Fly me to the moon
Let me play among the stars
A song that was written
Before cell phones and smart cars
They went to the moon
To see what was there
Though dangerous
They didn't care
From coast to coast
It has all been explored
Canyons and waterfalls
You’ll never get bored
Going to places
On roads unpaved
To see something new
People have craved
When there was nothing
More to be seen
They flew to the moon
In a rocket machine
But there are places
That I still need to see
So, flying to the moon
Is not for me
By, Randee Saber 4/27/2020
The stakes have never been higher for Elon Musk's SpaceX. This will mark the first time in history that a commercial aerospace company has carried humans into Earth's orbit. NASA and space fans have waited nearly a decade for this milestone.
The United States hasn't launched its own astronauts into space since the Space Shuttle program ended in 2011. Since then, NASA's astronauts have had to travel to Russia and train on the country's Soyuz spacecraft. Those seats have
cost NASA as much as $86 million each.
But the space agency chose not to create its own replacement for the Shuttle. Instead, it asked the private sector to develop a spacecraft capable of safely ferrying astronauts to and from the International Space Station — a
controversial decision considering that NASA had never before outsourced the development of a human-rated spacecraft. The thinking was that commercial companies could drive down costs and spur innovation, and NASA would have more time and resources to focus on exploring
deeper into the solar system.
In 2014, NASA awarded two contracts: $4.2 billion for Boeing to build its Starliner vehicle, and $2.6 billion to SpaceX, which planned to create a crew worthy version of the
Dragon spacecraft that was already flying cargo to and from the International Space Station. NASA had already put money toward SpaceX's development of the Dragon spacecraft used for transporting cargo. The space agency has said Boeing received more money because it was designing the Starliner from scratch.
Boeing recently suffered a
significant setback when a Starliner capsule malfunctioned during a key uncrewed test flight. But if SpaceX can carry out this mission, it'll be a major win for
NASA, which has been pushing for more commercial partnerships.
Not to mention, NASA won't have to ask Russia for rides anymore.
