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404 points voxleone | 3 comments | | HN request time: 0s | source
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allenrb ◴[] 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 ◴[] 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 ◴[] 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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harimau777 ◴[] 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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eru ◴[] 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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1. harimau777 ◴[] 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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2. eru ◴[] No.45676129[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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3. harimau777 ◴[] No.45677303[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.