Rocket History: Up, up and away,,,finally

Well, the United States made history again, today.  The private company SpaceX launched the first private cargo ship headed to the International Space Station.  It was touch and go due to a three day delay.  Three days ago the flight was scrubbed at the last second due to an engine problem.  I guess it is better to be safe than sorry when you are spending millions developing and testing a rocket that, for the time being, replaces the space shuttles that are now sitting in museums.

Since the space shuttle flights ended, the US has been dependant upon the Russians for transporting supplies to the ISS.  I am sure that our government was none too happy depending on the Russians for this service.

I believe that private enterprise is probably the best way to go with many of the space flights to the ISS.  It seems that we spend a great deal more of our tax dollars doing this activity ourselves.  Many times private enterprise can provide services at a lower rate than our government can.

Perhaps we should let private industry sort and deliver our mail.  I am willing to bet that they could do it a lot cheaper than it is being done right now.  They would not put up with losing billions to provide this service.

Well, that is to be seen.  For the time being we look toward Florida for two historic events.  The first was the first private rocket shot to the ISS.  The second was the woman in Boca Raton who found $1800 at a Chase ATM and turned it in.  Both are amazing and worthy of noting. 

Michael Kaynard is a local photographer who lives in West Ashley.  His photos can be found at http://kaynardphotography.webs.com.  He can be contacted at mkaynard@gmail.com and 843-412-2299.