I'm not at all a fan of Felon Muscovite
But the cost of Boeing starlifter is between 2.5 to 3.5 billion for a single use vehicle.
Meanwhile, SpaceX Delta rockets do over 100+ orbital flights a year and the Spaceship is well on the way to full reusability...
...in no small part because Felon is only a figurehead.
The great success of SpaceX has been the falcon nine I think.
Let’s put it this way, the heavy lift vehicle went up into space completed its job and the world can move on.
Everything I’ve seen about his starship is litany of jokes. The payload continues to shrink with every iteration, even though he makes the thing bigger the biggest payload he’s managed so far is a banana and a low earth orbit, and the banana didn’t survive because the ship crashed on reentry
Every time his Nazi rocket blows up I have mixed feelings.
On one hand, humanity progress is retarded.
On the other, Nazi rocket progress is retarded.
I am hopeful that the rumours about human ARV (Alien Reverse engineered vehicles) are true and Musk is just chasing a tech dead end.
You are right about Falcon, Delta was retired in 2024, I think I stopped being a Musk fan when his anti-Trans and anti-Woke hate became obvious...2022?
With regard to humanity’s progress being retarded, I would like to propose that the entire effort is a miss allocation of human effort of money of resources and human talent to pursue a goal that is not relevant to the most important things we need to address. But if we were to talk about advancing Space Travel, I would like to suggest that the approach of the project is also misconceived
Back in the 1970(?) I think.
There was an analysis done on "money wasted" by the space program. Because there were anti-space congressmen.
They found for every dollars spent, the US program brought in 4.
Some if the inventions were;
Memory Foam
Scratch-Resistant Lenses
Freeze-Dried Food
Cordless Tools
Water Purification Systems
Infrared Ear Thermometer
Improvements
Medical Imaging (MRI/CT)
Lightweight Prosthetics
Radiant Barriers (Insulation)
And that's not counting, all the orbitals tech like weather, comma, geo mapping etc sats and marvels like Hubble, Chandra and Webb
Sure, but I think the thing to be said is I’d rather see all of this in the public domain rather than in the hands of you know who.
For example, NASA’s program of smaller, lighter faster that have put multiple robotic units out into space to explore the solar system has been a tremendous success.
Just think of the insanity of Starlink and the prospect of it, making access to space impossible
I was a big fan of #Starlink initially as it brought Internet globally to literally everywhere.
It also gave #Ukraine huge advantage against the rus invader...
...the more time passes, the more it seems there is a big downside to it, one of the astronomers I am following is now saying we are just waiting for a #kessler cascade...
This is the sky above my state right now, and there is only 4-5 legit SATs up there...I wish it was a global UN program and not a broligarch crapfest...
Probably follow her too (you know, sheep, and goats and raging about the destruction of terrestrial based astronomy, that sort of thing)
...but for me, the greatest reason for a #space program is all the warmongers who make things to kill people, can make things that uplift humanity, literally.
All the war industry is space industry.
“If you want to build a ship, don't drum up people to collect wood and don't assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.”
- Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (Pilot, too)
The stars are calling...
...and I must go.
GhostOnTheHalfShell
Wulfy—Speaker to the machines