Musk’s SpaceX hits milestone on path to manned space trip – The Wall Street Journal

DUBLIN — As we all know, among Elon Musk's many ambitions is the colonisation of Mars. This weekend, he hit another milestone in the long walk to that goal. His rocket company SpaceX successfully sent a crew capsule into space on one of its Falcon rockets. There were, admittedly, no crew on board. But it's a sign that SpaceX is working towards manned space flight, with a long-term vision of getting humans off this planet and onto another. It's a truly inspiring vision. If humanity is going to continue to develop and expand, we will sooner or later need to start moving off Earth and into the broader solar system. The planets and asteroids around us are full of the minerals we use in our technology. But if we want to mine them, we have to have a way to get there, a place to live while we're there, and a way to bring the minerals back for use. The SpaceX launch is a small step towards that end. – Felicity Duncan

SpaceX Crew Capsule Lifts Off for Long-Delayed Test Flight—Without People Inside

By Andy Pasztor

(The Wall Street Journal) Elon Musk's SpaceX successfully launched a Crew Dragon capsule on its maiden voyage into orbit without people on board, but technical challenges could delay for months the first trip carrying astronauts.

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