• sleep_deprived@lemmy.world
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      8 hours ago

      If we stop doing business with SpaceX, we immediately demolish most of our capability to reach space, including the ISS until Starliner quits failing. Perhaps instead of trying to treat this as a matter of the free market we should recognize it as what it is - a matter of supreme economic and military importance - and force the Nazi fucker out.

        • NotMyOldRedditName@lemmy.world
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          6 hours ago

          People really under estimate how important he is to SpaceX.

          Reusing f9 1st stage - His initiative

          Landing f9 on a barge - His initiative.

          Making Starship Stainless Steel - His initiative

          Catching Starship booster on chopsticks - His initiative.

          The list goes on and on.

          Without someone like him pushing for these radical things that everyone else thinks is impossible or a bad idea we wouldn’t recognize what SpaceX would be.

          Instead we have things like starliner which is a disaster, and blue origin which started before SpaceX and has never reached orbit.

          SpaceX would slowly transform back into ‘old space’ if he was forced out as there are very few people willing to take the risks he takes.

          Edit: and it’s even very possible that the wrong CEO takes SpaceX public too soon which would make all the risk taking and fail fast development cycle they use impossible. Think of the stock crashing when a test flight fails and the pressure from investors around that.

            • NotMyOldRedditName@lemmy.world
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              4 hours ago

              Reusing f9, landing F9 on barge, and Stainless steel were his initiatives. The SS one was a particularly hard win for him with a lot of internal push back.

              Catching Starship on the chopsticks might have been an idea he heard outside of SpaceX, but that he then championed, again to a lot of internal push back, I’m not 100% about it being an external to spacex idea though.

              Edit clarity and below

              Those are just examples though. And I’m sure there are times as you suggest that people suggest a difficult idea that he then champions as well.

              That he can champion these radical things, his idea or not, is still the key point of his leadership that will be lost.

              For example, someone must have suggested they use a full-flow staged combustion fuel cycle for raptor. He had to sign off on that. No one had ever designed and flown a engine like this before. The russians came closest making one, but never flew it. The predecessor to this engine in the 60s or whenever, NASA didn’t even think it was physically possible to make until the Russians made it.

    • Zoot@reddthat.com
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      9 hours ago

      Thankfully SpaceX is MORE than just Elon. Unlike Twitter, where he’s removed everyone and turned it to slop. He makes no money from it, so why shouldn’t he fuck with it?

      SpaceX actually makes money. Elon won’t fuck it up. (Or he will, but atleast we will have learned an insane amount of things thanks to them.)

      • GiddyGap@lemm.ee
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        8 hours ago

        I’m sure it makes money and he may not F it up, but that’s not the point. The point is that Elon has turned into the douche of the century along with his butt-buddy Trump.

        • Zoot@reddthat.com
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          7 hours ago

          I’m all for giving Nasa the light of day again, but from what I can tell, “Its not in the American interests” to give Nasa a good budget.

          Yeah yeah yeah they overspend, are bad at budgeting, and have issues. But im quite stubborn, space science and research is priceless in my book.

          So, if SpaceX is owned by a shit bag narcissist, but atleast space research is advancing? Well, that’s fine with me. I feel very happy for all the jobs and scientists and aerospace engineers who have a job thanks to SpaceX.

          • NotMyOldRedditName@lemmy.world
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            6 hours ago

            Serious question - is it nasa over spending, or is it congress forcing certain requirements on them making things more complicated that leads to over spending?

            • Zoot@reddthat.com
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              5 hours ago

              I am by no means a good source. From what I’ve read and seen it definitely seems like that is part of the issue. I believe for a time Nasa was also hugely underselling the real cost (likely so they could get it pushed through in the first place) which also lead to issues of its own.