Comments on: SpaceX Scores a NASA Contract to Resupply the Space Station

By: Dennis

Dennis — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 17:11:38 +0000

God lord. When will we come up with something better than a controlled explosion (many times uncontrolled…) to get into space?
The Japanese are focused on a space elevator. If they actually accomplish it, NASA and all this money will have been a big waste.
How about electromagnetic launch with rocket assist? The technology has gotten to the point where it will be on the next aircraft carrier…
Granted, we are talking about 0-130MPH, but an aircraft carrier has size restrictions. The side of a mountain does not…
NASA has gotten to the point where they are so moribund they are contracting out their rockets.
Now all they need to do is contract out technological development and we may actually find a way to get into space cheap….

By: Fred K

Fred K — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 16:53:24 +0000

I think the prior comment does a disservice to NASA…if there is going to be a commercial space industry, it is thanks to NASA’s contributions, not despite them. NASA proved that interplanetary travel is possible, not to mention footing the bill for fundamental research that has paid dividends for academic and commercial applications alike. Money can always be spent more wisely, but comparatively NASA has accomplished a lot with budgets that are always being reduced; if we compare the amount of money invested in NASA over 4 decades and the return to society vs. other investments like the Iraq War, mortgage bailouts, etc., I think we’ll find NASA to be one of our better investments. I think it is one of the more beneficial facets of government to fund the basic research that can spawn new industries…look at how the Internet evolved from DARPA and how much wealth that has created…the same will be true for space, as clearly the potential for space commerce is so vast that it requires a larger community of players than NASA to tap that potential, again much like the Internet. The complexity of moving goods and people safely through space is also much greater than many other challenges. So let’s not disrespect NASA, as they brought us to this party.

By: Larian LeQuella

Larian LeQuella — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 16:32:10 +0000

Hopefully one day we’ll all look back at NASA and laugh at how poorly the government tried to run a commercial industry like space…