At 9:30am et on Tuesday, three American astronauts called the NASDAQ opening bell from space. The short ceremony played out live on the International Space Station’s giant screen in Times Square.

The video shone over the same streets where thousands had gathered. In the days and nights before, thousands of demonstrators had gathered nearby to protest systemic racism and police brutality against black Americans.

Nasa has launched its first passenger flight from the US in nearly a decade. Nasa has been waiting for this moment since the last space shuttle landed in 2011.

That might mean passing up the chance to ring the bell on Wall Street while the economy remains in tatters. It might mean a compassionate statement from the crew addressing the people on the earth below.

Spacex launches in 1968, the first to reach the vicinity of the moon. The assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. had sparked protests throughout the country.

Spacex’s launch did not unite the country or the world, though NASA tried to make that claim.’this was an amazing moment of unity for the nation,’ NASA administrator Jim bridenstine said.

Nasa and the space community do n’t often understand is that spaceflight still is n’t inclusive. The launch could bring the public together during a time when racism and injustice are at the forefront of people’s minds.

The space launch could n’t’fix’ the world, says NASA’s bridenstine.’it’s impressive, and it does bring people together,’ he said.

The space world seems to exist in a bubble where these things just do n’t have an effect on earth. The space community must be deeply rooted in the happenings of earth.

The spaceflight industry has largely sheltered in its celebratory bubble. Many other major industries have issued a flurry of statements addressing the protests.

People in the spaceflight world, including former astronauts, have been left to individuals. Instead, compassionate demands for change have been made to individuals in spaceflight world.

Former astronaut Charles Bolden said on Twitter that the mission will bring us together but must learn to trust. The former astronaut and former NASA administrator said the individuals following it who step forward to lock arms with people we do n’t know but must learned to trust.

‘today demands we take pride not only in reaching the sky, but also sustained heights of decency, truth, compassion and justice for all, now!’.

‘we’ve got to stop this. And it’s going to be the good people that do nothing now that start doing something to stamp this hatred, evil, and racism out’.

Nasa and space companies continue to move forward with many of the same things they had planned. But the times are anything but business as usual. It means committing to fix the wrongs in our society while building vehicles to break the bonds of gravity.