Of Course I Still Love You!

(featured image credit: SpaceX Instagram)

I’ll be on the Space Coast for the rest of the week covering the CRS7 Launch, set to go off this coming Sunday June 28, 10:21EDT*. Follow me on twitter for more regular updates. I can also always recommend watching the streaming feeds of the launch, which are available via SpaceX‘s official channel and NASA TV, respectively. In the right setup you can have your own mini-mission control; here’s one of mine from the past (an aborted launch May 19, 2012 according to my records):

This Sunday, SpaceX will not only be launching a resupply mission to the ISS, it will also be making the third, and–cross our LOX and RP1–successful attempt to land the first stage on the autonomous drone ship “Of Course I Still Love You”. ** Each previous attempt has been a little closer to success and I believe is to be celebrated. No other company is even trying such a feat, making rocket launching the metaphorical financial equivalent of stepping into a brand new 747 each time you fly. Elon Musk’s dream is reusability ushering in a new rocket age, where rocketry has more in common with commercial air travel than setting piles of cash on fire***.

I boldly predict the rocket will land on the barge, and survive to tell the story, this round. Stay Tuned!

*I got approved to see the launch in person by applying for social media accreditation via the NASA Social Program. I have a weekly reminder to “apply for something” on Sundays. It’s amazing what opportunities that little nudge has brought about. So: a reminder to apply for things.

**drone ship names are inspired by the AI Spaceships in Ian M. Banks’ Culture universe, if you want to start with one the novels in this series (you should read them all, of course) I can particularly recommend Excession; it’s not necessary to go chronologically through the series in the order they were written.

***I recently read Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future which I can highly recommend, not only as a portrait of Elon Musk but also as an account of the fascinating early days of Tesla and SpaceX.