Today SpaceX successfully completed their sixth attempt at landing a rocket on a small boat in the ocean. This is a major step towards rocket reusability. Soon it'll only cost $40 million dollars to blast off, instead of the astronomical $60+ they were charging before. That's a bargain basement get-it-while-its-hot price.

Throwing away a highly engineered and delicately manufactured machine after only one use is unsustainable. If they can squeeze out the 100+ flights per rocket they're targeting, that would open up the great beyond to anyone making mid-six figures a year or lower. Forget about a parabolic flight path — you could pay a couple hundred thousand dollars and watch the sun spread life giving warmth around this tender earth from 250 miles up.

I don't think we'll see any functioning extra-planetary facilities (beyond a refurbishment of the ISS) in the next 30-50 years. Until it becomes commercially viable, more than simple tourism, there won't be a good enough reason for the expense. Sticking a massive telescope on the far side of the moon — or some other automated science gatherer — would be the first thing I would expect, if a national space agency could find it in the budget. You still would have to deal with the pesky sun getting in the way half the time.

Despite that, this is fantastic news. The engineers at SpaceX have done a tremendous job sticking the landing. I'm eager to see what they do next, and how the future of space travel develops. I'll be happy to be proven wrong.

Well, it's official. I've traveled to a magical place that sells podia for $9.99 a month. If this is the future, welcome! I hope you find this origin story pleasant and nonconfrontational. For everyone else tuning in as this goes live — shout out to you Google — pay no attention to the man behind the HTML.