Space Exploration Technologies is gearing up for the first demonstration of its Dragon space capsule aboard the Falcon 9 rocket on Tuesday, December 7. Back up flight windows are on December 8 or 9. The flight will pave the way for SpaceX to provide cargo resupply to the International Space Station. The SpaceX Student Ambassadors in conjunction with S3FL and SEDS@UM are going to have a public viewing of the launch!
SpaceX Falcon 9 / Dragon COTS-1 Launch
Launch Window: December 7, 8, or 9 from 9 am to 12 pm
Viewing Location: EECS Atrium
Free donuts will be provided!
Sponsored by: Students Space System Fabrication Lab
& Students for the Exploration and Development of Space
As many of you may know, the Falcon 9 launch date is closely approaching. Right now, it seems SpaceX has settled on an April 12 launch date, but this may or may not change to a later date. I bring this up to put the event into some perspective, especially in regards to Obama’s recent “change” to the space program. On a side note: maybe random acts of “change” aren’t so great after all? Did you ever think about that, Obama? Healthcare… Alright, I’ll stop there.
Back to space. What this new direction does entail is pushing space more and more into the private sector. In the short term, this could potentially mean layoffs within NASA and more budget issues, but looking ahead it gets better.
Some people are comparing this to how the computer industry shifted from being government managed to being privately managed. This, of course, spawned all sorts of goodness including the Internet, Apple, Microsoft, Google, etc. Similarly, with regards to the future of space, we’ll see reduced costs, improvements in design, and most importantly, more interest in space! With the Falcon 9 launch around the corner, we are that much closer to seeing the reality of these benefits. Plus, you’ll be that much closer to going to space. Which is what really matters.
Be sure to check out the launch.
Source: TheDailyGalaxy