I think people forget that failure is endemic to experimental technology. The failure rate in the early days of rocketry was pretty high. Heck, the failure rate these days isn't that close to zero. In my opinion, it's practically a miracle that SpaceX was a success on the fourth attempt, and bodes well for the future.
I've met several astronauts and NASA engineers in my career, and I always ask them what they think of the private space endeavor. The older ones say it's a pipe dream. The younger ones say that the future of space commerce and travel depends on private enterprise.
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JS-Kit/Echo comments for article at http://smallestminority.blogspot.com/2008/09/that-was-freakin-awesome.html (4 comments)
Tentative mapping of comments to original article, corrections solicited.
I think people forget that failure is endemic to experimental technology. The failure rate in the early days of rocketry was pretty high. Heck, the failure rate these days isn't that close to zero. In my opinion, it's practically a miracle that SpaceX was a success on the fourth attempt, and bodes well for the future.
I've met several astronauts and NASA engineers in my career, and I always ask them what they think of the private space endeavor. The older ones say it's a pipe dream. The younger ones say that the future of space commerce and travel depends on private enterprise.
Good for SpaceX, at least someone is still looking up and out.
Video here. It's quite cool, especially the first stage separation.
Linkee no workee!
But it's available here!
Note: All avatars and any images or other media embedded in comments were hosted on the JS-Kit website and have been lost; references to haloscan comments have been partially automatically remapped, but accuracy is not guaranteed and corrections are solicited.
If you notice any problems with this page or wish to have your home page link updated, please contact John Hardin <jhardin@impsec.org>