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NASA chief suggests SpaceX may be booted from moon mission

(www.cnn.com)
404 points voxleone | 5 comments | 21 Oct 25 12:58 UTC | HN request time: 0.788s | source
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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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Waterluvian ◴[21 Oct 25 21:41 UTC] No.45662078[source]▶
Re: 1. I think the America of Theseus mindset is a bit troubling. A lot of people like to identify with achievements that they played no role in. Based on zero expertise whatsoever, I have a sense that this is a bit self defeating. To be born a winner, to be taught you’re a winner… how can that be healthy?

Today’s America scores zero points for its accomplishments of the past. But I think one way it can be a good thing is the, “we’ve done it before, we can do it again” attitude. Which is somewhat opposite to “we already won!”

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zdragnar ◴[21 Oct 25 22:36 UTC] No.45662614[source]▶
America cannot possibly win the space race again, because it has already been won. The first to get there has already happened.

The idea that we need to land on the moon once a generation just to say that we are as good at landing on the moon as our parents is absurd.

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Waterluvian ◴[21 Oct 25 22:54 UTC] No.45662767[source]▶
It’s just as absurd today as it was in the 60s. It’s an artificial challenge that focuses attention, with the goal of exercising government, industries, academics, etc. and maybe learn and invent a few things along the way. Yes, yes, Cold War and all those theories. But it had and can again have this greater effect.

It’s kind of like a FIRST Robotics Challenge for nations. The specific goal really doesn’t matter and can just as well be different than the moon. That’s not the interesting part.

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harimau777 ◴[21 Oct 25 23:03 UTC] No.45662862[source]▶
Excellent point! I'd add that it also serves to inspire regular people and get them interested in science.

Unfortunately, I think that's the problem with some of the rhetoric like "the green revolution will be the next space race!" For better or worse, solar panels aren't as inspiring to most people as space is.

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1. heavyset_go ◴[21 Oct 25 23:39 UTC] No.45663160[source]▶
A lot of money and time were behind the space race propaganda arm that got people excited about advancements in space technology.

If the same resources were put into popularizing advancements in energy, you'd see more excitement. As it is, there are kids growing up excited about environmentalism like there were kids growing up excited about space.

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2. anigbrowl ◴[22 Oct 25 06:01 UTC] No.45665370[source]▶
No. Kids are not stupid. You can appreciate environmental innovation while also recognizing that it is fundamentally, qualitatively different from doing difficult things in space. Do you look at the Mars Rover and say to yourself 'big deal, we have cars right here on Earth'?
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3. heavyset_go ◴[22 Oct 25 20:09 UTC] No.45674511[source]▶
I never claimed kids were stupid, my point is that a ton of resources were dumped into things like fan clubs, movies, TV and radio programs, toys, collectibles, children's books, keeping it in the news, etc. We even sent a grade school teacher into space even if that ended in tragedy.

Look at the cult of personality the Soviet Union built around Yuri Gagarin, yes people were always going to find space exploration interesting, but manufacturing a folk hero means even more people will, too, and it becomes something aspirational and seemingly attainable. The Soviets were not unique in doing this, the US did similar things.

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4. harimau777 ◴[22 Oct 25 21:55 UTC] No.45675656{3}[source]▶
I agree that all played a role. I'm just not sure that a similar PR campaign would be able to produce comparable inspiration from, for example, public infrastructure. There's no afro-futurist movie called "The Interstate Highway is the Place".
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5. heavyset_go ◴[22 Oct 25 23:06 UTC] No.45676291{4}[source]▶
I think we were able to strike a chord with nationalist tendencies, which can be strong motivators, for public infrastructure during the New Deal era with the PWA and WPA and their associated propaganda. There was both a personal pride in bettering oneself with hard work, and larger shared pride of building huge, sometimes incredible feats of engineering, infrastructure that your neighbors and nation depend on, and quite literally rebuilding the nation for a new modern era.

There are already some related things in popular culture that seem to inspire younger generations, like new urbanism. The hope for a new way of living can be a huge motivating force.