Maybe there’s still hope?
A SpaceX rocket is expected to launch this evening from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, with a crew of two Americans aboard — the first manned rocket to launch from US soil since 2011. If all goes well, the SpaceX capsule will dock with the International Space Station, presumably with a supply of Lysol.
This first launch of Americans in a private, non-government spacecraft is scheduled for 4:32pm EDT on May 27 — a milestone of sorts for both NASA and commercial spaceflight.
The NASA space shuttle program ended almost a decade ago, following a couple of nasty accidents, and since then, American scientists headed for the 20-year-old Space Station have relied on Russian spaceships. With today’s potential SpaceX launch, NASA astronauts will be hitching their first ride on Elon Musk’s space taxi service. Sort of like, “Uber for Astronauts.”
Unfortunately, all the Americans who used to know how to fly spaceships moved on to other careers ten years ago, after it became obvious that the Russians would have a corner on the ‘rocketman’ market for a while. In order to find a pilot willing to fly the SpaceX capsule, NASA had to lure a former test pilot named Douglas Hurley out of retirement. Colonel Hurley — who is now 53 years old — began training as an astronaut in 2000, back when rockets still had steering wheels and AM radios. He piloted two Space Shuttle flights before retiring. (NOTE: These were not the flights that had the nasty accidents.)
His co-pilot will be Bob Behnken, age 49.
Because of the COVID pandemic, NASA is encouraging people to watch the liftoff from home, on a sanitized device, rather than gathering on nearby Florida beaches with their binoculars and iPhones. Whether Florida residents are willing to listen to those recommendations remains to be seen. Americans haven’t had a chance to watch a manned liftoff from a sun-drenched Florida beach since Colonel Hurley was a young man of 45.
My point here is, maybe there’s still hope.
I’m a few years older than Colonel Hurley, and I certainly can’t claim to be a test pilot with over 5,500 hours logged in more than 25 different aircraft. But I do have a clean driving record. I haven’t been involved in a traffic accident since 1979 (except for that minor fender bender on Lewis Street a few years ago, that never got reported.) I’m not asking to be the pilot, you understand — I would happily settle for co-pilot. Now that rocket steering wheels have been replaced by ‘touch screens’ — with which I have considerable experience, by the way — I could be very handy posting commentary on Twitter as we hone in on the International Space Station.
“We can sort of see the Space Station… there’s a bit of a glare on the window, but it looks like it’s about 1,000 meters off to the starboard. Wish I had brought some sunglasses…”
“Coming up on the docking port, maybe just a bit too fast? The guy looking out the Space Station window has a worried look on his face…”
“Darn. Missed that first attempt… will have to take another run at it. Hope no one notices the little ding in the heat shield.”
But of course, in my dreams, this would merely be a stepping stone, on the way to Mars.
Yes, I realize the US is probably slipping into a recession, and markets are melting down, but both Elon Musk and I have been cultivating a major fantasy: visiting Mars before we die. Elon expressed his feelings about that in March, at the Satellite 2020 Conference.
“If we don’t improve our pace of progress, I’m definitely going to be dead before we go to Mars,” he said. “If it’s taken us 18 years just to get ready to do the first people to orbit, we’ve got to improve our rate of innovation or, based on past trends, I am definitely going to be dead before Mars.”
In that sense, he and I — being dead, before walking on Martian soil — would then be in the same boat as the 100,000 Americans who have succumbed to the coronavirus infection this year. How many of those unfortunate souls were hoping to make it to Mars? I have no idea. Probably a good number of them would have been satisfied just to make it to the Space Station. But now it’s too late, for them.
And with billions of taxpayer dollars going towards PPE and corporate bailouts, we’re probably getting further and further behind.
So… yes, I would gladly settle for a trip to the Space Station.
Heck, I would probably settle for a view of today’s liftoff from a sunny Florida beach.
Underrated writer Louis Cannon grew up in the vast American West, although his ex-wife, given the slightest opportunity, will deny that he ever grew up at all.