The texts came in urgently. Fast and Furious. “Turn on the news!” “Right now!” “Space Launch happening soon!”
For years I’ve lamented the fact that we no longer celebrate space launches like we once did when man first walked on the Moon. And then when the call finally comes in I reacted the way most Americans probably reacted, “But, I’m watching football!”
Reluctantly, I did turn on the launch and was glad I did. This was a chance to watch history. To see, for the very first time, astronauts get launched into space by a private company. A rare bit of good news during a tumultuous 2020.
As CNET put it:
“Resilience is on the way to the International Space Station. At exactly 7:27 p.m. ET on Sunday, a SpaceX Falcon 9 booster burst to life at the Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39A, its engines lighting up the Florida coast. The picture-perfect launch of the gumdrop-shaped Crew Dragon spacecraft — nicknamed Resilience — marks a historic moment in American spaceflight.
‘By working together through these difficult times, you’ve inspired the nation, the world, and in no small part, the name of this incredible vehicle, Resilience,’ said Michael Hopkins, spacecraft commander of Crew-1 prior to launch.
Resilience is a theme of the launch. Not since the end of the Space Shuttle program in 2011 has NASA sent humans to orbit from American soil in an operational mission. The launch for this particular mission has been delayed, pushed back and postponed multiple times — the original timeline included a launch date of November 2016. Four years and a few technical stumbles later, Resilience is in flight.”
As the astronauts continue their journey to the International Space Station its worthwhile to pause and reflect on what this accomplishment truly means going forward. For it really does mark the Dawn of a New Era in human spaceflight. An era, that in the coming years, will see:
- The first women to walk on the Moon.
- The creation of a Lunar Habitat.
- Low Orbital Space Tourism.
- Asteroid mining.
- The eventual colonization of Mars.
- And much, much more!
So don’t fret if you didn’t watch the launch yesterday. In the years to come you’ll have plenty of more opportunities.
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