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SpaceX successfully launched, deorbited and recovered their Dragon 9 spacecraft yesterday.

Pretty cool that a private company is getting in on the action. The first manned test of the system is going to be historic; that’s for sure.

Still feel like NASA should do the heavy lifting (pun intended) and lead the way, though. Had a conversation with David about it last weekend. With all the insecurity over American students’ aptitude in science and math and hand-wringing over the possibility that this generation will grow up less educated and less prepare to compete in the global economy than the previous, why shoot ourselves in the foot by axing one of the most inspirational creators of a desire to study science and math, namely, NASA’s manned space exploration efforts. How exactly does a “focus on low-Earth-orbit and private spaceflight ventures” dazzle students, capture their imagination and make them want to be astronauts and engineers? It doesn’t, and the loss of that perception of being the vanguard, both domestically and abroad, could have more far-reaching effects than some foresee.

I’ve been halfway back on the astronomy / space exploration kick lately. After stargazing at the beach, and with the recent string of clear nights here, I’ve had to give myself a refresher in constellations (the H. A. Rey diagrams being the only ones acceptable, natch). There were too many regions of the sky I couldn’t “connect the dots” to resemble something I knew. It was distressing, a bit like staring at a picture of a friend and just not being able to remember their name, but having it on the “tip of your brain” the whole time. I’m very eager to have a house with a yard I can pull the telescope out into. It’s been in storage for the past couple of years. Who knows, maybe eventually I’ll get a motorized mount and some photography gear. Then we’ll really be in business.

Regarding the cancellation of the Constellation program, I’m bummed, obviously, and slightly confused to boot. We’re actively surrendering our lead in space exploration to developing nations and stand to lose a great deal of prestige as a country. We’re axing programs that could jump start development of a lot of new technology. And on an emotional note, we’re just losing the vision that made kids (and grownups) excited about exploration, the new, the unknown, the adventure. Sure, it’s expensive, and I know not everyone will go with me, but like the library, the space program is an organization that requires pooled resources, and it’s one I would consider supporting with my tax money. I don’t have any objections to my money going there.

And that kind of touches on what has me a little confused, namely, the President’s redirection of NASA’s resources and focus away from Constellation toward supporting LEO missions and privately-funded, commercial space launch technology. The more “market-based” approach favored by the administration seems to fly in the face of their definite preference for central control and bureaucracy. You’d think they would be in favor of a stronger, more dictatorial NASA, to the detriment of private space ventures, but they’re not. That said, it bears mentioning that there are tenuous parallels between the more decentralized approach favored by the President and the Soviet space program. The Soviet Union’s regime gave it the will to mobilize vast amounts of national resources; it promoted competition between various design firms in hopes a better design would emerge, but failed to realize the amount of focus needed for a moon shot, focus the central command structure of NASA gave the American space program. So I suppose if there’s one thing we can anticipate from Constellation’s demise, it’s a lack of direction in the years to come, direction which is badly needed to maintain our exploratory lead.

1. Listened to Pauline Croze‘s “Quand Je Suis Ivre” a few minutes ago, and was freshly struck with how poetic the concept of drunkenness is in French, as opposed to English, something obviously tied to the loveliness of the word itself—contrast ivre with drunk. Pronounced correctly, the French word just slides off the tongue in a tumble of decadent grace… And the English word crashes through my teeth in a crumpled heap.

   The word and concept reappear in Rufus Wainwright’s “Complainte de la Butte:”

   et sous ta caresse
   je sens une ivresse
   qui m’anéantit

   Clearly, it’s much more artistic to be drunk in France than in the English-speaking world.

2. The Ares I-X launch occurred a couple of days ago. From all accounts I’ve read it was completely successful. It’s the first launch of the next phase of the US space program, the sequel to the ill-conceived Shuttle. I’m pleased and hopeful the next steps will go well and see us on our way back to the Moon, and beyond.