Episode 90: A New Era of Human Spaceflight

Peter and Dan discuss the recent launch and recovery of the SpaceX Crew Dragon, which carried humans in a commercially built spacecraft to and from the International Space Station. NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley splashed down on August 2, 2020 making it the first water landing since 1975. In this episode: Peter gives a quick history of the U.S. and Soviet Union space race, spanning the launch of Sputnik in 1957 to the recent 2020 launch of the SpaceX Crew Dragon. Peter breaks down the cost of a rocket launch and explains how SpaceX brought this cost down 10X by making the rockets reusable.  Dan and Peter discuss why the next 10-20 years will be the era in human history wherein humans move irreversibly off planet Earth and into space.