@adhdeanasl given what he says immediately afterwards I think the point is a reasonable one.

after all, JPL and NASA exist because a bunch of nutters tried to make rocket fuel in their dorm, and rather than expel them they gave them access to an old shed and told them to keep at it. most of what they were doing was just mixing energetic compounds together to see what stuck, what exploded, and what turned into deeply offensive tar that would strip the paint off walls at twenty yards.