We've known since the '70s that NASA would end up like Amtrak if they tried to be StarTrack. 40x more expensive puts Amtrak to shame.
But we've known for a long time that space exploration would have to be done by private commerce.
Friday, March 9, 2018
President Trump: NASA rocket launches "40-50 times" the cost of Falcon Heavy
It seems like his numbers hold up: $90M per launch for Falcon Heavy vs. $3B for NASA's new Space Launch System.
We've known since the '70s that NASA would end up like Amtrak if they tried to be StarTrack. 40x more expensive puts Amtrak to shame.
I must give Obama credit where credit is due - he had his administration get pretty much completely out of the way of commercial space exploration. We are seeing a dramatic reduction is price/pound to low earth orbit, which Trump recognizes. Maybe Moon colonies are back on the table, with commercial launch taking the well understood portion of the problem and NASA focusing on what they did so magnificently in the 1960s - pushing the technology envelope.
But we've known for a long time that space exploration would have to be done by private commerce.
We've known since the '70s that NASA would end up like Amtrak if they tried to be StarTrack. 40x more expensive puts Amtrak to shame.
But we've known for a long time that space exploration would have to be done by private commerce.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Man_Who_Sold_the_Moon
ReplyDeleteI don't care who puts the first colony on the moon. It's time. We should have been there long ago.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Linda and have to say, where is all the benefit we were supposed to get from technology?
ReplyDeleteSure, we have better gadgets and much faster comms but... everyone's working just as hard and mostly for less money.
For that matter, where's our moon base, dammit.