The SpaceX rocket launched a new era in space travel last week when it became the first official commercial space flight to travel to the International Space Station.

The unmanned SpaceX shuttle was launched from Cape Canaveral, Fla., carrying 1,000 pounds of cargo, including food, clothing and materials for astronauts’ experiments involving plants and microgravity, CNN reported on Oct. 8.

The capsule completed the first half of its mission when it reached the ISS. It is scheduled to return at the end of October with 2,000 pounds of cargo, including scientific experiments and failed equipment from the ISS, CNN reported.

Last week’s launch was the first official flight, but a test run without cargo was completed five months earlier to ensure the mission would be successful, CNN reported.

Achille Messac, department chair for mechanical and aerospace engineering, said in an email that commercializing space flight is a huge development for the industry.

“This is a truly exciting time for a new generation of aerospace engineers,” he said. “Things are much more fluid in the commercial sector. Much more is possible.”

The new commercial vehicles will be cheaper, reusable and more reliable, Messac said.

There will also be a new launch escape system that will allow the crew to eject from the spacecraft all the way until orbit, he said.

Although NASA has given companies major contracts to develop commercial flight, NASA and the government will still play a significant role in space travel, Messac said.

“The thinking is that low-earth-orbit transport can generate interest in space tourism, as well as in scientific and commercial endeavors — and generate revenue to sustain it as an industry,” Messac said. “Deep space flight, on the other hand, will still need the government to keep it going.”

The SpaceX mission was only the first of a dozen NASA-contracted missions costing a total of $1.6 billion. In addition to SpaceX, Boeing and Sierra Nevada have contracts for later missions, CNN reported.

Stefan Ballmer, assistant professor of physics, said commercializing space flights is a step in the right direction, as the aerospace industry has always been better suited to build aircrafts of this kind.

In the past, NASA’s primary role was exploration. Now that the industry has been commercialized, NASA is able to narrow its focus. It can now prioritize exploration, as seen in its recent launch of the rover Curiosity to explore Mars, Ballmer said.

Cathryn Newton, professor and dean emerita of earth sciences, said commercializing space flight was a logical progression.

“I think the promise of the space program from its very inception was to evolve one day into an ability for commerce to take place, as well as for exploration to take place,” she said.

Newton compared space flights to the exploration of the maritime world and the poles. She said both of these came with the hope that exploration would benefit commerce, which would in turn benefit the research and exploration that accompanies development.

It is too early to tell whether involving industry in space flight will be beneficial, she said, but NASA must have thought through potential problems and conflicts that might arise.

Said Newton: “I think it complicates things in a way that has been anticipated for NASA since its very inception, that when this would take place, its very mission would be inherently more complex.”

Published on October 16, 2012 at 12:00 am

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