This week, the future finally started

May 24 2012 Tags: Dragon, Falcon 9, Firefly, HackerNews, International Space Station, Space Shuttle, spacex

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Two days ago SpaceX launched a rocket. With it, hopefully, a new space age.

It’s taken us 70 years to go from “Hey neat, our V2 rocket can fly through space a bit” to having the first commercial space mission – if I understand correctly the Dragon capsule is delivering some stuff to the International Space Station.

Ever since I was a kid I have been watching science fiction promising all manner of stuff and watching the world of advanced science languishing at the point of Space Shuttles … then shutting down even that.

Finally! Something is happening again, I’m as excited as a little kid!

Sure, I can’t expect to become a space pirate, hop on a Firefly and smuggle some freight around the galaxy any time soon. But at least it’s something!

Firefly Serenity

After the billion dollar acquisition of a photo sharing iPhone app, I felt a bit disappointed. Congratz to those guys for changing the lives of many, but do we really want to encourage that sort of behaviour?

As I’ve said on HackerNews: “Definitely the best tech startup on the planet. Those of us doing “web stuff” can go hide in shame.”

The upvotes say many others agree too. And you have to keep in mind this is the next big web app thingy central. Where all us “entrepreneurs” gather and shoot the shit. If those guys agree “web stuff” is kind of lame, you know there’s something big going on here.

We have refined everything, commoditized every tiny bit of technology we could. It’s time for another big breakthrough – isn’t that what the beginnings of new centuries are for anyway?

I want something new and exciting to happen. The 19th century had its railroads. The 20th century had its airplanes (and to an extent cars). I want the 21st century to have rockets and space.

Wouldn’t it be awesome if within our lifetimes we could make regular trips to the orbit?

Now excuse me while I go work on “web stuff” so I’ll be able to afford the rent of that first Space Orbit Hotel that’s bound to spring up some time soon.