The Russians are coming! The Russians are coming! And Drumpty-Trump is about to fall! And Flynn has been denied his immunity request! And Pence cast the deciding vote to undermine Planned Parenthood LITERALLY the day after the White House hosted a “Women’s Empowerment” summer! SMH! I mean… WHO CAN KEEP UP? The deluge of Trump-related news is literally clogging my mind, my social media feed, and my ability to talk about anything else.
But here’s a big story that slipped through the cracks. And one that has far-reaching implications we should all be aware of.
SpaceX, the company that’s single-handedly building the comic-book future of your childhood dreams, flew a previously used rocket yesterday in an unprecedented test of the durability of space equipment.
Via HuffPo:
The Falcon 9 booster took off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida and landed on an ocean platform called Of Course I Still Love You. The aerospace company founded by Elon Musk said it was the “world’s first reflight of an orbital class rocket.”
The Atlantic Ocean landing took place about eight minutes after takeoff.
This is great news, of course, because if such rockets can be used more than once, the cost of orbital flights by SpaceX (and others) will be vastly reduced.
SpaceX has previously shown it can land a booster on a platform. The company first accomplished that feat in December 2015 when it landed its intact booster at Cape Canaveral, Florida. It has repeated the accomplishment eight times, Reuters said.
Incredibly proud of the SpaceX team for achieving this milestone in space! Next goal is reflight within 24 hours.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 30, 2017
Elon Musk for president please.
