Space X Private Rocket, Falcon 9 Launch Was A Success
Space X successfully launched 'The Falcon 9', the first of a new generation of private rockets that is touted to make space travel commonplace one day, from Cape Canaveral on Friday.
The 180-foot rocket put a model of its Dragon capsule into orbit about 160 miles up, creating the platform for probable flights to the international space station early next year. The flight had an initial glitch when it was aborted right at the time of ignition.
The successful launch of Falcon gives Space X and its internet heavyweight founder, Elon Musk, a major thrust.
Obama administration also breathed a sigh of relief at the successful launch as they have been pushing for a far greater role for commercial space companies in the future of NASA. Buoyed by the success of Falcon, SpaceX plans to send a fully operational rocket and capsule into orbit this summer, and one to the space station next year.
Obama's plan to cancel much of the Bush-era Constellation exploration system -- labeling it too expensive and behind schedule -- has been at the receiving end of the stick from Congress. Members of Congress whose states might lose jobs, along with veteran astronauts such as Neil Armstrong, have warned that NASA would lose its superiority in space if commercial companies played a larger role in exploration.
Obama paid a visit to the Kennedy Space Center last month to outline a NASA human exploration program, which includes crew and cargo transport to the international space station by commercial rockets in the years ahead, freeing up NASA for deep-space missions to asteroids, the moon and, ultimately, Mars.
Amid congratulations pouring in from every corner, NASA Administrator Charles F. Bolden Jr. said in a statement that SpaceX's "accomplishment is an important milestone in the commercial transportation effort, and puts the company a step closer to providing cargo services to the International Space Station."
The Planetary Society, an advocate for commercial space ventures, also said in a release: "The proposal to refocus NASA's human spaceflight program beyond low-Earth orbit now looks more achievable, as this flight demonstrated that commercial rockets may soon be ready to carry supplies and, we hope, astronauts to the International Space Station."
