Thanks To THe Success Of Star Ship IV, We Are On The Cusp Of A Transportation Revolution

The launch of Space X's Star Ship IV was a rousing success. When the first stage ignited, 32 of the 33 engines fired. Engine number 33 on the outer ring failed to ignite. The other 32 engines were "throttled up" and overcame this power deficiency. The first stage separated smoothly. As it fell back to earth, the 6 gimballed engines in the inner ring fired and slowed down the booster for a smooth landing in the Gulf of Mexico. This means the booster can be recovered in subsequent flights making the rocket economically viable. Starship's 6 engines fired. It went into a sub-orbital arc that took it over the Indian Ocean. On the last flight, Star Ship broke up and disintegrated on reentry. This time it survived reentry, even after losing one fin used for maneuvering. Its excellent cameras recorded the entire reentry. The six rocket motors fired again. Star Ship was slowed for a smooth landing in the Indian Ocean. A few of my readers are die-hard space enthusiasts (me included). For us, this is a joyous happening. The rest of our readers wonder, "What does this matter to me?" I was in the pool with one of our readers. I pointed out to her that as a result of Star Ship, we are on the cusp of a transportation revolution here on Earth. Please fast forward roughly 12 years. Very large urban airports around the world will evolve into airports/spaceports. Those of us who travel internationally know all too well the pain of very long airplane flights including jet lag, loss of sleep, dry skin, blood circulation problems, etc. I suspect that over the last 57 years, I have accumulated several thousand hours flying in jets. My longest plane flight came in September of 1981 when I flew 20 hours from Rome to Sydney, Australia. Elena experienced a similar time in the air from Argentina to Europe. The Star Ship revolution will change all this. Let us assume that you are flying from Los Angeles to Rio de Janeiro, Seattle to Shanghai, San Francisco to Buenos Aires, etc. When you go to the international terminal for your flight, you will not board an aircraft. You will board a Star Ship. The Star Ship will blast off. You will have a gentle ride up to the stratosphere. You will spend more than an hour flying through space. You will get some incredible views. You will experience weightlessness. Your Star Ship will then reenter the earth's atmosphere. Some two hours after lift-off, you will land at your faraway destination that once required 14-16 hours of travel in pressurized tin cans. You will spend far more time in security, passport control, customs, and immigration than in travel time. An exciting new world is just around the corner.