few words before liftoff time. Sadly, there was no audio during this portion of the live stream on Wednesday.
Musk then greeted US Vice President Mike Pence, who is there to watch the launch, while President Donald Trump joined soon after. Hurley and Behnken traveled to the launch site in a Tesla Model X (Tesla being another company Musk founded). Both the President and Vice President returned to see the launch Saturday.
The moment @SpaceX founder @elonmusk gives NASA's @AstroBehnken & @Astro_Doug the keys to the Dragon 2. #SpaceLaunchLIVE #SpaceXDragon pic.twitter.com/nHb1uCVR9uMay 27, 2020
NASA continued to monitor the weather via data sensors around the launch site in an effort to get everything into 'the green position' on their maps. At the time, NASA said, "the weather is trending in the right direction," but as the countdown got to T-minus 17 minutes, favorability went the other direction.
This meant that the crew was seated in the capsule after crossing the crew access arm, and the crew arm had already retracted. Steam started to come off of the rocket before the launch was called off. It was that close to liftoff.
(Image credit: NASA)
SpaceX spacecraft, SpaceX suits and NASA astronauts
NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken are inside the SpaceX Dragon capsule, which sat atop the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket for liftoff. It was situated on a launch pad at legendary Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida’s Cape Canaveral.
LC-39A was originally built for the Apollo missions and remodeled for the Space Shuttle program. Now it's home to the first space flight to send astronauts into space using a private aerospace company.
Hurley (the spacecraft commander) and Behnken (the joint operations commander) are NASA astronauts, engineers and both former members of US military (Hurley is a former marine, while Behnken was in the US Air Force).
The two-man NASA crew are not only be flying in a SpaceX-built spacecraft, but also outfitted in SpaceX pressurized suits, first shown off in 2017.
So after a false start due to bad weather, the first crewed launch of a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule with two astronauts on board has gone ahead. After playing catch-up with the ISS for around 27 hours they’re now safely aboard. At times it seems that space launches have become everyday occurrences, but they are still heroes who have risked their lives in the furtherment of mankind’s exploration of space. Their achievement, and that of all the scientists, engineers, and other staff who stand behind them, is immense.
I watched the drama unfold via the live video feed. Having heaved a huge sigh of relief once they were safely in orbit, the feed cut to the studio, and then moved on to interview the NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine. He was naturally elated at a successful launch, and enthused about the agency’s achievement. You can watch the full interview embedded below, but what caught my attention was his parting sentence:
And if this can inspire a young child to become the next Elon Musk, or the next Jeff Bezos, or the next Sir Richard Branson, then that’s what this is all about
I was slightly shocked and saddened to hear this from the NASA administrator, because to my mind the careers of Musk, Bezos, or Branson should not be the ones first brought to mind by a space launch. This isn’t a comment on those three in themselves; although they have many critics it is undeniable that they have each through their respective space companies brought much to the world of space flight. Instead it’s a comment on what a NASA administrator should be trying to inspire in kids.
Ask yourself how many billionaire masters-of-the-universe it takes for a successful space race compared to the number of scientists, engineers, mathematicians, technicians, physicists, et al. From the anecdote of the NASA administrator it takes about three, but if he is to make good on his goal of returning to the Moon in 2024 and then eventually taking humanity to Mars it will take a generation packed full of those other roles. To understand that we’ll have to take a trip back to the Apollo era, and how that generation of kids were inspired by the spacecraft on their screens.
Inspiration from probably the coolest room in the world at the time, the Apollo mission control in Houston. NASA on The Commons / No restrictions
Fifty years ago, we were very much on the brink of becoming a spacefaring planet. American astronauts were taking their first steps on the Moon, and Soviet cosmonauts were occupying real space stations that would soon be capable of housing them for months at a time. Planetary probes were returning colour TV pictures from other worlds, and it was certain that in the immediate aftermath of the Apollo programme we’d be sending astronauts and probably cosmonauts too further afield. A Mars base in the 1980s perhaps, and following our fictional Star Trek heroes further afield thereafter.
We now know it didn’t quite work out that way, but a whole generation of tech-inclined kids grew up wanting nothing more than to be involved in space flight. The vast majority of us never made it, but with that inspiration we took our soldering irons and 8-bit home computers and ran with them. Those NASA folks were the coolest of role-models, and no doubt their Soviet equivalents were too for kids on the other side of the Iron Curtain.
