Space Exploration Plans

An online website dedicated to science innovations and news, Wired Science, was the source used to obtain the following article discussed. "The Year's Most Audacious Private Space Exploration Plans," an article written by Adam Mann, discusses and summarizes all of the accomplishments and successes of private space companies in the past year. One of the arguments he poses is that recent success in private space industry is due to the lack of new research and lack of funding for NASA. It gives the private companies an incentive to do the things NASA isn't. The author specifically discusses many different private and commercial space companies and each of their particular accomplishments and innovations.

The author claims that one of the most important factors contributing to the success of all these companies is due to the success one particular company, SpaceX. SpaceX is the forerunner in the private space industry and this year, the company conducted two successful launches to the International Space Station using their transport vehicle, the Falcon 9. One of these missions was one where there was carried cargo, which leads the way for SpaceX to conduct manned flights in the near future. Another company discussed is the Golden Spike Company, whose main effort is to send people back to the moon by the year 2020. Their main customer will be governments with smaller space programs looking to gain some prestige in the space field. Asteroid mining is another topic the author discusses and uses the company Planetary Resources Inc. as a reference. Planetary Resources Inc. revealed their plans for asteroid mining this past year with hopes to extract water and precious materials, such as platinum. There is still much legal action that is pending the company's efforts. With Mars exploration a big issue on everyone's mind, a fairly new company called Mars One addresses this issue by planning to land 4 crew members on Mars by the year 2023. Their intent is for the crew to live up there and potentially produce a reality TV show following them in order to regain initial investment money. This is one of the most radical of all the private space company endeavors.

Overall, there was great success for private space companies in the year 2012. Many companies did something great or established a plan to accomplish something great here in the future. Some of these plans seem unrealistic and radical, and some seem very realistic and useful. However, the fact that there are so many private space companies with such high ambition excites me. This year was tremendous for the private space industry and the future looks bright.