printOh the contradictions of being a Republican! Republicans, the ostensible party for market forces, were furious when Barack Obama and his posse privatized aspects in the operation of NASA, the National Aeronautic Space Administration, perhaps the only good move BHO has ever made as president (although he should have privatized the whole thing).
Hungry to sustain the National Greatness Agenda in whatever statist way possible, conservatives slammed BHO on the NASA front.
Now, a private company based in California, called SpaceX, has launched a spacecraft to the International Space Stationbuilt. This via BBCNews:
The head of Nasa has hailed a “new era” in exploration after the launch of the first cargo delivery to the space station by a private company.
The Falcon rocket, topped by an unmanned Dragon freight capsule, lifted clear of its Florida pad at 03:44 EDT (07:44 GMT; 08:44 BST).
The launch system has been built by California-based firm SpaceX.
The initial climb to an altitude some 340km above the Earth lasted a little under 10 minutes.
Within moments of being ejected, Dragon opened its solar panels.
It also unpacked its navigation equipment.
Nasa’s administrator Charles Bolden said: “Today marks the beginning of a new era in exploration… The significance of this day cannot be overstated …
This is very good news. NASA lost it’s way long ago…I remember the morning of the Challenger disaster very well. Just leaving my apt. in NYC to go to work, one last look at live coverage of the launch and I noticed thick, 10-foot long icicles hanging off the booster rockets. The thought occured: my car doesn’t work when frozen solid, why would a spaceship? No surprise when it blew up, and ditto w the later one. I’m sure private entrepreneurs can do much, much better. Unsubsidized, they have a reason to.
I small a (subsidized) rat!
Unmanned satellites are commercially viable. Astroboy is not.
Ask yourself this – how many commercial condos are there 3 miles off Waikiki or Miami or Malibu underwater (where there is access to air, electricity, transportation, and water)? Then tell me how viable it is to live outside Earth!
I read that SpaceX received $400 million dollars from NASA. If so, NASA did save a bundle of money I would think.
Greg – neither a socialistic government bureaucracy NOR a fascistic crony capitalist company mooching off taxpayer funding should be sending people into space. When Ralph Kramden proposed putting Alice on the moon, he didn’t try to use taxpayers’ money.