NASA’s launches always have been as well, but in a different way. This was more of a popular culture event. Let’s hope we see a lot more of them.
4 thoughts on “A Rocket Launch”
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NASA’s launches always have been as well, but in a different way. This was more of a popular culture event. Let’s hope we see a lot more of them.
Comments are closed.
SpaceX will not be the only private space company to realize they can market the excitement of a launch.
ULA is already catching onto this as we can see from all the hype for their last launch.
The problem of making launches a cultural event are the odd hours and the cancelations. Its hard to generate mass appeal with these constraints.
Its good that people are excited for new things happening but it will be nice when launching and landing rockets is mundane. Not many people sit around and watch airports, train stations, bus terminals, or the loading dock at your local UPS depot.
Of course, watching a launch in person is probably much more exciting. Maybe someone will open up a bed and breakfast in Brownsville to cater to this market.
And if you tuned into SpaceX’s online live feed Monday night, you would have seen something else unprecedented.
Nice article, but the author must have never seen the COTS2 webcast from 2012.
The first space launch (attempt) I remember watching on television was Vanguard 1. I remember it settling back on the pad and exploding, to my parents’ dismay. I also remember vividly the audio of the landing of Apollo 11 on the moon. I was 15 at the time.
I watched the landing of the Falcon 9 first stage, and it was as thrilling to me as the landing of Apollo 11. And that is saying a lot, as anyone who knows me can attest. This was the most amazing space transportation feat in 45 years. Anyone as connected to the technical difficulty of it as I am can verify that. It was amazing, and it was historic. I cannot say enough great things about Elon and his crew. That was a day we should forever commemorate.
I have watched the video of the landing several times now, just to see the reaction of those SpaceX employees. I think every Spacex employee who wasn’t at the launch site was crowded around the glass around mission control. They had the sound of the launch playing into the building, which means they also had the sound of the landing. The sound of the landing was drowned out by cheering.