Human Space launches bring welcome distraction to an otherwise wild year

This year, NASA launched six astronauts from the Kennedy Space Center, ending a nearly ten-year drought of human launches from US soil. The launches from the Florida space coast brought in spectators from across the state, including hundreds of spectators gathered at Titusville’s Space View Park to witness the launch of the Crew Dragon capsule from Kennedy Space Center.

Nearly a decade after the end of the Space Shuttle program, human space exploration from the United States is back and watching humans launch into space brings a welcome distraction to the otherwise tumultuous news of the year.

UCF historian Amy Foster said successful space missions give people a reason to celebrate, even in times of uncertainty and discord.

“When Apollo Eight flew, it was the first manned mission to circumnavigate the moon. So they flew around the moon and returned. And it happened around Christmas in 1968, “Foster said.” And when you look back, it all went wrong in 1968, it looks a lot like 2020. ”

In 1968, the Vietnam War was going badly, there were protests at the Democratic Convention, and Martin Luther King Jr and Robert Kennedy were assassinated.

“It was like, what else could go wrong? What else is on our bingo card? Then, when Apollo eight happened at the end of the year, it was this kind of emotional sigh of relief that something went well, “he said.

Rocket launches are a tradition for many residents living on the space coast.

Chloe Drimino arrived right at launch. It saw astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Benhken launch in May when she was pregnant. He took his son to the crew-1 launch so that he could share with him his favorite part of watching rockets: “seeing the fire and hearing the roar as it crosses the water”.

Another viewer, Breezy Baldwin, set up his camera to take a long exposure photo of the rocket. “I think space exploration leads to a lot of scientific breakthroughs here on Earth as well, so I think that’s one of the most exciting things.”

NASA’s partnership with SpaceX for the Crew Dragon mission marks the beginning of a new era in space exploration. With a return to routine human launches from the United States, rocket enthusiasts will have more opportunities to come together and cheer for the next chapter in human space exploration.

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