A private firm doing NASA's job atm is counterproductive for a stable NASA.
If I understand your message, you are suggesting that claims of plans for Mars, etc, made by Mr. Musk endanger NASA funding?Here's how I view things. NASA funding is already endangered, Musk or not. Both U.S. political parties agree that big budget cuts are required, trillions of dollars worth, so they are coming. Social programs will be cut, and so will defense and science and payouts to farmers for not farming, etc. It all has to be cut, and we'll all have to pay more taxes too. NASA won't weather this storm unscathed. The current lack of firm future planning makes it a giant target for cuts. SpaceX, in my view, isn't going to Mars or even Earth orbit by itself. It is currently existing largely on NASA funding. The company's plans for Falcon Heavy show that it wants big DoD money too. So the coming budget cuts aren't going to be good for NASA or any contractor, including SpaceX. But the cuts have nothing to do with Mr. Musk's vision of the future. They are a result of decades of the U.S. living beyond its means while not defending its manufacturing base and its middle class. - Ed Kyle
There are over 1000 Billionaires in the world right now, and the vast majority of them will not be remembered by history. How best to immortalize yourself than to be the 1st to do something like a Mars Flyby or Venus Flyby.
...or, if they try it before the technology is matured (long-term life support, radiation protection, etc), have their dead body perform the flyby.cheers, Martin
Quote from: Prober on 04/24/2011 03:11 amWe are in the very same or worse times as when Apollo was phased out. The president said we’ve been to the moon, why go there again? Let’s do an asteroid landing. Please.Need I go on where this kind of thinking goes? If I understand your message, you are suggesting that claims of plans for Mars, etc, made by Mr. Musk endanger NASA funding?Here's how I view things. NASA funding is already endangered, Musk or not. Both U.S. political parties agree that big budget cuts are required, trillions of dollars worth, so they are coming. Social programs will be cut, and so will defense and science and payouts to farmers for not farming, etc. It all has to be cut, and we'll all have to pay more taxes too. NASA won't weather this storm unscathed. The current lack of firm future planning makes it a giant target for cuts. SpaceX, in my view, isn't going to Mars or even Earth orbit by itself. It is currently existing largely on NASA funding. The company's plans for Falcon Heavy show that it wants big DoD money too. So the coming budget cuts aren't going to be good for NASA or any contractor, including SpaceX. But the cuts have nothing to do with Mr. Musk's vision of the future. They are a result of decades of the U.S. living beyond its means while not defending its manufacturing base and its middle class. - Ed Kyle
We are in the very same or worse times as when Apollo was phased out. The president said we’ve been to the moon, why go there again? Let’s do an asteroid landing. Please.Need I go on where this kind of thinking goes?
you guys are so smart you forget what its like to be stupid.[..]none of it is accurate at all but it sounds good on the playground.the average guy can name 30 football players and 1 astronaut. thats your audience.
Which is unfortunate but I'd hate to think anyone would suggest Elon censor himself lest someone in the audience form a low opinion of NASA.
Again, what does NASA have to do with this?
We'll be lucky to have a glorified "Gemini on steroids" program with capsules ferrying people to/from LEO in 10 years. Humans on Mars? A laughable claim at this point.
Sorry this is way over the top for me. I would prefer in the future less hype, and more concrete technical advancements. It’s uncomforting your firm receiving millions of US taxpayer funds for crew designs, then to have this hype put out there. Just remember SpaceX, you taking taxpayer funds for the R&D of the crew module. We the US tax payers own it! So in the future less is more….
One thing to consider: what if there were more than one SpaceX? What if 5 American companies arose, all like SpaceX, all aimed at developing space? The reason that our national space effort has been going around in circles since the post-Apollo era, is precisely because we don't have those companies working at breakneck speed to compete with one another. What we need is at least one other company like SpaceX, and to make sure that the government doesn't compete with them.
There will be a downselect. NASA isn't going to fund 4 flight demonstrations or have contracts with 4 companies for crew to ISS.