Space flight started in the middle of world war 2, when Germany came out with the V2 rocket. This was the first man made object to ever make it into outer space. This panted a seed in the minds of people all over the world that it was indeed possible to reach the heavens. The United States and Soviet Union wasted no time in developing space programs and for many years the Governments of these countries were in complete control over their space programs. But in July 2011 the US government retired the NASA Space Shuttle. This meant the United Stated, for the first time in 50 years was unable to launch people into space. We had to rely on our old Russian rivals to give us rides into space which in turn was very expensive. Something needed to change and the U.S. government opened space flight to private industry. 
Opening space to commercial development meant that private companies we now allowed to design, build, and fly space crafts. The most notable company today is known as Space X, and is controlled by a billionaire named Elon Musk. Elon Musk stated he wanted people to become interested in space exploration again along with making space flight a lot cheaper. They have been developing more efficient rockets and rockets that can be reused which cuts cost down dramatically. Cost has been a big issue though out the years and being able to lower that price would definitely be able to help the space program a lot. But there still is a large issue with the privatization of space flight and that’s whether or not we should leave it to the people who have done it before and have a better idea of what it is that they are doing.
There have been a number of credited scientists and Astronauts that have not agreed with the idea of privatizing the space program. However who’s to say that a company such as Space X can’t produce a rocket that can safely send astronauts into space and do it much cheaper than the years prior. They have already done things that NASA hasn’t and maybe they can be the start of a new space frontier.
7, J., & Foust, J. (2018, February 07). SpaceX wins accolades for Falcon Heavy success. Retrieved October 09, 2020, from https://spacenews.com/spacex-wins-accolades-for-falcon-heavy-success/
60 minutes, “2012: Space X: Elon Musk’s Race to space”
CBS, “Neil DeGrasse Tyson on the privatization of space”
Technology: Past, Present, and Future, “The History of Space Travel- Short Documentary”
I find it kind of funny that tensions between the US and Russia, which ultimately lead to the Cold War, drove space exploration in the 1950s and 1960s. We were so determined to beat Russia to the Moon, since they already beat us to space.
ReplyDeleteI've been following what SpaceX has been doing over the last few years and it really is fascinating what they've been able to accomplish. I actually went down to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida last year, and SpaceX is really starting to take off. Do you ever think NASA will let these private companies, such as SpaceX, take over the space exploration industry entirely? Or do you think the government will still want to have their hands in the industry?