High Risk, High Reward

SpaceX is set to launch its new heavy rocket today. It is a $90 million event and if the rocket blows up, it will cost the company five years of work. It is a high risk, high reward exercise and in one 5-minute period it can burnish the company’s reputation or ruin it. The company has tested and retested components and conducted a static firing of the engines, but it won’t know if everything is working until the launch. It is then in mission control that nerves will be taut and breathing difficult. Should it succeed, there will be high-fives, cheering and smiles. Should something go wrong, there will be silence. There are other happenings in the world that are high-risk like this one, but none so public and witnessed by millions as a rocket lighting off and arcing into the sky. Here’s a wish for a good flight and problem-free journey.