4 ms·

There's a race. NASA, not the world's richest man is driving this. I don't understand these takes that don't get the industry

FireBeyond 2y ago
Wasn't SpaceX founded with Musk's goal of getting mankind to Mars ASAP? Hasn't he made several promises of timelines for unmanned and manned flights to Mars? Where is NASA in that?
- inemesitaffia 2y ago
  Artemis. The Moon. That's what's starship is running for wrt to NASA goals. That's also what China wants to do
  - lupusreal 2y ago
    The Moon is just a vanity project for both countries. The real race is to be the country capable of putting the most mass into orbit before the war between the US and China starts. China was briefly in the lead a few years ago, until SpaceX singlehandedly squished them like a tiny bug. But the Chinese aren't laying down and accepting defeat, they're hard at work developing Falcon and Starship clones of their own. If America gets too cocky and retards SpaceX's development, China wills overtake America again. Probably in time for their promised invasion of Taiwan.
leptons 2y ago
Okay, if there's "a race", then what is the finish line? What needs to happen for someone to "win"? And what happens to the loser? Does the loser still get to pass the finish line? What award is given for "winning" this "race"? This is not a first-past-the-post game. Superiority in space isn't predicated on someone "getting there first", and if we're talking about military pursuits, then getting there first simply won't win if the competition puts up a weapon 100x more powerful even if it's "second" getting there by a week or a month. China and the US are not at war, and both sides know it would be extremely foolish for either side to engage in a war with each other, so I'm not sure what you really think is going on.
- inemesitaffia 2y ago
  Artemis is a program that has international meaning for the US and it's co-signing partners. I'm sure you've heard of "here to stay" wrt to the moon. I'm sure you remember the victory lap with the moon landing. Here it's China rather than Russia. The US has won in commercial launch and LEO communications. The next step is the moon. All this has been in planning before SpaceX existed. Someone else has answered you too.

FireBeyond 2y ago

Wasn't SpaceX founded with Musk's goal of getting mankind to Mars ASAP? Hasn't he made several promises of timelines for unmanned and manned flights to Mars? Where is NASA in that?

inemesitaffia 2y ago
Artemis. The Moon. That's what's starship is running for wrt to NASA goals. That's also what China wants to do
- lupusreal 2y ago
  The Moon is just a vanity project for both countries. The real race is to be the country capable of putting the most mass into orbit before the war between the US and China starts. China was briefly in the lead a few years ago, until SpaceX singlehandedly squished them like a tiny bug. But the Chinese aren't laying down and accepting defeat, they're hard at work developing Falcon and Starship clones of their own. If America gets too cocky and retards SpaceX's development, China wills overtake America again. Probably in time for their promised invasion of Taiwan.

leptons 2y ago

Okay, if there's "a race", then what is the finish line? What needs to happen for someone to "win"? And what happens to the loser? Does the loser still get to pass the finish line? What award is given for "winning" this "race"? This is not a first-past-the-post game. Superiority in space isn't predicated on someone "getting there first", and if we're talking about military pursuits, then getting there first simply won't win if the competition puts up a weapon 100x more powerful even if it's "second" getting there by a week or a month. China and the US are not at war, and both sides know it would be extremely foolish for either side to engage in a war with each other, so I'm not sure what you really think is going on.

inemesitaffia 2y ago
Artemis is a program that has international meaning for the US and it's co-signing partners. I'm sure you've heard of "here to stay" wrt to the moon. I'm sure you remember the victory lap with the moon landing. Here it's China rather than Russia. The US has won in commercial launch and LEO communications. The next step is the moon. All this has been in planning before SpaceX existed. Someone else has answered you too.