Quirks and Quarks

SpaceX takes humans to orbit, but who loses in the new landscape of space launch?

SpaceX seems to have won the private race to put humans in space, and competitors like Boeing and the Russian space program could be put in an awkward place.

What might this mean for SpaceX's competitors or the Russian space program?

NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley (front) rode in the SpaceX's Crew Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station. (SpaceX)

On Saturday May 30, SpaceX successfully launched their Crew Dragon capsule, which carried two American astronauts to the International Space Station.  

Bob McDonald spoke with with Rod Pyle, writer, space historian and editor of Ad Astra, the magazine of the US National Space Society. 

Rod Pyle, author of Space 2.0 (Rod Pyle)

Pyle is the author of Space 2.0: How Private Spaceflight, a Resurgent NASA, and International Partners are Creating a New Space Age.

He discusses the implications for the future of human space flight, and what it might mean for SpaceX's private competitors and the Russian space program, which had been carrying astronauts for NASA.