Re:SpaceX returns to flight with Falcon 9 rocket launch
by _ph_ on Sunday January 15, 2017 @03:32AM
(#13403030)
Both of them are big deals. Landing on the Moon was a historic event, the first (and unfortuately one of the few) time a human being stepped onto something that is not the earth. That is a one-time historic landmark to be listed in history books from now on.
Landing rocket boosters is a very big deal in practical terms as this should reduce the cost of going to space to a point where it becomes more accessible. The shuttle was an attempt to achieve the same, but while being a technological marvel, it failed to reduce costs (quite the contrary) and was abandoned. Everyone else so far at best managed to keep the cost of one-time use rockets low, but SpaceX should have a break-through there, and that is why this matters so much.
Landing rocket boosters is a very big deal in practical terms as this should reduce the cost of going to space to a point where it becomes more accessible. The shuttle was an attempt to achieve the same, but while being a technological marvel, it failed to reduce costs (quite the contrary) and was abandoned. Everyone else so far at best managed to keep the cost of one-time use rockets low, but SpaceX should have a break-through there, and that is why this matters so much.