I’m not sure how many of you out there follow science and space news, but if you’re not watching the news coming from SpaceX, you’re really missing out.

Now, I’m not a big fan of their imperious leader (Elon Musk), but his pocketbook is bankrolling this whole operation, so for that (at least), I give him props.  He throws money at these far-flung space projects like he’s trying to win a bet with someone (maybe Mark Zuckerburg).

For those of us of a certain age, NASA was the king of all things space-related back in the 70’s and 80’s.  I can still recall the later moon missions (even though the public weirdly grew tired of them), the space shuttle era and the Viking interplanetary missions (and beyond).  In the 2000’s, there were the Mars Rover trips and even the Hubble and James Webb telescope launches.  The images coming back from these voyages continue to amaze even a layman like myself.

However, government being government, the pace of new projects from NASA has slowed to a crawl (due to budget constraints and other bureaucratic red-tape).

Then suddenly, as if almost out of nowhere, SpaceX was created.  Funded by billions of private dollars, they continue to “wow” us with rocket technology, spectacular launches (and landings), and more and more stuff that appears as if it is being lifted straight out of a science fiction novel.

Their latest “test” mission (last week) featured the launch of a Starship rocket, and this time, the first stage returned to the launch pad and was actually “caught” by the launch tower.  The footage is so amazing it almost looks AI generated.  You should look it up on YouTube if you haven’t seen it yet.  It’s a marvel of engineering – and its just the beginning of the advancements SpaceX has planned for future missions. 

The most amazing thing to me is looking at all of the techs and scientists who cheer these projects on from the ground.  Look at them closely.  They are a brilliant collection of twenty and thirty-somethings, all focused on such lofty goals as getting us back to the moon, landing a manned mission on Mars, and other amazing objectives such as making humans an interplanetary species.

The way things are progressing, we may see humans back on the moon or even stepping foot on the surface of Mars, all in my lifetime.

The pace of their achievements is mind-boggling, and it makes the old adage “if you can dream it, you can do it” seem more and more plausible.

Even if you’re not a science nerd, it’s hard not to marvel at what’s happening in the realm of space exploration, and if you want to see history being made on a regular basis, then keep an eye on SpaceX in the years to come.