When the precision radar scans planned for 2013 show Apophis is going to hit the Earth, I'm going to chuckle evilly and tell humanity that it deserves it. No, I won't help rush build a rocket to deflect it. No, I don't care how many will die. You politicians prefer prayer to science? Pray it away then; I'm done working for shortsighted fools and idiots.
I quite understand. With the announcement of the rape of the Webb telescope yesterday, I think NASA is dead.
I think the US Government is out of space now. Thankfully, commercial space flight is coming along. I was pleasantly surprised to see that Blue Origin is doing the Delta Clipper work over again (and Bezos is showing that he does take the long view - see the 10,000 year clock), and both Sierra Nevada and Scaled Composites working on the lifting bodies ideas - I think private space will help us.
Still, it's sad that NASA only got about a 50 year run. With politicians screwing things up - I think we're coming up on the time when things will aggressively get straightened out.
Wait till you see the commercial companies decide space is too dangerous and the pay too low and quit. Nasa went in halfsies with Lockheed to make the Venturestar. When Congress pulled its money because they had a dingbat running the program (instead of retiring the dingbat) Lockheed could have gone it alone. But they decided it wasn't a good business decision and quit it. When will SpaceX and Virgin quit I wonder?
Space is and always will be very dangerous and difficult to work in. And corporations fear the dangerous and difficult, preferring low hanging profits to risk. When the first crews on a Dragon die and the lawsuits start flying, then we will see who has the stones to reach for the future and who crawls under their crib.
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I think the US Government is out of space now. Thankfully, commercial space flight is coming along. I was pleasantly surprised to see that Blue Origin is doing the Delta Clipper work over again (and Bezos is showing that he does take the long view - see the 10,000 year clock), and both Sierra Nevada and Scaled Composites working on the lifting bodies ideas - I think private space will help us.
Still, it's sad that NASA only got about a 50 year run. With politicians screwing things up - I think we're coming up on the time when things will aggressively get straightened out.
Reply
Space is and always will be very dangerous and difficult to work in. And corporations fear the dangerous and difficult, preferring low hanging profits to risk. When the first crews on a Dragon die and the lawsuits start flying, then we will see who has the stones to reach for the future and who crawls under their crib.
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