I just watched the live webcast of SpaceX's launch of it's Dragon space capsule. It successfully separated from the Falcon 9 rocket and is currently orbiting the Earth. Later today, it'll re-enter the atmosphere and be recovered. If successful, SpaceX will be the first private company to pull off that feat. And there will be live video of that process, too, apparently. Keep an eye on the SpaceX Twitter for updates.
Highlights of the morning:
•Hearing mission control radio sounds coming out of my headphones when I came back from the kitchen.
•The beautiful curve of the Earth.
•The group that came on after the successful launch to talk about what was next. It included, in no particular order: One normal-looking business woman, one engineerish guy, and what appeared to be a vice cop from 1970s TV. I missed the opening of the video, and I haven't been able to figure out who these folks are yet. But I really, really hope the third guy is a scientist of some sort.
UPDATE: The vice cop is, in fact, rocket scientist Kevin Brogan. I am now convinced that Brogan needs to tour America's schools proving, simply by the power of his mustache, that science is a most excellent career for groovy people. Thanks, Lee Billings!
