3 ms·
You're better off with a plan along the lines of "launch a less-good-but-still-perfectly-fine new space telescope every couple of years" so that you eventually
by kabdib 5y ago
You're better off with a plan along the lines of "launch a less-good-but-still-perfectly-fine new space telescope every couple of years" so that you eventually get good at it, and can afford to make mistakes.
A few hundred million for each launch; heck, the long-term ground support is probably more expensive than the flights and the hardware after a while.
- a9h74j 5y agoAbout 10-15 years ago the European Space Agency was advertising that philosophy. IIRC they contrasted perfectionism (or zero risk) and slow learning against smaller experiments and faster learning. There was also some third term contrasted, perhaps that being that all-or-nothing huge projects demand a shift toward zero-risk and slow learning.