On one hand, but then again, on the other...The first private rocket successfully launched from Florida on a maiden voyage to the International Space Station yesterday. The SpaceX Falcon 9 is a historic spacecraft that marks the beginning of the era of commercial space travel. Here’s what we like and dislike about a future when traveling to the stars is as easy as catching a redeye with a connection through Dallas.
LIKE: Thousands of "Star Trek" fans will line up to "boldly go where no man has gone before."
DISLIKE: Floating globules of Tang vomit floating in front of your face as thousands of "Star Trek" fans actually go where no man has gone before.
LIKE: After mothballing the Space Shuttle fleet, America is once again reaching for the stars.
DISLIKE: NASA will eventually be replaced by Big Ron’s Galactic Truck & Towing Company.
LIKE: Rocket scientists will all be gainfully employed.
DISLIKE: Rocket mechanics will gouge you $3500 for a lousy spark plug.
LIKE: Space tourism will become a reality.
DISLIKE: The Space Bus to Moon Vegas will smell like hot foot soup.
LIKE: Corporations will fund new scientific studies.
DISLIKE: All those studies will contain the words "Xenomorphic Bio-Weapons"
LIKE: Space exploration will once again become popular in the mass culture.
DISLIKE: Observational comics will all be all "what's the deal with those little packets of rocketship peanuts??"
LIKE: Commercial space travel will boost the economy!
DISLIKE: All of the jobs will involve off-world mining colonies.
LIKE: The name "SpaceX Falcon 9" is pretty cool.
DISLIKE: Buying an economy-class ticket on "US Spaceways"
LIKE: In order to boost public confidence in the safety of space travel, commercial rocket companies will spare no expense enacting every safeguard imaginable.
DISLIKE: When your spacecraft dings one of the 8,000 satellites currently orbiting the Earth, and you’re sucked out into the cold vacuum of space.
LIKE: The private sector will be innovative!
DISLIKE: Those innovations will include $25,000 checked bag fees.
LIKE: Floating snacks into your mouth in the zero gravity lounge.
DISLIKE: Floating catheters into your junk in the zero gravity toilet.
LIKE: The idea of becoming a member of the super-exclusive eight-mile-high club.
DISLIKE: Realizing the only sexual position in space is "the runaway ferris wheel".
What do you "like" or "dislike" about the dawn of the commercial space age? Leave your carefully considered opinions in the comments, or tweet @TeamCoco and use the hashtag #MoonVegas!