Current Event #3

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37509776/ns/technology_and_science-space

On Friday June 4th, the SpaceX corporation launched its first successful test flight of the Falcon 9 rocket, boosting a dragon capsule into low-earth orbit. SpaceX is a private corporation contracted by NASA to develop a low cost space vehicle to bring supplies to the International Space Station. This contract represents part of President Obama's new space policy to privatize part of the space program. NASA will continue to develop programs for deep space exploration and manned space flight with more "mundane" space supply services provided by private companies. SpaceX was founded by Elon Musk, the founder and former owner of PayPal. It's expected that the cost of a Falcon 9 mission will be considerably cheaper than the one billion dollars it costs to launch a space shuttle flight.

I think that this is an important turning point in the space program, but it has both advantages and disadvantages. The advantage so far seems to be that the companies involved so far are small and innovative. When big corporations are involved in what should clearly be public/government work, they sometimes put profit ahead of public policy and end up costing more. Also, small, private companies that are free of political patronage problems may be able to achieve specific goals more economically. On the other hand, space exploration is complicated and expensive. Having small, innovative companies with lots of bright thinkers may lead to some technological breakthroughs. However, space exploration remains expensive, difficult, and dangerous.