Extraordinary: the new normal
While on my commute, I generally try to get up to date on all my tech news on my phone — when I don’t have a copy of TechLife on me, of course! I’m drawn to stories about SpaceX quite often, being both a fan of Elon Musk and also an avid sciencefiction reader, and I think the giant leaps the company is taking with regards to landing rockets and how they’re recycling them is pretty extraordinary. But this latest article on Teslarati ( included this rather stunning first sentence:
SpaceX has successfully completed the first drone ship recovery of a Falcon 9 booster in nearly six months, bringing to an end a what will likely be the final drought of by-sea rocket landings in the company’s history.
It’s the tone of that sentence that made me think... The author, while obviously an enthusiast of SpaceX as well (judging by the rest of his work), has somehow made it sound as though the company had been lazy for six months only landing their rockets on solid ground! Can we just take a step back for a moment? SpaceX is landing rockets, not letting them disintegrate in the atmosphere or drift off into space with all the other junk. Landing them! When did that become so normal? They’re the only company doing this! I’m still amazed every time I watch one of those rockets descending, and my skin crawls when the camera pans out to see them standing straight, ready to go again!
While, of course, all of these experiments will lead eventually to what Elon Musk hopes is regular shuttles around the world and a booming Mars colony, can we just slow down to appreciate the still incredible feat of landing a flamin’ rocket?!
[ JORDAN RASHFORD ]
Ed replies: The leaps and bounds made by Musk are still a marvel. Without picking apart another publication’s meaning too much, we’d think that the drought of unsuccessful landings is bookended by two moments of success. Going six months with no tangible, visceral spectacular to show off to the world would be frustrating. What excites us about Space X’s research and achievement is the application and trickle down this affords us five years, a decade or more in the future. Transportation — both on earth and into the inky black — is the most obvious beneficiary, and bringing down the costs for exploration. Tourism, too, as a side benefit, and we’ve written about space tourism in our news section this month.
“SPACEX HAS SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETED THE FIRST DRONE SHIP RECOVERY OF A FALCON 9 BOOSTER IN NEARLY SIX MONTHS, BRINGING TO AN END A WHAT WILL LIKELY BE THE FINAL DROUGHT OF BY-SEA ROCKET LANDINGS IN THE COMPANY’S HISTORY.”