In 1969, the cold war filled the hearts of the world with dread. Today, we live in times that echo this sentiment.

The launch of 1969 was made with the hope of a better future, and though we cocked it up a drainpipe the first time, maybe we’ll take the right path and echo the sentiment “for all mankind”.

This launch included a bunch of “American superiority” drivel, and was done on a rocket that is unsustainable and uses leftover parts from the last millennium.

I wish they’d gone with “for all mankind” — instead they went with “America America” even though one of the mission specialists is Canadian and the module was made in cooperation with the ESA.

I mean, how exactly do you create a “sustainable” rocket? Genuinely curious, as the sheer amount of energy it takes to escape the earth’s gravity well would render this an almost impossible feat.

Define “sustainable rocket”. There are greener fuels, like hydrogen peroxide, but I don’t think they give enough push to get to orbit.

But if you’re willing to drop the “rocket” part, you can remove the propellant entirely, and use a railgun or spinlaunch system. (Strictly speaking you’ll still need some kind of propellant for corrections and orbital maneuvering, but you’re not burning a fuckton of propellant just to beat gravity.)

There is also the question of the reusability of the rocket itself, but SpaceX and others have fairly well proven that by now.