Quote:
Originally Posted by SteamWake
A private enterprise has never put a manned spacecraft into orbit.
That would be different.
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So, private industry has demonstrated that it can do what was done 50 years ago? Indeed. The pace of progress staggers the mind.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TLAM Strike
But Space X has 50 years of NASA and Soviet tech/experience to learn from...
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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.