Wednesday, February 7, 2018

Space X Tests Falcon Heavy Rocket



Why does this matter?

This is the first rocket launch in nearly an age that is designed to send humans into interstellar space. The last time this was done was when the United States sent astronauts to the moon in 1972 aboard the Saturn V rocket.


Unfortunately the Apollo missions were cancelled after Apollo 17 due to the immense cost of the program which was mostly due to the cost of actually launching the rockets themselves. This is where the private company Space X has made a massive breakthrough in cost reduction. Whereas with the Apollo missions the rocket boosters were dropped into the ocean to never be used again, Space X has developed a rocket booster that can be reused... but not without much testing and failures.


Now, with the success of this launch, it looks like we have a viable and affordable way to start sending humans into space... feel free to skip to about 27 minutes to watch the rocket launch and the recovery of the boosters. Also, the payload (cargo) of this rocket is quite fascinating.



Check out the livestream of the "cargo" below.


Bonus!



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