With the best will in the world, the chances of any kid becoming the next Jeff Bezos is about as high as that of their becoming the next Neil Armstrong. Compared to the number of kids in the world, the number of billionaires and the number of astronauts both pale into statistical insignificance. But the chances of a kid becoming an engineer or a scientist is much higher, and in those careers their chances of having some of their work be involved with the space effort becomes not entirely unlikely.
I understand what the NASA administrator was trying to say, but can’t shake the feeling that if those are the people he rolls out to inspire kids watching a space launch, he’s missed an opportunity. Those are the names we all recognize, but shouldn’t we also elevate the people making the scientific breakthroughs so their names are equally recognized? Like Margaret Hamilton, Gene Kranz, and Sergei Korolev and many others before them, we should be making names like Tom Mueller and Margarita Marinova prominent examples of where a career in the sciences can take you. But to be honest, the real problem is we just don’t hear much about all the people doing this fascinating engineering and that’s a sad state of affairs.
Looks like it’s time for Hackaday to pursue a biography series based on the many great minds who are the ones delivering on the promise and vision of today’s (and tomorrow’s) space race. Get us started by talking about your favorite behind the scenes science folks in the comments below.
CAPE CANAVERAL, FLA. --
SpaceX delivered two astronauts to the International Space Station for NASA on Sunday, following up a historic liftoff with an equally smooth docking in yet another first for Elon Musk's company.
With test pilots Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken poised to take over manual control if necessary, the SpaceX Dragon capsule pulled up to the station and docked automatically, no assistance needed. The linkup occurred 262 miles (422 kilometres) above the China-Mongolia border.
"Congratulations on a phenomenal accomplishment and welcome to the International Space Station," SpaceX Mission Control radioed from Hawthorne, California.
It was the first time a privately built and owned spacecraft carried astronauts to the orbiting lab in its nearly 20 years. NASA considers this the opening volley in a business revolution encircling Earth and eventually stretching to the moon and Mars.
"Bravo on a magnificent moment in spaceflight history," NASA's Mission Control piped in from Houston.
NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy greeted the incoming crew by ringing the ship's bell aboard the space station.
The docking occurred a little early, barely 19 hours after a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket blasted off Saturday afternoon from Kennedy Space Center, the nation's first astronaut launch to orbit from home soil in nearly a decade.
Despite the coronavirus pandemic, thousands jammed surrounding beaches, bridges and towns to watch as SpaceX became the world's first private company to send astronauts into orbit, and ended a nine-year launch drought for NASA. The achievement, years in the making, is expected to drive down launch costs so more people might be able to afford a ticket to space in the coming years.
A few hours before docking, the Dragon riders reported that their capsule, newly named Endeavour after the retired shuttle, was performing beautifully. Just in case, they slipped back into their pressurized launch suits and helmets for the rendezvous.
Gleaming white in the sunlight, the Dragon was easily visible from a few miles out, its nose cone open and exposing its docking hook as well as a blinking light. The capsule loomed ever larger on live NASA TV as it closed the gap.
Hurley and Behnken took over the controls -- using high-tech touchscreens -- and did a little piloting less than a couple hundred yards (meters) out as part of the test flight, before putting it back into automatic for the final approach. Hurley said the capsule handled "really well, very crisp."
The astronauts thanked everyone once the capsule was latched securely to the space station. The only snag appeared to involve Dragon's communication lines: The astronauts could barely understand the calls coming from Houston's Mission Control following the linkup.
"It's been a real honour to be just a small part of this nine-year endeavour since the last time a United States spaceship has docked with the International Space Station," Hurley said. He was the pilot of that last spaceship, shuttle Atlantis in July 2011.
NASA turned to private industry to pick up the slack following the shuttle fleet's retirement, hiring SpaceX and Boeing in 2014 for space station taxi services. Boeing's first astronaut flight isn't expected until next year.
Given the continuing high-risk drama, SpaceX and NASA officials had held off on any celebrations until after Sunday morning's docking -- and possibly not until the two astronauts are back on Earth sometime this summer. Clearly relieved, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine tweeted a big "welcome home" to the Dragon fliers -- "America's two favourite dads." SpaceX has been calling them "dads" to drive home the fact that two lives were at stake in this highly technical effort.
