I am skeptical of the success rate of rich benefactors for a technology with only a century of practice, vs. boats that have been used for thousands of years.

I am skeptical of the success rate of rich benefactors for a technology with only a century of practice, vs. boats that have been used for thousands of years. >In current dollar terms, R&D spending is double what it was in the 1970s. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budget_of_NASA#/media/File:NASA-Budget-Federal.svg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budget_of_NASA#/media/File:NAS... And there are more budgets to be involved than just these two.