Chapter 68: Father of the Year: 2021

This chapter covers SpaceX's development of the Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon capsule to fulfill NASA's cargo contract, the establishment of Launch Pad 40 at Cape Canaveral, and the political battle to secure government support for commercial spaceflight under the Obama administration.

SpaceX faced the challenge of building a much more powerful rocket than the Falcon 1 to win NASA's cargo contract. Tom Mueller convinced Musk to use nine Merlin engines rather than designing a new one, resulting in the Falcon 9—over twice as tall and ten times more powerful than its predecessor. Musk designed the Dragon capsule in Saturday-morning engineering meetings, named after Puff the Magic Dragon. To launch this larger rocket regularly, SpaceX leased Launchpad 40 at Cape Canaveral and hired engineer Brian Mosdell to rebuild the complex. Musk's characteristic cost-cutting measures prevailed: he questioned Air Force safety requirements to reduce crane costs from $2 million to $300,000, sourced components from non-aerospace suppliers, and modified commercial air-conditioning units for the payload bay instead of spending $3 million on specialized equipment. Mosdell's rebuilt pad cost one-tenth as much as a similar facility he had built for Lockheed-Boeing's Delta IV. The chapter then shifts to the political battle over NASA's direction. In 2008, Obama's space advisor Lori Garver convinced the then-candidate that private companies should replace the Space Shuttle rather than NASA's proposed Constellation program. When the Falcon 1's fourth launch succeeded in September 2008, Garver's recommendation gained credibility, and Obama appointed her deputy NASA administrator. She faced resistance from Charlie Bolden, the new NASA administrator, and from Congressional members representing Boeing states. Garver ultimately prevailed when Obama canceled Constellation in late 2009, despite protests from traditionalists including Neil Armstrong and Michael Griffin. In April 2010, Obama visited Cape Canaveral to publicly support commercial spaceflight, walking alongside Musk in front of the Falcon 9 for a televised photo opportunity that benefited both the president and the entrepreneur.