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Opinion not approved by the thought leaders Show more
Opinion not approved by the thought leaders Show more
Opinion not approved by the thought leaders Show more
Opinion not approved by the thought leaders Show more
@cynicalsecurity http://thehill.com/opinion/technology/372994-spacex-could-save-nasa-and-the-future-of-space-exploration
“…but It is time for the nation to decide if we want a space program — or a jobs program.”
“SpaceX offered NASA the opportunity to get a free ride on this first launch. But the space agency viewed commercial development of this rocket as "competition" and refused their offer.”
@edavies then the following should have happened:
1) NASA should be told they are idiots,
2) SpaceX should have gone to ESA, the Indian space agency, anyone else wanting to put a satellite in space for free but at high risk of failure (the fact that the car's orbit is wrong could have also messed up a satellite).
@cynicalsecurity AFAIK the car's orbit (from Earth's orbit out to about the distance of Mar's aphelion) is pretty much as intended.
Musk misstated the aphelion soon after T“M”I which was an unnecessary bit of confusion so a bit irritating but not a big deal in the grand scheme.
@cynicalsecurity
1) NASA, like most organizations, has lots of internal conflicts of interest. I'm sure many insiders know they are idiots. The writer of that article is an ex-deputy administrator.
2) SpaceX is a private company. There's only so much they can do when they're desperately trying to keep things as simple as possible. Too much complexity it why SLS has already cost 10x more in development than Falcons 9 and H combined and is still at least 2 years away from flying.