Ad Astra
By Josh Hanes (Space Boy)
SpaceX's world-changing...space chopsticks 🥢 🚀 ! The largest rocket booster ever built in history was just caught out of mid-air with metal chopsticks. This was not on my bingo card for 2024, especially on their first try.
A few remarkable facts about Starship:
Starship has more than double the thrust of the Saturn V Moon rocket while also being the first fully reusable heavy lift rocket.
It’s also the largest rocket ever built, making it the largest object to ever take flight.
Starship will be capable of landing 220,000 pounds on the Moon and other planets—per trip.
For the first time in Earth’s 4.5 billion-year history, humanity holds the technology to become a multiplanetary species. Today, SpaceX successfully demonstrated the full capability required to extend life beyond our home planet, placing us on an extraordinary trajectory to explore the far reaches of our solar system—and even beyond.
This morning, as I was texting with Scott, he asked me to share some thoughts about the profound significance of this moment. If you haven’t yet, I highly recommend watching the incredible feat SpaceX accomplished today—catching the largest rocket ever built out of mid-air (link). This historic event marks the successful demonstration of a fully reusable rocket—one that can launch and land in rapid succession, with the goal of achieving high reliability and rapid reusability, similar to an airplane.
In our educational outreach programs, I often speak with middle and high school students. I share that they will be the pioneers who take humanity’s first steps on Mars. It is their generation that will be marked in history as a new era for human evolution—the moment we become a spacefaring civilization. I couldn't help but hear that same message ring true during today's launch.
We are incredibly fortunate to be alive at a time filled with such hope and possibility.
Here’s what Starship enables:
A spacefaring civilization—humanity now has the means to dramatically reduce the risk of extinction by expanding beyond Earth.
In-space manufacturing—we are on the path to moving industrial operations off-planet, allowing Earth to be preserved as a sanctuary for life.
Abundant resources—with access to the vast resources of space, the concept of scarcity begins to fade away.
This morning, as I watched MECHAZILLA catch Starship’s booster in mid-air, I felt an overwhelming sense of awe at what this moment means for all life on Earth. Shortly afterward, SpaceX successfully demonstrated another Starship orbital re-entry and landing, confirming that the dream of space exploration is not just alive but accelerating at a breathtaking pace. We go to space for the benefit of life on Earth.
Tonight, take a moment to look up at the stars. I hope you’ll pause to reflect on our place in the universe. Astronauts I’ve spoken with often share the same message: We are all crew members aboard spaceship Earth. As we gaze out into the vastness of space, let’s work together to protect the beautiful, fragile life that surrounds us here. In the grand scheme of the cosmos, we are a miraculous existence—each of us, an improbable wonder.
Ad Astra!
thank you Josh for your friendship and fervor for the exploration to the beyond. Happy 420 friends!
Scott X