- We now have commercial
rockets that can return
after blasting off into space.
So, what's the big deal?
(upbeat electronic music)
In November 2015, Blue Origin,
a company owned by Amazon's Jeff Bezos,
released a video showing a launched rocket
returning to the surface
and landing upright.
In December, Elon Musk's
SpaceX showed a similar video
of a Falcon 9 making a
successful return landing
after launch.
The two rockets are very different.
Blue Origin's launch system
is called New Shepard
and it's meant to push spacecraft
into suborbital altitudes
meaning it doesn't enter
orbit around the Earth.
The Falcon 9 rocket has two
stages and will send spacecraft
into orbit.
The first stage is what returns to Earth.
It travels to an altitude
of about 124 miles,
which is twice that of New Shepard,
before returning.
The first stage is reusable,
while the second stage isn't.
So, you'll take New Shepard if you want
to get a glimpse of space,
and experience a little micro-gravity,
but you'll use a Falcon
9 to send satellites,
supplies, and crew into orbit.
But why try to land the rockets at all?
The main reason is money.
Let's say you buy a brand new car
and you go on a vacation with the family.
You drive across-country
to Wali-world, or whatever.
But, instead of driving the car back,
you abandon it and take a flight home.
That ends up being a
pretty expense road trip.
So it is with space.
If you look at the Saturn
V rocket used for Apollo 4,
the rocket itself cost
$135 million in 1967.
Adjusted for inflation,
that's more than $959 million
in today's cash.
Now, not all rockets are as
expensive as the Saturn V
would be with today's price tag.
But, the point remains,
that getting to space
is monstrously expensive.
Reusable launch vehicles could
help make a significant cut
in that cost.
So, remember, returning
a launch system to Earth,
and landing it safely, isn't
just an impressive feat
of engineering, it's also
financially responsible.
That's all the space news
I have for you right now.
Remember to go to now.howstuffworks.com
everyday for new stories
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and other stuff of importance,
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