NASA VS SPACE X
To boldly go where no man has gone before is no small feat, given that since the development of space travel, only 3 countries have launched a human into space.The first was Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagari, who orbited the earth in the russian made Vostok 1 spacecraft on april12th 1961. Just a few weeks later, the US launched their first human into space, Alan Shepard, aboard the Freedom 7. It was in 2007 when china launched its first man into space, when the Shenzou 5 spacecraft successfully took astronaut Yang Liwei on a 21- hour mission to space and back. With revitalised space programs and private sector space aspirations, developments over the next few years might just make space travel great again. So, lets compare a veteran space program with a relatively new kid in the neighbourhood- Space X.
Starting with a brief history of each program, NASA was created in 1958 when General Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the National Aeronautics and Space Act. According to the act, NASA's space exploration would forever be "Devoted to peaceful purposes for the benefit of mankind". It was in July 20,1969, that NASA iconized space travel when it launched the Apollo 11 into space and made its first successful moon landing.
Space X, created by Tech wizard Elon Musk, was founded on May 6, 2002. His mission is to eventually colonise Mars, having stated that on numerous occasions that it is inevitable to prevent human extinction on earth. Space X is a long way from reaching its goal and while it hasn't launched any living beings into space, they intend to do so in the second quarter of this year. He also stated that Space X would complete a manned mission to Mars by 2024. Also he stated that his company's Interplanetary Transport System would be able to transport a million people to the Mars colony in 50 years.
From both agency's ambitions, a question rises whether they are competitors. In some ways, they are.
NASA is a Government agency while Space X is a private entity. The media describes this as the first "Public-Private Space Race". This was coined when Space X announced they would be taking people around the moon this year. Although NASA plans to take space tourists, they would only do so in 2019.
The question that comes to our minds now is Who has the most funding and who has the more advanced technology to make it happen. Space X raised over $1Billion in funding in 2015 with 11 major investors. Elon Musk himself is worth over $17 Billion. How does Space X make money while piling it all into development and the millions it costs to launch? The answer is sending commercial satellites into space, with investor analysis media - Motley Fool claiming Space X charges $62 million per launch. They charge the US govt. $20million every time they send supplies to the ISS or launches satellites for the NOAA. They launched 41 times in July 2017 alone. NASA faced a time of underfunding for a while. The former president Barack Obama raised the budget by $500million bringing the budget to $19 billion, spurring them to make a journey to Mars. NASA's biggest recent success was the 2011 launch of its planetary rover and the current work it does on Mars. Named the Curiosity, it is 5 times larger than all the other previous rovers sent to Mars.
Lets take a look at recent developments and an inventory of rocket stock.
Space-X's greatest creation so far is its Falcon Heavy large payload rocket which was launched last year. They also have a free-flying spacecraft called "Dragon", which was the first commercial spacecraft ever launched by a company. The Dragon can be carried on the Falcon rocket, or on the space-X's other rocket Falcon-9.
NASA's space probe Voyager reached the outer planets of Jupiter and Saturn, and its still navigating in outer space even after 39 years. Voyager 2 was launched soon after and was the first spacecraft to pass by Neptune and Uranus. They also have a space probe Juno orbiting Jupiter. Also, the New Horizon's space probe did a fly-by of the Pluto system, travelling at over 36000miles an hour. NASA's current biggest development is the Orion launch, said to launch 4 astronauts beyond the moon.
Starting with a brief history of each program, NASA was created in 1958 when General Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the National Aeronautics and Space Act. According to the act, NASA's space exploration would forever be "Devoted to peaceful purposes for the benefit of mankind". It was in July 20,1969, that NASA iconized space travel when it launched the Apollo 11 into space and made its first successful moon landing.
Space X, created by Tech wizard Elon Musk, was founded on May 6, 2002. His mission is to eventually colonise Mars, having stated that on numerous occasions that it is inevitable to prevent human extinction on earth. Space X is a long way from reaching its goal and while it hasn't launched any living beings into space, they intend to do so in the second quarter of this year. He also stated that Space X would complete a manned mission to Mars by 2024. Also he stated that his company's Interplanetary Transport System would be able to transport a million people to the Mars colony in 50 years.
From both agency's ambitions, a question rises whether they are competitors. In some ways, they are.
NASA is a Government agency while Space X is a private entity. The media describes this as the first "Public-Private Space Race". This was coined when Space X announced they would be taking people around the moon this year. Although NASA plans to take space tourists, they would only do so in 2019.
The question that comes to our minds now is Who has the most funding and who has the more advanced technology to make it happen. Space X raised over $1Billion in funding in 2015 with 11 major investors. Elon Musk himself is worth over $17 Billion. How does Space X make money while piling it all into development and the millions it costs to launch? The answer is sending commercial satellites into space, with investor analysis media - Motley Fool claiming Space X charges $62 million per launch. They charge the US govt. $20million every time they send supplies to the ISS or launches satellites for the NOAA. They launched 41 times in July 2017 alone. NASA faced a time of underfunding for a while. The former president Barack Obama raised the budget by $500million bringing the budget to $19 billion, spurring them to make a journey to Mars. NASA's biggest recent success was the 2011 launch of its planetary rover and the current work it does on Mars. Named the Curiosity, it is 5 times larger than all the other previous rovers sent to Mars.
Lets take a look at recent developments and an inventory of rocket stock.
Space-X's greatest creation so far is its Falcon Heavy large payload rocket which was launched last year. They also have a free-flying spacecraft called "Dragon", which was the first commercial spacecraft ever launched by a company. The Dragon can be carried on the Falcon rocket, or on the space-X's other rocket Falcon-9.
NASA's space probe Voyager reached the outer planets of Jupiter and Saturn, and its still navigating in outer space even after 39 years. Voyager 2 was launched soon after and was the first spacecraft to pass by Neptune and Uranus. They also have a space probe Juno orbiting Jupiter. Also, the New Horizon's space probe did a fly-by of the Pluto system, travelling at over 36000miles an hour. NASA's current biggest development is the Orion launch, said to launch 4 astronauts beyond the moon.
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