When the last launch began in July, I watched the spectacle from the crest of the Atlantic wave. Six months ago, I moved to Cocoa Beach, drawn by the romance of a headless lifestyle. And although I can proudly say that I spent almost a year of my life in surfing, not everything turned out the way I had planned. The loss of the shuttle program seriously affected the labor market, and I had to return to my state of Pennsylvania for employment.
Cocoa Beach, if you are not familiar, is a town located south of Cape Canaveral and the Kennedy Space Center. Nearly all of the engineers who work at NASA live in Cocoa Beach, and their high-paying jobs are vital to the local economy. When it was announced that the program “Shuttle” was canceled, the community fell into a panic. In addition to the reliable salary of NASA engineers, Cocoa Beach’s economy is geared towards tourists. When the Shuttle program was still working, every year it attracted millions of tourists to the coast. Many people believed that the liquidation of the fleet would lead to the devastation of the city’s economy. And they were right.
At first, NASA faced extreme criticism for the departure of the Space Shuttle. The alarmists mourned that this move made America less competitive. These people referred to the fact that Cosmos provided a huge range of economic opportunities. He who possesses space will inevitably take possession of the planet. And China has allocated more and more resources to the research and development of spacecraft. But NASA objected, arguing that the shuttle was an impractical vehicle. Its design has remained relatively unchanged since the 1980s, and the agency believed that it could do better.
Therefore, it was decided that the American astronauts will travel to the International Space Station from China and Russia. NASA money saved from the Shuttle descents will instead go to different areas. One of these areas was dedicated to the development of a ship capable of long-term flights to Mars or an asteroid. The rest of the money was given to grants to independent commercial space companies.
It looks like 2012 is the year when these commercial space companies will finally start transporting customers to space. Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic, although not funded by NASA, plans to go to heaven in the coming months. Of course, the first commercial flights to the final border are not cheap. It is reported that only the very rich will have money for space adventures, since the places are usually listed around 200,000 dollars of pop music. Virgin claims that these prices will fall after the initial payment of the project. Other companies offer cheaper options, although the word “cheaper” is still quite expensive in this case. No company offers a bargain cheaper than the price of a luxury car.
In the meantime, NASA is keeping its promise and is using facilities at Kennedy to design the next phase of space exploration. Working with Boeing, scientists are working on the following method of transporting astronauts to the international space station and back. But the agency stated that it did not intend to remain in Earth orbit for a long time. The ultimate goal of the program is to study the outer regions of space. Mars and the asteroid belt are intended targets.
Boeing also uses the Kennedy Facility as a hub for its commercial ventures. Aerospace company has long recognized how technology transforms profits, and this new direction will definitely be successful. Things are looking for a cosmic coast. This winter in Pennsylvania is killing me. And I think my dreams of palm trees may be a sign that it's time to return to the south.
