The Final Frontier

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Lifestyle

Sending rockets to space is a wild ride and incredibly difficult. For instance:

 

  • Rockets need a TON of energy to escape Earth's gravitational pull, and that means carrying tons of fuel.
  • Rockets need to be going 17,500 miles per hour to reach orbit (that's just a bit faster than I drive:)
  • Weather plays a major role in whether a launch can happen or not. Clouds, rain, and high winds can all force a launch to be scrubbed
  • A single launch can cost anywhere from tens to hundreds of millions of dollars.
  • There's always the risk of something going wrong. It's not just about losing all that money, rocket failures can lead to loss of important equipment, scientific research, or even human life

 

But Elon Musk's SpaceX makes it look easy. SpaceX launched rockets 61times in 2022 and as of today they've already launched 29 times! Watching a launch and the landing of its' booster on a small barge in the ocean is amazing. If you're interested, here's the video of the latest launch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSbByu7sx-I

 

Comments

Fred Klein

I'm in an organization which is organizing a trip to Florida Space Center to tour and witness a launch.
Shelley Simpson

We have such capacity for invention and advancement. I certainly hope that whatever we do in space is not as destructive as what we continue to do on earth.
Victoria Drogin

Innovation and resilience in the face of failure represents the best of us. Exciting!
Daniel Schwartz

The Space Force is in my distant backyard about 15 miles north of me. Every rocket launch is different and a backyard experience to watch. It is exciting to watch and yes, there is an environmental impact with all that fuel burning in the upper atmosphere. But for now, there is no other way up. So we watch in awe and amazement that our world is growing beyond the confines of earth.
Rick Raymond

Progress, it seems, is expensive - sending a rocket to space. It is also a result of the people who want to build a large amusement park in my backyard, and call it progress. The cost of the latter progress falls less on the corporate amusement park entity and largely on the quality of life of those living next door

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