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NASA chief suggests SpaceX may be booted from moon mission

(www.cnn.com)
404 points voxleone | 14 comments | 21 Oct 25 12:58 UTC | HN request time: 0.001s | source | bottom
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allenrb ◴[21 Oct 25 20:38 UTC] No.45661384[source]▶
There is just so much wrong with this from start to finish. Here are a few things, by no means inclusive:

1. We’ve already beaten China to the moon by 56 years, 3 months, and some change. And counting.

2. Nothing based around SLS is remotely serious. The cost and timeline of doing anything with it are unreasonable. It is an absolute dead-end. The SpaceX Super Heavy has been more capable arguably as early as the second flight test and certainly now. They could have built a “dumb” second stage at any time, but aren’t that short-sighted.

3. Blue Origin? I’ve had high hopes for the guys for two decades now. Don’t hold your breath.

4. Anyone else? Really, really don’t hold your breath.

This whole “race to the moon, part II” is almost criminally stupid. Land on the moon when we can accomplish something there, not just to prove we haven’t lost our mojo since Apollo.

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testing22321 ◴[21 Oct 25 21:34 UTC] No.45662019[source]▶
> We’ve already beaten China to the moon by 56 years, 3 months, and some change. And counting

Of course, but there a few things to consider.

1. This is a new race. The olympics happen every four years to see which nation is the current best. It seems it’s time to find out again.

2. The last time the US was dominant was 56 years ago. That’s three generations. Based on SLS and the comments here, it seems extremely unlikely the US is still dominant. Let’s find out.

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tw04 ◴[21 Oct 25 22:55 UTC] No.45662772[source]▶
>Based on SLS and the comments here, it seems extremely unlikely the US is still dominant.

Literally every other nation is trying to catch up to Space-X and is nowhere close. An American company, based in American, primarily staffed by American engineers.

I don't know by what measure you'd say that the US isn's still far, far ahead but I don't know of any other country currently re-using rockets dozens of times. What did I miss?

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1. harimau777 ◴[21 Oct 25 23:06 UTC] No.45662905[source]▶
Personally, I think it matters whether its achieved by a private company versus by society. That's especially the case when the private company is so closely tied to someone who hates and alienates so much of society. I don't think that I could view a win for Musk as a win for anything that looks like my chunk of the US.

There's also the fact that part of NASA's mission is to share their knowledge with the public.

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2. tw04 ◴[21 Oct 25 23:35 UTC] No.45663140[source]▶
>Personally, I think it matters whether its achieved by a private company versus by society.

How exactly are you making the distinction? Space-X wouldn't exist without governemnt funding. CATL sells launches to commercial entities as well as servicing the government.

Official ownership? Because China seems to think a lot of what Space-X is doing can only be accomplished by the commercial sector and is funding startups in China to do the same thing.

https://spacenews.com/chinas-landspace-secures-state-backed-...

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3. nxor ◴[21 Oct 25 23:41 UTC] No.45663182[source]▶
> so much of society

Much of society agrees with his points on crime

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4. eru ◴[22 Oct 25 00:42 UTC] No.45663660[source]▶
> Personally, I think it matters whether its achieved by a private company versus by society.

People appreciate German cars just fine, and no one seems to be particularly bothered that they are produced by workers in private sector companies instead of 'by society'. Whatever that even means.

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5. tclancy ◴[22 Oct 25 02:24 UTC] No.45664252[source]▶
Who any profits go to would be an easy first measure.
6. vkou ◴[22 Oct 25 02:57 UTC] No.45664456[source]▶
> China seems to think a lot of what Space-X is doing can only be accomplished by the commercial sector and is funding startups in China to do the same thing.

That's how China's been running their economy for decades. Every few years, the government sets a direction everyone should row in, and generally lets private firms figure out which one of them will get there fastest.

7. harimau777 ◴[22 Oct 25 17:24 UTC] No.45672318[source]▶
I'm not sure that I understand how a consumer product like a car is similar to something done for inherent value like space exploration.

When I say "by society" I mean a non-private organization like NASA.

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8. harimau777 ◴[22 Oct 25 18:29 UTC] No.45673231[source]▶
I don't think that matters. There's still roughly half of society that doesn't. Meanwhile NASA has something like a 90% approval rating.
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9. nxor ◴[22 Oct 25 19:40 UTC] No.45674145{3}[source]▶
It's just wrong to say he hates and alienates society. As far as crime is concerned (which I brought up), he stands for those of us that live in violent areas and can't just scream what the other side does.
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10. harimau777 ◴[22 Oct 25 21:51 UTC] No.45675626{4}[source]▶
I don't know what to say. He clearly hates trans people, routinely shares anti-semetic content, and sure seems to hate anyone on the left.
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11. eru ◴[22 Oct 25 22:47 UTC] No.45676129{3}[source]▶
The space exploration is done by NASA using inputs from the private sector, like hammers or rockets.

> When I say "by society" I mean a non-private organization like NASA.

Is there any non-government organisation that can do any good in your opinion? What about a charitable trust? What about mostly unorganised protesters like those that moved Germany towards unification?

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12. nxor ◴[23 Oct 25 00:11 UTC] No.45676736{5}[source]▶
He is critical of the trans movement. He is not antisemitic. He supports pro Israel parties. If the right is hateful, why has there been an increase of liberal killers? This is a genuine question - I am neither liberal nor conservative
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13. harimau777 ◴[23 Oct 25 01:48 UTC] No.45677303{4}[source]▶
Charities can do a lot of good. When it comes to stuff like this, my only concern is whether they are able to discriminate against people.

It's mainly profit oriented organizations that I don't trust.

14. harimau777 ◴[23 Oct 25 01:52 UTC] No.45677318{6}[source]▶
The vast majority of political killers are right wing.

Saying that his daughter is dead to him because she transitioned and working to remove trans rights is a bit more than just being "critical of the trans movement".

Again I don't know what to say. If sharing neo-Nazi material and doing a Hitler salute isn't anti-semitic then I don't know what is.