You probably heard the news this weekend about the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket liftoff. It was the third mission testing Elon Musk’s investment in space technology. After running a series of tests on the Dragon capsule it was maneuvered to within 30ft of the International Space Station and captured with the ISS’s robotic arm (yes, Diane, the Canadarm2).
The NASA commentary on the event was probably an understatement of the feelings involved.
Station, Houston, congratulations on a wonderful capture. You’ve made a lot of folk happy down here and over in Hawthorne and right here in Houston. Great job, guys.
Those people in Huston and Hawthorne had something to party about that night. At 250 miles up and traveling at 17,000 mph the ISS isn’t the easiest thing to pay a visit.
Elon Musk may have invested in the Falcon/Dragon development, but much of the money came from NASA and government grants. Ignoring the fact that NASA screwed up its replacement for the shuttle, it argues the time has come for transport to low earth orbit to be handed over to the private sector. They cite the impassioned argument that the discovery of America was sponsored by government, but it was commercial companies that really took over the task.
They might be right, but what do you think? Will SpaceX’s historic achievement herald a new ear of space exploration, or will this simply migrate knowledge from NASA to private industry with little overall gain?
Cheers!
(Images courtesy of Wikipedia)
Geesh, Nigel, why don’t you throw me an easy question every once in a while?
Can I comment on stray socks instead? No? RATS!
My vote would land squarely with private industry because they somehow manage to accomplish things without involvement of Czar(s) and new agencies. Caveat? Pull in some of the talent currently seeking post-NASA employment.
But, I suspect our dear government would jump in to protect us from ourselves and layer on enough red tape to create a direct link from the ISS to Planet Earth. Oh, yeah! Let’s bring on the multi-gazillion dollar lawsuits when homeowners build next to the launch sites AFTER they’re in place.
Me thinks the cynic within is stirring. I think I’ll go boogie to some CW music to get back in snark writing mode.
Gd jb agn, Ngl. Chrs!
Hi Gloria. You complain about easy questions then you come up with a good answer anyway. 🙂 I really don’t know “the answer” but I’m sure you’re right about the layers of red tape – as soon as someone has money for something someone wants to create an agency (with high paid director) to oversee it. I guess we’ll see if NASA can combat this.
Cheers!
You stretch my mind in new directions, Nigel.
Snap, Rip. Ouch.
I know that you know your stuff, so I’d love to answer your question with a worthy opinion. However, while you may know your stuff, I do not know your stuff. I barely know my stuff. And after clearing out my garage, I gotta tell ya, I’ve got a lot of stuff. Or rather, I had a lot of stuff. 2 charity runs, 2 dump runs and one garage sale later, I don’t have nearly so much stuff. Returning stuff to adult children who moved out, migrated home then moved out again but left the stuff they’d acquired over the first move out…
Point is, I don’t have much stuff, what stuff I have, I barely understand, and so while I appreciate and respect your stuff, I do not feel I am fit to form an opinion on your stuff.
But since this is space and flight stuff, IMHO, you, Nigel, have the Right Stuff.
LOL! Ok, Sherry, I give in. I’ve struggled with another (clean) use of the word stuff and can’t find one. I will say that my garage needs some serious charity/dumpster runs because of it. I’ll see if I can shoe-in something more to you liking next week 🙂
Cheers!
Quite an accomplishment.
Hi David.
It really is a lot of a pretty new company to have achieved. The big guys have been launching satellites for ages, but these guys are the first people to link up with the ISS.
Cheers!
Ah, yes, raise a (Canadian) beer for the Canadarm 2. 🙂
Switching development over to private industry is the only way anything ever gets produced economically and efficiently.
Problem is, private industry also tends to cut corners to maximize profit, which doesn’t seem like such a good thing when you’re looking at hard vacuum through a rapidly-developing crack in the window…
Hi Diane.
Ah yes, the long arm of the … Canadians! (that would be “law” in case that British-ism hasn’t made it up there!). I wonder if anyone did use it to open a beer before it went aloft?
Private industry may be the way to get costs down, but as you say the balance with quality is a constant battle. The old joke for the early astronauts was that they were riding on the cheapest bid. Not a happy thought. On the other hand, air travel has been made amazingly safe given the cut throat competition.
Cheers!
I have mixed feelings on this one. On the one hand, I agree with what Diane said–private industry tends to cut corners. But on the other hand, NASA has obviously cut corners in the past as well, and the government would, I’m sure, do whatever they could to keep it in their hands vi red tape, etc etc. I’m amazed there haven’t been more tragic incidents with the space program, to be honest.
I guess what I’m wondering is, if space travel does become privatized, does it become strictly a recreational thing? Will there be any point to it besides doing it just because you can? Or will there be a continued concerted effort to explore and experiment? And will the right people be involved? Businessmen really shouldn’t be making the decisions about space missions–just like politicians shouldn’t.
That doesn’t really answer your question, does it.
Madame
Er, um, yes. I don’t think that answers my original question, but your new ones are shiny and …. oh, shiny. Oh, wait, back to the subject. NASA uses private industry to build things to its requirements at the moment, it’s just that they are going to move away to more general requirements, such as deliver a ton of food next month, rather than build a rocket like this. To me that’s a scary change, but hey, I don’t like trying new tubes to toothpaste, so I may be a little paranoid.
The bigger question is in the shiny ones you ask. Will NASA lose the knowledge that would enable them to make further inroads into space exploration? My suspicion is that they will know less – private companies will claim proprietary rights in order to compete with each other, keeping NASA less knowledgeable. On the other hand, will diversity in earth orbit operations lead to better technology to master the larger distances? It probably will. Will one out weight the other? Er….
And you’re right, given its dangers space exploration has been merciful to date, just don’t going running an “astronauts competition” anytime soon, eh?
Cheers!
Our government is too bogged down with bureaucracy and hidden agendas for an actual space program to be successful. It takes risk, which is something government is adverse to. If it doesn’t help get votes, it’s not going to be a high priority, no matter what the benefits might be. Government has no real place in space exploration in my opinion. Interesting article as always Nigel!
Hi Charity
Private industry isn’t that keen on risk either, but you’re right that if it doesn’t get votes it’s not going to get congressional support. The government has been involved in every manned space program run by this country. Perhaps whether private industry wants to take on the risks depends on whether there is something for them when they get up there, just like the traders who came to the US.
Cheers!
Hmm. This will be interesting to see how it plays out. For now the profit motive would be experimental payloads for anyone willing to pay for the experiment and satellite launches and repairs.
One concern that comes to mind is the security of the satellites. Defense contractors (such as TRW) have a piss poor record on security. The University of California has done a miserable job of maintaning information security at the Los Alamos National Labs (the place where China designed it’s nuclear weapons at the expense of US taxpayers). Sadly the federal government has been patheticly lax in dealing with seurity leaks by contractors. A few of the perpertrators have been prosecuted but the lazy overpaid boobs in charge have gone untouched.
I won’t depress everyone with more examples of hideous security disasters but security would be my primary concern when dealing with private ventures in space.
Satellite security is an interesting problem. As systems become more complex, more people are involved and the chances for leaks grow. As you say we do a poor job now and do little to learn from our mistakes. NASA has done an equally poor job in reducing us to needing commercial companies or Russian rockets to keep us in space in the first place.
Cheers!