Space X Success Leads to New Heights

 

    Under the moonlight on the morning of April 23rd, Space X launched the companies third maned mission to the International Space Station.   The main goal of Space X was to create space travel that was almost routine, and Elon Musk and Space X have done that and succeeded greatly with it. 

    The April 23rd launch marked the first time that Space X has launched non-American astronauts. Along with two Americans, the crew consisted of one Japanese and one French astronaut to the International Space Station.  The astronauts will spend hours sitting in the dock, working with mission control to make sure all the systems are in check. Then after lift off, will spend over 23 hours in flight to the International Space Station. When the capsule reaches the International Space Station, the capsule will dock using an automated process already programmed into the capsule. Even after docking, the crews need to spend a few hours making sure that there is no air leaks in the dock. One air leak can create a vacuum in space and be deadly for all astronauts. 

    This launch did mark the second mission that was routine, using the same Crew Dragon spacecraft.  Musk now wants to get further revolutionize space travel by creating a reusable rocket, "The thing that's really important to revolutionize space is a rapidly reusable rocket...that is the gateway to the heavens."

    With the great success that Elon Musk and the entirety of the Space X company is experiencing, NASA has taken notice. NASA has their own sights set back onto the moon, especially after awarding Space X a new 2.9 billion dollar contract to build the new lander that NASA will use to bring humans back to the moon.  Elon Musk was honored that Space X was chosen saying, "It's a great honor to be chosen by NASA to return to the moon." The last time a human has set foot on the moon was the Apollo 17 mission in 1972. 

    Although, this time Musk has his sights set on something even more than just getting to the moon. "We don't want to be one of those single-planet species, we want to be a multi-planet species. " Musk has his next task of building a permanent base on the moon, and then even a city on Mars even further into the future. This new contract that NASA has awarded Space X to develop the lander, has the date set for 2024 when feet with touch the moon dust again. Although, Musk is not optimistic about the 2024 date set. Space X has had a history of not completing the projects on time, on average almost doubling the time projected. But there is no rush in space travel, especially when human lives are going to be involved. "We're going to build a lot of rockets, and then we're going to probably smash a bunch of them."  

Musk, and Space X had great success and will look for much more in the future. 

Source https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/04/23/science/spacex-nasa-launch