NASA has yet to decide how long Hurley and Behnken will spend at the space station, somewhere between one and four months. While they're there, the Dragon test pilots will join NASA's Cassidy and two Russian station residents in performing experiments and possibly spacewalks to install fresh station batteries.
While U.S. astronauts will continue to catch a ride on Russian Soyuz rockets, it will be through a barter system now that NASA's commercial crew program has finally taken flight. NASA had been shelling out tens of millions of dollars for every Soyuz seat.
In a show-and-tell earlier Sunday, the astronauts gave a quick tour of the Dragon's sparkling clean insides, quite spacious for a capsule. They said the liftoff was pretty bumpy and dynamic, nothing the simulators could have mimicked.
The blue sequined dinosaur accompanying them -- their young sons' toy, named Tremor -- was also in good shape, Behnken assured viewers. Tremor was going to join Earthy, a plush globe delivered to the space station on last year's test flight of a crew-less crew Dragon. Behnken said both toys would return to Earth with them at mission's end.
An old-style capsule splashdown is planned.
After liftoff, Musk told reporters that the capsule's return will be more dangerous in some ways than its launch. Even so, getting the two astronauts safely to orbit and then the space station had everyone breathing huge sighs of relief.
As always, Musk was looking ahead.
"This is hopefully the first step on a journey toward a civilization on Mars," he said Saturday evening.
CAPE CANAVERAL, FLA. --
SpaceX delivered two astronauts to the International Space Station for NASA on Sunday, following up a historic liftoff with an equally smooth docking in yet another first for Elon Musk's company.
With test pilots Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken poised to take over manual control if necessary, the SpaceX Dragon capsule pulled up to the station and docked automatically, no assistance needed.
It was the first time a privately built and owned spacecraft carried astronauts to the orbiting lab in its nearly 20 years. NASA considers this the opening volley in a business revolution encircling Earth and eventually stretching to the moon and Mars.
The docking occurred just 19 hours after a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket blasted off Saturday afternoon from Kennedy Space Center, the nation's first astronaut launch to orbit from home soil in nearly a decade.
Thousands jammed surrounding beaches, bridges and towns to watch as SpaceX became the world's first private company to send astronauts into orbit, and ended a nine-year launch drought for NASA.
A few hours before docking, the Dragon riders reported that the capsule was performing beautifully. Just in case, they slipped back into their pressurized launch suits and helmets for the rendezvous.
The three space station residents kept cameras trained on the incoming capsule for the benefit of flight controllers at SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California, and NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston.
Gleaming white in the sunlight, the Dragon was easily visible from a few miles out, its nose cone open and exposing its docking hook as well as a blinking light. The capsule loomed ever larger on live NASA TV as it closed the gap.
Hurley and Behnken took over the controls and did a little piloting less than a couple hundred yards (meters) out as part of the test flight, before putting it back into automatic for the final approach. Hurley said the capsule handled "really well, very crisp."
SpaceX and NASA officials had held off on any celebrations until after Sunday morning's docking -- and possibly not until the two astronauts are back on Earth sometime this summer.
NASA has yet to decide how long Hurley and Behnken will spend at the space station, somewhere between one and four months. While they're there, the Dragon test pilots will join the one U.S. and two Russian station residents in performing experiments and possibly spacewalks to install fresh station batteries.
In a show-and-tell earlier Sunday, the astronauts gave a quick tour of the Dragon's sparkling clean insides, quite spacious for a capsule. They said the liftoff was pretty bumpy and dynamic, nothing the simulators could have mimicked.
The blue sequined dinosaur accompanying them -- their young sons' toy, named Tremor -- was also in good shape, Behnken assured viewers. Tremor was going to join Earthy, a plush globe delivered to the space station on last year's test flight of a crew-less crew Dragon. Behnken said both toys would return to Earth with them at mission's end.
An old-style capsule splashdown is planned.
After liftoff, Musk told reporters that the capsule's return will be more dangerous in some ways than its launch. Even so, getting the two astronauts safely to orbit and then the space station had everyone breathing huge sighs of relief.
As always, Musk was looking ahead.
"This is hopefully the first step on a journey toward a civilization on Mars," he said Saturday evening.
