FALCON HEAVY

We just put a car into space for fun.

I say 'we' - I had very little to do with it, but 'we' as in humanity, or perhaps really 'we' as in a company called SpaceX, launched a reusable rocket with a massive payload, into orbit.

I watched it. I watched the enormous rocket propel itself in a burst of fire and dust, straight up into the bright blue sky. I watched it roar out of our atmosphere. I watched the reusable booster rockets retro-fire and land gracefully backwards on their launchpads in perfect synchronisation, and I watched as hundreds of people from all over the world, cheered together as though they were one. It was so cool!

We have the potential to be awesome.

More than that though, the billionaire at the head of SpaceX, Elon Musk, seems determined to explore, to innovate, to make a difference to this century, and to humanity. And he's not alone - Jeff Bezos, Richard Branson, and even the Google boffins, are pushing the boundaries of technology and engineering to incredible heights.

"I'm sceptical," said a man on the radio this morning. "We're not going to get very far with this technology - the same technology we used to get to the Moon. We're never going to get further than Mars with rockets!"

I told the radio that that was a lousy attitude. These things happen slowly! Always one small step for mankind, at a time! We're not going to suddenly break the light barrier and teleport ourselves across the galaxy overnight.

I think what SpaceX have done is really cool. And worth celebrating.

I wonder if they need any technical authors.