Via Christian Garcia, who has had a change of heart:
I once told a #SpaceX investor that human spaceflight was too complex for a startup. It’s awesome that I was so wrong http://on.mash.to/AzUIQb
Now if we can just turn around Neil Armstrong. I’m encouraged, after seeing him in Palo Alto a few weeks ago. Cernan may be a lost cause, though.
Forget about Cernan. Several years ago he was interviewed for some retrospective and he said that the biggest problem regarding his landing on the moon was learning how to deal with becoming a National Hero.
I don’t see the issue with such a statement. Many of the “Moonwalkers” have made similar statements suggesting that while they were well prepared technically for performing their jobs during the missions, but were much less prepared for the resulting fame and life in the public eye.
…for human flight.
What do you think are the chances of a manned Dragon launched into orbit before SS2 breaks 100 km?
An interesting question, actually. I don’t know how to assess the engine situation on SS2, but I think that’s the driving function to answer it. It also depends on whether or not SpaceX waits for a launch abort system. If there were a station emergency, and a problem with Soyuz, I’d launch it with bean-bag chairs and scuba tanks, along with a crude scrubber.
According to what Musk said on the “60 Minutes” interview last Sunday*, Armstrong and Cernan have never talked to Musk nor have they visited his facility to see the work they’re doing. That means their comments about commercial space in general and SpaceX in particular are based on ignorance about what is going on. Pretty sad.
*That was the first time I’ve watched any news story on the “Fake but Accurate” network in years.
Me, too. it was actually a pretty god show. It led with the SpaceX segment, and then the rest was two segments about face blindness, so all tech and science, not politics.
I suppose the last time I watched 60 minutes was with my father some ~24 or so years ago before I got married; long enough to have forgotten the propensity for a sports event to push the beginning of the show back by many minutes. Therefore my DVR missed recording the last few minutes of the Musk interview. Luckily I was able to see the remainder online.
If you didn’t catch the segment with Craig Venter I’d recommend it.
Doesn’t it seem that Elon has stolen some Tardis technology for his Dragon. It really doesn’t look that big on the outside. I really want to visit for a tour.
Not a big deal about armstrong and cernan. Both are heavily involved in republican party. IOW, this was not about space or America, but about politics (as usual).
The fact that neither have been to spaceX should speak volumes.