A private enterprise has never put a manned spacecraft into orbit.

That would be different. :rock:

In Project Mercury, it took the United States 20 unmanned test flights (starting with Little Joe 1) before we dared to put a man in the can.

I think Space X will do it in less than that. :yep:

But Space X has 50 years of NASA and Soviet tech/experience to learn from so it doesn't need to take 20 launches before a person can attempt a flight. :03:

So, private industry has demonstrated that it can do what was done 50 years ago? Indeed. The pace of progress staggers the mind.

SpaceX (and the rest of the private industry) has a large number of people who used to work for the government, either directly, or as contractors; they also have access to a much broader knowledge base, built almost exclusively by that same government program. But they aren't doing anything that wasn't done a long time ago. They may do it cheaper and better, but they're still doing what we've been doing for 50 years, and it's the same thing we've been doing exclusively for 38 years. The only reason they can do it cheaper and better is because they already know how to do it.

Imagine if Columbus, under a government contract to Spain, sailed to a Caribbean island. And all the governments of Europe kept sending people to the same Caribbean island. Suddenly, some upstart private enterprise manages to fund and undertake their own voyage, and goes to the exact same island. Not exactly what I call doing something new. It's the same thing with space. We keep doing the same thing over and over again, and it's not really getting us anywhere.

No private industry, has ever had the MASSIVE resources that the US government threw at NASA during the sixties. The technological jump that was achieved from late 1950 to late 1960 didn't come out of thin air, not even with the brightest minds available. Just saying but in 1966 NASA received 5.5 % of the US Federal Budget. Right now NASA receives about 0.55% thats a reduction of over 90% over the Apollo era. So any kind of comparison is simply moot.
Its a miracle that a private capsule even managed to achieve an orbit, and lets not forget that these entrepreneurs are walking in the tracks layed down by NASA and the Soviets over the course of several decades.

SpaceX and the other private industries are still reaping the benefits from those resources.

One of the main reasons that the NASA budget in the mid sixties was so high was the way they were operating, and the political climate. NASA was given a goal of beating the Russians to the moon. Us Americans were going to beat those dang Ruskies if it took everything we had. So we funded every project that might work. Some guy had an idea, they shoveled money into it until it was proven, or it was surpassed by somebody else's idea.

It's not a miracle. It's a government contract. SpaceX was contracted by the government to provide supply flights, so that's what they're working on. Furthermore, private companies have put things into orbit before. We've been down those tracks, we've worn them down, we're stuck in a rut.

Don't get me wrong, though. I'm fully in favor of letting private industry take over supplying Space Station, and ferrying crews to it. I even support letting them take over operating the thing. Let private industry have LEO. NASA needs to get out of that rut, and start reaching higher. If we are to have a future in space, we need to go further.