Elon Musk had called Tuesday's launch of SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket the "most difficult" yet. So the fact that the rocket made it into space — even if one of its core boosters did end up crashing into the sea — is "a huge deal," according to the former NASA astronaut Leroy Chiao.
Chiao has flown on three Space Shuttle flights, and lived aboard the International Space Station for several months as the commander of the 10th-ever expedition to the habitable satellite.
He adds that SpaceX's mostly successful launch is a promising sign to government agencies — including the Air Force, the Defense Department, and NASA — that commercial, reusable space rockets could make travel beyond earth easier.
"It showed a very high level of sophistication," Chiao told Cheddar. "It all seems to have gone off without a hitch. And so this demonstrates to the Air Force that SpaceX is up to this kind of sophistication and that they're ready, hopefully, to launch more sophisticated and expensive Air Force payloads in the future."
In the early morning hours on Tuesday, the vehicle ascended from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, beginning its third trip since 2018. After takeoff, the rocket's two side-boosters — which the rocket uses to propel its launch — successfully returned to the ground, landing vertically at the Air Force station on Cape Canaveral.
Leroy said the rocket's greatest challenge was launching myriad spacecraft, including 24 satellites, a new, solar-powered space 'sail,' and NASA's Deep Space Atomic Clock — a tool that should help future vehicles navigate farther into space — to three different orbits. That task required reigniting and shutting off its upper stage, a smaller portion of the rocket that is meant to position payloads into the orbit, several times.
While the rocket's center booster didn't land quite so perfectly (missing its intended target and dramatically crashing into the sea), Falcon Heavy did manage to deploy its payload, an important victory for future flights.
In addition to its spacecraft, the flight also carried the ashes of 152 people.
The former astronaut explained that successfully landing side-boosters has become "more and more routine."
As for the Falcon Heavy's central booster, he says: "It was coming in so hot because of the trajectory of the launch, it looks like it didn't have enough control-authority and fuel to make a successful landing."
The launch marked the first time the Defense Department has deployed its hardware on a rocket that had been launched previously, the New York Times reported.
Falcon Heavy's third ascent also comes amid vigorous competition in the burgeoning commercial space industry, where SpaceX faces tough foes in both Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic.
Meanwhile, government agencies have increasingly looked to private companies to assist in their ventures into space. For instance, the Defense Department's research arm, DARPA, has begun a competition among space launch firms, including Vector Launch and Virgin Orbit, to make the process of delivering small payloads like satellites more flexible.
"It's a natural progression," said Chiao. "This is the next step. NASA never wanted to be the only customer for these services, and so it's natural that NASA would step up and provide a destination for some of these activities, be it research, tourism, or something else."
But spending time in space? That will still require some adjustment.
"You can't go home when you want to go home. You're going to be there for the time of your planned journey," said Chiao. "It can be frustrating at times, but it's definitely worth it."
After two decades of engineering, over $10 billion, and a series of delays, the most powerful telescope built by NASA is finally scheduled to launch on Saturday. The James Webb Space Telescope was built to provide a fresh look at the universe by detecting light that is invisible to the human eye and to reveal new information about the universe's oldest stars and galaxies. Lou Strolger, observatory scientist and deputy head of instruments division, space telescope, joins Cheddar News.
Carlo and Baker kick off the weirdest week of the year with all the news you missed over the holiday weekend, including calls for the CDC to shorten its isolation window as Omicron sweeps through the country.
The 2022 Winter Olympics will be without some of hockey's biggest players. The NHL and the NHL Player's Association have agreed to not participate in the men's hockey tournament at the Games in Beijing next year. The league has been forced to postpone some games because of a rise in COVID-19 cases among players. Washington Post sports reporter Samantha Pell joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss what this could mean for the Winter Olympics and the sport of hockey.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has opened a formal investigation into Tesla. The agency is looking into about 580,000 Tesla vehicles, and a feature called 'Passenger Play' which allows drivers to play video games on the center touch screen. The feature previously only worked when a vehicle was in park; but, the NHTSA says it has confirmed that the feature has been available while vehicles are in motion since December of 2020. iSeeCars.com executive analyst Karl Brauer joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Baron Davis and Kate Hudson want you to bring cannabis home for the holidays. The cannabis-infused seltzer brand Cann released a new spot featuring the actress and former NBA player. The campaign comes hand in hand with Cann's launch of a new holiday bundle, which includes its product with Hudson's King Street Vodka. Davis and Hudson are also Cann investors. Cheddar cannabis reporter Chloe Aiello spoke to Davis about his involvement with the company and its new campaign.
Healthcare workforce management platform ShiftMed
recently announced a $45 million funding round.
The company's platform connects nurses and healthcare professionals to hospitals and other healthcare providers.
ShiftMed's new funding comes amid widespread labor shortages in the healthcare sector. The company's CEO Todd Walrath joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Universities like UCLA, Yale, and Duke have announced they're implementing remote learning amid the COVID omicron variant surge, despite President Biden recommending that K-12 schools should continue in-person education. Jared C. Bass, senior director for Higher Education at American Progress, joined Cheddar to break down what institutions of higher education might be considering differently. "I think some universities are allowing periods of a bit of a respite to allow students to get testing and make sure when they do return back to campus that they're healthy," he noted.
Supply chain issues have become one of the biggest roadblocks for the U.S. EV market, with production woes likely to stunt the industry's growth in 2022. Rich Steinberg, electric vehicle expert and industry advisor, told Cheddar that the Biden administration investing in domestic mining for essential minerals used in battery manufacturing — such as lithium — could help alleviate the bottlenecks. "Some of those same materials are available domestically, they just haven't been prioritized," he said, noting the paradox between green tech and "dirty" mining. "The good news is that there are ways to extract those materials cleanly."
Hyperfine, the pioneer of the very first FDA-approved portable MRI device, made its public debut on the Nasdaq via a SPAC merger. CEO Dave Scott joined Cheddar's "Opening Bell" to discuss the IPO launch, the company's valuation at $580 million, and the impact of its machine called Swoop. "We can roll an MRI system, our MRI Swoop system, right into the room where you are, right up to your patient bedside, and scan you right there and get an image in less than an hour," he explained.
Dr. Rob Davidson, Executive Director of the Committee to Protect Health Care and an ER Physician in West Michigan, joins Cheddar News to break down the expectations of Pfizer's new COVID-19 treatment pill.
