Nuvendil said:
NASA's funding in the 21st century has been fairly stable prior to this most recent budget proposal, which is a serious issue. However, it wasn't so we could fund the private launch program, that came about after most of the funding reductions. And it was started so NASA can focus its resources on research and scientific activities and leave launch vehicle development and construction to others. And it has worked, the development of private launch companies has been an enormous boon to all space efforts. SpaceX's Falcon 9 has become the most reliable workhorse on earth, and Falcon Heavy has dramatically lowered the cost of heavy lift launch capability. And despite being brand new, Blue Origin's New Glenn has already performed more flights and just as many successful missions as NASA's internally developed SLS. And the SLS is entirely unsustainable, it costs 2.5 *billion* per launch. New Glenn is between 50 and 100 million. Falcon Heavy, ~100 million. The development and deployment of these reusable heavy lift rockets is critical to the Artemis program's long term viability and the vitality of the nascent space industry. SLS cannot be NASA's workhorse no matter their budget. This explosion is a real bummer frankly. New Glenn got off to a fantastic start and is the most powerful and capable reusable rocket in the US fleet (and by extension, in the world) and it's personally one of my favorite rockets currently in service. And this explosion destroyed what is currently the only launch site for it. This will take several months bare minimum to repair. And its other launch sites under development will take equally as long. I get it, hating on rich people is all the rage today, but outside of charitable activity, investing in the establishment and growth of the emerging space industry is far and away one of the least offensive things they could use their wealth for. And companies like SpaceX, Blue Origin, Rocket Lab, and Relativity Space are contributing in a serious and rapid fashion to humanity's space efforts. |
They're still hoarding their wealth and not paying their share of taxes while most of us can't buy our own homes no matter how hard we work.
And need I remind you how many ultra rich are in the Epstein files? Or how many of said Epsteins are into AI?
