Skip to main content

Falcon 9 Rocket Takes Off

Falcon 9 Rocket Takes Off - The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket roared successfully into the sky from Cape Canaveral this morning, carrying a stubby spacecraft called Dragon. Three hours later, Dragon splashed down in the Pacific Ocean -- the first privately-owned ship ever to return safely from earth orbit.

"It was just mind-blowingly awesome," said Elon Musk, the Internet entrepreneur who founded SpaceX with money he made from the sale of PayPal.

Amid the plaudits -- Bill Nye, the head of the Planetary Society, said, "Falcon 9 nailed it!" -- there was a humbling reality: SpaceX managed to replicate a feat NASA's Mercury program first accomplished back in 1961. But today's NASA, searching for a clear mission and worried about its budget in a tough economy, badly needs for companies like SpaceX to succeed.

Falcon 9 Rocket Takes Off

If everything goes well, cargo ships like the Dragon will take the place of NASA's own ships in ferrying supplies to and from the International Space Station. Private enterprise, it's been argued, can do the job more cheaply and efficiently than government, with its layers of bureaucracy.


"If we overrun this program, we have to come up with the money through investment to cover the cost, which is dramatically different from contracts where if the contractor overruns, taxpayers have to pay the overruns," said SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell.

Falcon 9 Rocket Takes Off
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Contactless Debit Cards

Contactless Debit Cards - Contactless debit cards will make their formal debut in Canada next year with the launch of Interac Flash from Acxsys Corp.’s Interac Association, Canada’s national debit network. Interac’s first two Flash issuers are Scotiabank and RBC Royal Bank, which will roll out their first contactless cards next summer. The first acquirer is TD Merchant Services, a unit of Toronto-Dominion Bank. More issuers and acquirers are on the way, an Interac spokesperson tells Digital Transactions News, though no announcements have been made yet. Interac and the banks tested Flash this summer at some high-volume, small-ticket merchants in downtown Toronto. The spokesperson expects national merchants will be making formal announcements about acceptance. “There’s a lot of excitement in the merchant community,” she says. “Merchants are looking for that faster throughput.” In a statement, the Retail Council of Canada endorsed the new card. “Interac Flash is a welcome and needed ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Homes Losing Value Fastest

Homes Losing Value Fastest - Homeowners with Citigroup loans in foreclosure-rich Virginia Beach, Va., and Orlando, Fla., are in luck. The mortgage giant announced today that it will impose a moratorium on most foreclosures and modify $20 billion in mortgages to enable homeowners who are not behind on their loans, but in danger of falling behind, to avoid foreclosure. Those that don't fall under the plan? They're in hot water. Well, underwater. Virginia Beach homeowners who bought homes this year possess a paltry 5.2% of home equity, and 34.5% owe more on their property than it's worth, according to Zillow.com, a real estate research group. That's the worst rate in the country. Even in Orlando and Miami, two cities hammered by bad loans and home-equity dips, only 30% and 29% of homeowners are underwater, respectively. It's a similar story in El Centro, Calif., Bakersfield, Calif., and Cumberland, Md. What's certain to follow? Foreclosures. "Negative...
1 comment
Read more

'Ferris Bueller's Day Off' Home on the Market for $1.65M

'Ferris Bueller's Day Off' Home on the Market for $1.65M - "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" fans listen up! A home from the iconic '80's film is on the market for $1.65 million, reports the Huffington Post. Starring as the modern digs of character Cameron Frye in the movie, the glassy house is located in Highland Park, Illinois and has been on the market for a little over a year. More photos reveal the glass-wrapped home features floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking a spacious tree-filled lot, according to the listing on Realtor.com. 'Ferris Bueller's Day Off' Home on the Market for $1.65M With four bedrooms, three bathrooms and 5,300 square feet of living space, the home served as the setting for the oddball hijinks in the 1986 film. Architects A. James Speyer and David Haid designed the house, built in 1953, with a specialty glass-enclosed garage to store Ben Rose's collection of vintage cars, reported Luxist.com when the home or...
Post a Comment
Read more