Elon Musk is roping Jeff Bezos into a Twitter fight about rockets
Jeff Bezos' rocket company Blue Origin made history on November 24, when it launched and then landed its New Shepard rocket back on Earth after releasing a capsule at the edge of space.
It was a big moment for private spaceflight, but this is not the first time anyone has successfully landed a rocket after reaching the boundary of space about 62 miles up.
Bezos fired off this celebratory tweet after the launch and landing (his first and only tweet so far):
The rarest of beasts - a used rocket. Controlled landing not easy, but done right, can look easy. Check out video: https://t.co/9OypFoxZk3
- Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) November 24, 2015
But another spaceflight entrepreneur, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, was quick to point that this is not the first successful rocket landing. SpaceX actually already did this a few years ago with its series of "grasshopper tests," when it launched a Falcon 9 rocket a few hundred meters into the air and successfully landed it back on Earth.
@JeffBezos Not quite "rarest". SpaceX Grasshopper rocket did 6 suborbital flights 3 years ago & is still around. pic.twitter.com/6j9ERKCNZl
- Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 24, 2015
Then Musk got a little sassy and pointed out all the successful tests SpaceX has done, including the grasshopper test and tests over the open ocean. He sounds confident SpaceX will soon stick a landing after pulling off an orbital rocket launch:
Jeff maybe unaware SpaceX suborbital VTOL flight began 2013. Orbital water landing 2014. Orbital land landing next. https://t.co/S6WMRnEFY5
- Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 24, 2015
SpaceX, Musk noted, wasn't even the first to land a rocket. That title technically goes to the US Air Force and its North American X-15:
But credit for 1st reusable suborbital rocket goes to X-15 https://t.co/LSb0f8FLJdAnd Burt Rutan for commercialhttps://t.co/TGWlNjsyQz
- Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 24, 2015
So while Blue Origin's achievement is a big deal - especially for paying passengers who want to ride in a space capsule - it certainly isn't the first time a rocket-powered vehicle has reached suborbital space, then landed safely back on Earth.
We're still a long way from perfecting reusable rockets, but they're going to change spaceflight as we know it. If we don't have to throw away an expensive rocket after every launch, it could significantly reduce the cost of spaceflight and get us closer to making commercial space travel affordable.
As for today's announcement, the two billionaires may quibble on the details, but Blue Origin successfully landed a reusable rocket that went higher than one ever has before. Your move, SpaceX.
Disclosure: Jeff Bezos is an investor in Business Insider through hispersonal investment company Bezos Expeditions.
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