Elon Musk: Our future in space depends on reusable rockets

The future of space travel will depend on our ability to make rockets that can be used more than once, says SpaceX CEO Elon Musk. And on Saturday, he gave a crowd at the South by Southwest Interactive festival the world's first look at a step in that direction.

Musk, whose SpaceX Dragon is currently docked on the International Space Station, showed a packed exhibit hall a two-day-old video of Grasshopper, an experimental rocket. If fully realized, the rocket would propel spacecraft out of the earth's atmosphere, then flip around, sprout landing gear and return intact to the launch pad.

In the video, a 10-story-high Grasshopper rocket did just that - except for the leaving-the-atmosphere part. It blasted off, hovered, and then set itself down at virtually the same spot where it began. The video, with its Johnny Cash "Ring of Fire" soundtrack, drew cheers from the crowd.

FULL STORY

Post by: CNN's Doug Gross
Filed under: In Space

soundoff (4 Responses)

edmond haskell

before I saw the check four $9152, I did not believe that my friend woz like actualy taking home money part time from there new laptop.. there best friend haz done this 4 less than 23 months and recently took care of the morgage on their home and bought a top of the range Porsche 911. this is where I went,,........... BIT40. ℂOℳ

March 14, 2013 at 5:04 am |
Nathan

In all honesty, this shouldn't even be a problem. We were able to send men to the moon in the late 1960's using tinfoil, tape, and Mylar. If we could do that back then, as some believe, then this should be no trouble at all.

March 11, 2013 at 11:59 am |
- Buck Rogers
  
  Now Nathan.... You might 'offend' those who believe we sent astros to the moon inside the 'three-foil-thick' Lunar Excursion Module, as well as the folks who put together the stop-motion film of the LEM/CM rendezvous... They did a good job pretending in the desert back then, so these guys at Space *Special FX* will do a good job faking it today....
  
  http://www.fountainsofthegreatdeep.com/IFS.htm
  
  March 13, 2013 at 3:34 pm |
Patrick

The United States future in space depends on the goodwill of other nations with an actual space program.

March 11, 2013 at 11:05 am |