Space X Falcon 9 Successful

I just finished watching the Falcon 9 launch. The rocket appears to have made it into orbit. It was a spectacular launch, and it appears that Space X has really started perfecting their system of rockets if this launch is any indication. Congratulations Space X!

link: Space X

SpaceX: Flight 4 of Falcon 1 Launch Successful

"Falcon 1 has made history as the first privately developed liquid fueled launch vehicle to achieve earth orbit!!!!!!"

That was an amazing launch to see.

Congratulations SpaceX!

SpaceX: Flight 4 Launch Update

Elon Musk of SpaceX released a short update yesterday about the possible liftoff starting today. The target window opens up in about an hour and a half from now.

"Falcon 1 is currently cleared for liftoff sometime between 4 p.m. and 9 p.m. (California time) tomorrow, Sunday September 28th. Of course, if we see anything that requires investigation, the launch will be postponed, but we’ll let you know as soon as we know. As with prior flights, you can access the webcast from the SpaceX site: www.spacex.com" -Elon

Photo caption: Falcon 1 Flight 4 vehicle on the launch pad at Omelek island, Kwajalein Atoll.

SpaceX: Flight 4 of Falcon 1 Update

SpaceX completed a static fire of the launch vehicle on Saturday, and has said no major issues came up. However, after looking over the data, they have decided to replace a component. The "launch window estimate is now Sept 28th through Oct 1st [CA time]."

Click here for the full details

Phoenix Mars Lander Successfully Lands On Mars

The Phoenix Mars Lander has successfully touched down on the Martian surface. Quoted from the Phoenix Lander Blog, "Phoenix is now on the surface of Mars, much to the joy of everyone here in Mission Control. As icing on the cake, we've found that the lander is tilted only one quarter of a degree, which means we've landed nearly perfectly level."

The 'Seven Minutes of Terror' are over, so from here on out, it should be a lot easier and less stressful for the team at NASA. Hopefully there will be some awesome discoveries made.

Jules Verne ATV -- Europe's First Resupply Ship

Europe launched its Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) resupply ship on March 12th, named Jules Verne after the author and dreamer. It will dock up with the International Space Station and resupply it, and then later on be burned up in the atmosphere upon re-entry. I'm not too enthusiastic about the last part, as it seems like a waste of a good ship, but I guess making a reusable one would have significantly impacted the complications encountered in developing it.

Check out this article from Science Daily for more information.

Virgin Galactic, And the Path to Space

Pioneering a commercial space company is not easy. Impossible as it may sound, Virgin Galactic believes it can get commercial passengers into space as soon as 2009 or 2010, eventually making space adventures affordable to the average person. We are approaching the private space age, which in my opinion, was bound to come, as NASA's innovations have been somewhat lacking after a few terrible accidents. The time is ripe for a commercial space race.

However great, and affordable, the new age space flight sounds, it does have
its costs. Not just money, but like anything truly pioneering, it has a cost of lives. Accidents are bound to happen in unexplored fields. Recently, it has come to knowledge that Virgin Galactic's partner, Scaled Composites, LLC had an accident when it was secretly testing a cold-flow test of nitrous oxide. A cold-flow test is a test on a rocket engine without actually firing the rocket, in order to test its proficiency. Concerning the accident, Virgin Galactic has said "We have heard the news of a serious incident at Scaled Composites at Mojave Airport. We extend our deepest sympathies to those involved and their familes.". They have said they will await investigations before making anymore comments.

I truly feel for the families of those killed, and wish the injured a quick recovery. Although accidents such as these are terrible, I hope it does not effect the advancement of space travel. The people working for space companies know the dangers, and I believe they wouldn't want their deaths to be taken for granted. More then anyone else, I think they wanted to be a part of the evolution of man-kind, and will be forever engraved in space history for their sacrifices in helping bring space travel to life. Virgin Galactic has also said the accident has not affected the customers booked for flight, and 4 new customers have even signed up.

In end to this story, here's a few videos from Virgin Galactic that I think you'll find interesting:





-CNN article: Virgin Galactic keeps low profile after explosion
-Virgin Galactic's Website
-Scaled Composites, LLC's website

The Final Frontier

Like it or not, space travel is here to stay. Traveling into the unknown is the ultimate risk, and has some foreseeable benefits in the future. With some large private sector entries into space travel, an unprecedented surge in space travel technology is on its way.

Forget about sky diving, that's for people with no adventure. Why not take a rocket into space and dive back from there? Or, if your not an adrenaline junkie like me, why not at least go to the edge of space with Virgin Galactic. These are two of many attempts to give anyone a trip into space. Of course prices will be out of range for the average person, but they will continue to drop as people continue to use the space services.

As for benefits, think asteroids. They have many valuable resources that are just sitting there waiting to be exploited. Nickel, iron, and platinum are some of the mineral deposits. Space Mining could some day be a major industry, and, if space travel is handled properly, in the future, we should have no mineral shortages. It is estimated that an asteroid with a diameter of 1 kilometer has aproxmately 150 billion dollars worth of platinum on it alone! (more info here)

Planets also are the key to our history. We can try to make educated guesses, but by examining our neighboring planets and other parts of the solar system and universe, we can find more clues to our past, present and future.

If we can break through a few barriers, the possibilities for space travel are almost endless. One of the largest barriers to overcome is speed. How can we possibly get anywhere with our current speed? Even 1 light year would take us a long enough time. Our major break through in space travel will come when we break that barrier. In my opinion, its not a question of will we achieve speeds close to the speed of light, but a question of when? And even light speed does not seem sufficient to explore all the realms of existence. I also believe that it is possible to travel at speeds faster than the speed of light. The private space companies popping up everywhere will surely expand our technologies and views of space. After all, slow advancements are slow profits!

So, with lack of major space advancements from NASA for many years, I say, give it a go private sector! Look what the private sector did for computers! And for anyone interested, theres a book about the great minds of our starting private space age. I haven't come across this book yet, but it seems very interesting. So check it out, and let me know how it is! Rocketeers: How a Visionary Band of Business Leaders, Engineers, and Pilots Is Boldly Privatizing Space