Thread by @TheSpaceGal

Why is today's launch such a big deal?

🚀It's the first launch to the ISS from US soil in nearly a decade

🚀It's the first crewed launch to orbit from a private spacecraft

#LaunchAmerica

Why did it take so long to get here?

Mix of "space is hard" program delays - but also, this program wasn't funded properly in the beginning. Not everyone thought this was a great idea initially.

The shuttle was retired in 2011 - what did we do in the meantime?

We paid the Russians to shuttle our Astronauts to/from the ISS. The cost per seat on a Soyuz today is around $86 Million.

Cost per seat on Crew Dragon is ~$55 Million

This flight is the biggest, most important event that has happened in human spaceflight in the last decade.

I cannot emphasize enough how high the stakes are here. For SpaceX, for NASA, for everyone involved.

All flights are impt - but this one is historic.

#LaunchAmerica

This flight ushers in a new way to do business at NASA.

Rather than hiring a contractor to build a spacecraft which NASA owns, manages, and operates - much of this responsibility is shifted over to the private sector (SpaceX)

The idea here is this -

NASA has done human flight to Low Earth Orbit for decades. To allow NASA to focus its resources on things that have never been done before - they're handing the keys to LEO over to the private sector so they can do it more quickly/cheaply

That's why today (and other crewed launches from SpaceX/Boeing) is so important - it validates this business model. It validates the investment in commercial crew.

Again...when there are lives on the line, it's always an important flight. But this one...the stakes are so high.

🚀