In the advancement of space travel, the
most essential factor is the way of travel and its reusability in the long
term. In space exploration history,
spacecrafts have not been able to become fully reusable and recyclable and most
importantly the rockets that power the craft are unusable after one use and
have to replace every time. This fact has held the research and space
exploration back from advancing at a fast pace as it should be in the sixty
plus years since the moon landing. The creation of reusable rockets to attach
to the space crafts and be able to contain and withstand extreme heat while in
use would be the greatest progress since the development of the Apollo lunar
module or the International Space Station (ISS). The Space Race during the Cold War was the
main motivator for creating and designing more advanced rockets that could
achieve high altitudes for long periods of time
(Benson 2014) and in the late 1950s the US government created the
National Aeronautic and Space Administration for the very purpose of advancing
space exploration. One main contributor in the research for rocket reusability is Elon Musk, the founder of SpaceX and Tesla. He is currently conducting testing on Falcon 9 rockets to determine if it is feasible to reuse the rockets that supply the International Space Station (ISS). Here is a clip from April 14 2015, the third attempt to land a reusable rocket on a drone barge ship.
The excess lateral velocity caused the rocket to tip and hit the barge with too much force thus failing an otherwise very successful attempt for SpaceX. The need for reusability in space programs would also open up the possibility of
space tourism since it would make the flight to and back from space much more
sustainable. Lepore states that the efforts of providing
space agencies access to space tourism will spur exploration and provide them
an easy access to funding from the public not just governmental and private
funds. The creation of reusable rockets will create an increase in money gain for research and space exploration, the perfect solution to the lack of progress in space agencies today.
References
Benson, T. (2014, June 12).
Brief History of Rockets. Retrieved April 3, 2015, from
Lepore, D. (2004). Access to Space for
Exploration Missions Using reusable Launch Vehicles. International Academy of
Astronautics. October
Liftoff: Falcon 9 and Dragon Begin CRS-6 Mission to Resupply the Space Station, April 14. 2015. http://www.spacex.com/news/2015/04/14/liftoff-falcon-9-and-dragon-begin-crs-6-mission-resupply-international-space-station
2) I have never noticed about reusable rockets. I thought of rockets as a one time thing. Kind of like fireworks ^_^, but I’m no rocket science so I’m uneducated with these kinds of knowledge. What makes your topic interesting is that it gives the opportunity for NASA to save money especially when we are in financial crisis right now. I disagreed with Obama’s administration to cut down funding towards NASA, which you are probably aware of this of course. NASA is one of the most important organizations that has given our society many technology that we use every day, such as cordless tools, improved vehicles, smoke detectors, water filters, and you get the idea. Reusable rockets is a perfect idea of saving so much money in a long run. Just one use of a rocket cost millions of dollars. Imagine saving billions of dollars.
ReplyDeleteI cannot believe how behind we are on space exploration, all because of money. Like you said, it has been over sixty years since the moon landing and we still do not have reusable rockets. Sometimes I wonder why the government spends so much time worrying about the affairs of other countries when it can easily be helping the homeland by funding agencies like NASA more often. It is exciting to think about tourism in space. How cool would it be to take pictures next to the U.S. flag on the moon? Space exploration is an overall interesting subject and I agree that reusable rockets would increase our knowledge of “the final frontier.”
ReplyDeleteDo you know which materials space X is using on their rockets? It seems that unmanned spaceships/rockets are the next step in space exploration.
ReplyDeleteI have always found space travel very interesting and amazing, and I love how there is someone who is researching ways to make space travel more sustainable. These reusable rockets have such a high potential to help the environment. I think the hardest part is going to be developing ones that can withstand extreme heat so that it does not melt, I don’t actually know if they melt when they are in use, but something probably happens so they can’t use them again. I had no idea that the same person who founded Tesla does research for rocket reusability; this shows that people can have many different interests that they peruse.
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