In 1989, President George H.W. Bush announced the Space Exploration Initiative, which aimed to send astronauts back to the moon by the end of the 1990s and get people to Mars in the 2010s. His son, President George W. Bush, also aimed for a crewed lunar return, with a program called Constellation, whose contours were outlined in 2004. Each program was soon axed by the next administration to come into power.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launch launches two NASA astronauts into orbit on a Crew Dragon spacecraft from Pad 39A of the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on May 30, 2020. (Image credit: SpaceX)
So it's natural for space fans to greet the grand pronouncements occasioned by SpaceX's first crewed launch on Saturday (May 30) with a bit of skepticism. Yes, the Demo-2 mission to the International Space Station (ISS), the first orbital human spaceflight to depart from American soil since NASA retired its space shuttle fleet in 2011, is a big deal. But does it really show that "the commercial space industry is the future," as President Donald Trump said shortly after liftoff?
Actually, it very well might.
Demo-2 is far from a one-off, after all. It's a test flight designed to fully validate SpaceX's Crew Dragon capsule and Falcon 9 rocket for crewed missions to the ISS. The company holds a $2.6 billion NASA contract to conduct six such operational flights, the first of which is targeted for late August, provided Demo-2 goes well.
SpaceX is a highly ambitious company that has already accomplished a great deal in the final frontier; it's been flying robotic cargo flights to the ISS for NASA since 2012, for example. So, there's little reason to doubt SpaceX's ability to fulfill that contract, and to execute a variety of other missions in Earth orbit as well.
Elon Musk's company has in fact already inked Crew Dragon deals with other customers. For example, Houston-based company Axiom Space, which aims to build a commercial space station in Earth orbit, has booked a Crew Dragon flight to the ISS, with liftoff targeted in late 2021. And the space tourism outfit Space Adventures plans to use the capsule at around the same time, to carry passengers on a mission to high Earth orbit, far above the ISS.
Then there's Boeing. Like SpaceX, Boeing signed a contract with NASA's Commercial Crew Program to fly six crewed missions to and from the ISS. Boeing will fulfill the deal with a capsule called CST-100 Starliner, which has made one uncrewed trip to orbit to date.
That flight, which launched this past December, didn't go as planned; Starliner was supposed to meet up with the ISS but suffered a glitch with its onboard timing system and got trapped in the wrong orbit. But Boeing plans to refly the uncrewed ISS mission later this year and put astronauts on Starliner shortly thereafter, provided everything goes well.
Activity is heating up in the suborbital realm as well.
For example, Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic has already flown two piloted missions to suborbital space with its newest SpaceShipTwo vehicle, VSS Unity. The company is in the final phases of its test campaign and looks poised to begin carrying space tourists aboard the six-passenger Unity soon.
And Blue Origin, the spaceflight company run by Amazon's Jeff Bezos, has reached space numerous times with its suborbital vehicle, known as New Shepard. Those test flights have been uncrewed to date, but it probably won't be long before New Shepard begins carrying customers as well.
The names on this list chip away at the skepticism even more. We aren't talking about cash-strapped startups here; Bezos is the world's richest man, and Musk and Branson are both billionaires. And Boeing is an aerospace giant with a long history of achievement in the human spaceflight realm. The company is the prime contractor for the ISS, for example, and it built the first stage of NASA's huge Saturn V rocket, which launched the Apollo moon missions.
So there's real reason to hope that an exciting new era of human spaceflight has dawned — perhaps one that will even see people riding private spaceships to the moon, Mars and other destinations in deep space.
Musk has long stressed that he founded SpaceX back in 2002 primarily to help humanity colonize the Red Planet, and the company is already building and testing prototypes of Starship, the vehicle designed to make that happen. And Bezos has repeatedly said that his overarching vision for Blue Origin involves helping to get millions of people living and working in space.
This coming private boom isn't booting NASA off the human-spaceflight block, of course. The space agency has deep space ambitions of its own. Its Artemis program aims to land two astronauts near the moon's south pole in 2024 and establish a long-term human presence on and around the moon by 2028.
And the moon will be a stepping stone, if all goes according to NASA's plan, teaching the agency the skills and techniques required to put boots on Mars.
NASA wants to make that giant leap in the 2030s. We'll see if the political will and the funding hold long enough for the agency to do it.
Mike Wall is the author of "Out There" (Grand Central Publishing, 2018; illustrated byKarl Tate), a book about the search for alien life. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall. Follow us on Twitter@Spacedotcom orFacebook.
