http://phys.org/news/2016-04-symposium-envisions-golden-age-space.html Symposium envisions golden age of space travel April 17, 2016 by Samantha Masunaga, Los Angeles Times Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! The SpaceX Dragon cargo craft is pictured just prior to being released by the International Space Station's Canadarm2 robotic arm on May 31 to allow it to head toward a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean. Credit: NASA A symposium on space this past week was abuzz with talk of a new golden age of space travel. Amazon.com CEO Jeff Bezos, who also heads private space firm Blue Origin, compared the advent of reusable rockets to the Internet and the national highway system, opening the door to an explosion of commercial space activity. Underlying the optimism is a new space race: to cut launch costs. Reusable rockets are just one part of it. Hawthorne-based SpaceX already offers launch vehicles at half the price of its competitors' rockets. Adding reusable rockets to the mix would step the challenge from SpaceX and other companies to longtime launch provider United Launch Alliance, a joint venture of aerospace giants Boeing. and Lockheed Martin. Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2016-04-symposium-envisions-golden-age-space.html#jCp
