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Flight Of Stairs In Perspective View Stock Photo, Picture And ...

What was the significance of the Space-X flight, now concluded?

By way of clearing away of side-issue: I'm not an admirer of Elon Musk. He is the epitome of the faux-entrepreneur who makes his money on connections rather than real savvy or productivity. He has sometimes seemed like Donald Trump, but with a high-tech gloss (I mean of course the Trump of casinos and a television show, before his descent into politics, where his role has been something far worse.)

But Musk aside: what is the significance of Space-X?

My answer: it marks a stage in the privatization of space travel. We have passed the 'hero stage' of astronauts. Much of what they do -- replacing old satellites with new ones, running experiments where zero-grav is important -- has become a more-or-less routine matter. Yes, the science of those experiments can be cutting edge, but the heroes stay on the ground. The astronauts are important for laboratory maintenance. Or, sometimes, their bodies ARE the experiment, and they are lab mice.

As space flight becomes routine, it will be privatized. The stuff the governments of the world will want to keep to themselves are and will be the high-prestige stuff. The 'final frontier' stuff. The governments will want to put their various national flags on Mars, and they'll want to keep Musk at an arm's length from that.

The moon?Ah, when the moon is reached again, operations like Space-X will reach it.

And what is that image at the top of the page?

That's the famous "stairway to heaven," of course.

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