Space Posts

When the Perseverance rover landed on Mars in February 2021, mission controllers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory could only watch. The signal confirming landing arrived 11 minutes after the event—the time it took for light to travel from Mars to Earth. No intervention was possible; the rover had to land itself.

Every rocket that has ever carried humans to space has burned chemical propellants—hydrogen and oxygen, kerosene and oxygen, hydrazine, or other combinations. Chemical propulsion works. It provides the thrust needed to escape Earth's gravity and the reliability demanded by crewed missions.

On March 16, 1926, Robert Goddard launched the world's first liquid-fueled rocket from a farm in Auburn, Massachusetts. It flew for 2.5 seconds, reached an altitude of 41 feet, and landed 184 feet away in a cabbage patch. The New York Times had mocked Goddard years earlier for suggesting rockets could work in space, claiming he lacked "the knowledge ladled out daily in high schools."¹

In science fiction, interplanetary travel looks effortless. Crews wake from cryosleep as their ship enters orbit around a distant planet. Years pass in dreamless cold. They emerge refreshed, ready to explore.

Every kilogram of material in space was launched from Earth at enormous cost. The International Space Station, humanity's largest space structure, weighs about 420 metric tons—approximately $150 billion worth of launched mass at historical costs.¹ Every tool, every experiment, every spare part had to climb out of Earth's gravity well.