America's first crewed spacecraft since the space shuttle did its job perfectly
were obvious. The first launch of an Apollo spacecraft with a crew took place in 1968, an election year in which the country was reeling from assassination and riot, at war abroad and divided at home. To some on both sides of that divide, the Apollo programme remained an inspiration, a revelation of what the nation could do if determined to.
America’s first crewed spacecraft since the space shuttle, which first flew in 1981 and was retired in 2011, had done its job perfectly. This coup for, America’s space agency, which President Donald Trump wants to see land people on the Moon by 2024, might in other circumstances have been much ballyhooed. The return to space could even have been a boost to the morale of a nation reeling from disease—had it not been for protests and violence 400km below bringing to mind other aspects of 1968.
The other, deeper, reason for excitement was that the Crew Dragon programme proved that human space flight can be far cheaper than’s previous record would lead you to expect. The Planetary Society, which lobbies for space exploration, reckons the Dragon costDragon is cheap largely because of the way it was procured. Previouspractice was to offer “cost plus” contracts for building rockets and spacecraft which met specific design requirements.
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