A new animated video from SpaceX shows the spaceflight company’s plans for a reusable mega-rocket.
The 2.5-minute Falcon Heavy Rocket animation shows the spaceflight firm’s plans to land the three boosters of its giant rocket back on Earth after launching missions to orbit. Each of the three nine-engine boosters are equivalent to the booster currently used to power the core stage of the Falcon 9 rocket which is currently being used to launch payloads to space. SpaceX representatives expect to start flights of the Falcon 9 Heavy Rocket later this year.
While the video itself is very cool and worth viewing, what I find almost as interesting is the ‘buzz’ that it is generating on various social media websites. There is no lack of ‘experts’ out there declaring that what Elon Musk and his band of ‘Rocket Boys’ are trying to do can’t be done. As one who grew up during the great space race of the 1960’s, I remember well the ‘can do’ atmosphere that was prevalent during that time. The prevailing climate was not one of ‘it can’t be done‘ but rather was one of ‘how can we get it done‘. Everyone was interested in breaking down barriers to success, not throwing them up. That attitude also helped generate an optimism for the future of space travel that has been missing in the generation since Apollo and the moon landings ended. Personally, I would welcome a return to that climate of optimism and the ‘let’s get it done‘ attitude. And that is where I see that Elon Musk is playing a great role. Whether or not he is successfull with his eventual Mars colonization plans, and I hope he is, he can at least be credited with helping to foster an environment that results in optimism for the future of manned space flight and, in my opinion, the naysayers be damned.
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