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Reblogged:Stossel on SpaceX vs. NASA

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For anyone who suspected NASA was a mess, John Stossel's recent report on America's first space launch in a decade will more than confirm that hunch:

[Aerospace engineer Robert] Zubrin once worked at [government contractor] Lockheed Martin, where he ... discovered a way for a rocket to carry twice as much weight. "We went to management, the engineers, and said, 'Look, we could double the payload capability for 10 percent extra cost.' They said, 'Look, if the Air Force wants us to improve the Titan, they'll pay us to do it!'" [link added]
This is awful, but it wasn't the only time Zubrin was rebuffed for the sin of offering a good idea:
Twenty years ago, at Lockheed Martin, Zubrin had proposed reusable boosters. His bosses told him: "Cute idea. But if we sell one of these, we're out of business."
Damn straight that the SpaceX "flight happened because government was not in charge."

More important than this, Stossel's story, which I highly recommend, also gives hope, in the form of illustrating the positive alternative of private enterprise:
spacex.jpg
Image by SpaceX, via Unsplash, license.
An Obama administration committee had concluded that launching such a vehicle would take 12 years and cost $36 billion.

But this rocket was finished in half that time -- for less than $1 billion (1/36th the predicted cost).

That's because it was built by Elon Musk's private company, Space X. He does things faster and cheaper because he spends his own money.
Lest that seem incredible, Stossel supplies relevant details, such as that Musk's company saves money ... by re-using rocket boosters.

There couldn't be a better time -- in the middle of a pandemic being aggravated by government meddling -- for such a story to hit the news. First, it confirms our hope that private enterprise will win against the corona virus, and probably sooner rather than later. Second, it should cause us to ask similar questions of other expensive, non-performing creatures of the government, especially the education sector.

-- CAV

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  • 6 months later...

Private space companies will soon be the main launch vehicle.
This is logical. Every private company strives for maximum efficiency. This will lead to the fact that government agencies will simply use private space companies as subcontractors to reduce the cost of their own programs. This will not happen immediately. Many private companies are also working to immediately be able to clean up space debris or have reusable rockets, space tugs, etc. The private space business is the future.

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On 2/25/2021 at 3:37 AM, TommyJo said:

Private space companies will soon be the main launch vehicle.
This is logical. Every private company strives for maximum efficiency. This will lead to the fact that government agencies will simply use private space companies as subcontractors to reduce the cost of their own programs. This will not happen immediately. Many private companies are also working to immediately be able to clean up space debris or have reusable rockets, space tugs, etc. The private space business is the future.

Have you ever read Robert Zubrin?

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Are you talking about the person who said that Mars is not the ultimate goal, Mars is the direction, this is the first step towards the formation of humanity as a multiplanetary space species? No, I haven't. But thanks for the hint, it might be very interesting for me.
Based on what I found with a quick search, it would be useful for me to read his work and interviews.

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  • 1 month later...

I'm deeply disappointed that some people consider themselves rulers of the destinies. Why can they decide what flight will occur and what will not, what technology will be implemented and what will not be? I simply can't believe that someone can hold back our progress in aerospace engineering. I understand that there's no hope for the government in the area of space exploration, and the future is for private enterprises.

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On 2/25/2021 at 12:37 PM, TommyJo said:

Private space companies will soon be the main launch vehicle.
This is logical. Every private company strives for maximum efficiency. This will lead to the fact that government agencies will simply use private space companies as subcontractors to reduce the cost of their own programs. This will not happen immediately. Many private companies are also working to immediately be able to clean up space debris or have reusable rockets, space tugs, etc. The private space business is the future.

In your opinion, will any young private company outrun the existing leaders? I mean SpaceX, Blue Origin, Astra, Lockheed Martin, etc. Or are they too advanced to give up so easily? Perhaps you know some good candidates, so share this information with us.

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