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I'm not sure if I would call the vanity project of one of the richest people on earth an "underdog". Btw, "If they're lucky, it's just a stupid mistake" is act
by steve1977 5mo ago
I'm not sure if I would call the vanity project of one of the richest people on earth an "underdog".
Btw, "If they're lucky, it's just a stupid mistake" is actually interesting.
If you're at that stage and spending so much money, I would consider making stupid mistakes to be catastrophic.
- AdamN 5mo agoSort of - if it's determined that somebody bypassed a safety control they can just make the control firmer and fire that person and move onto other things. If it's some fundamental flaw in the engine design that could set them back months/years.
- imglorp 5mo agoBO was founded in 2000 and has about 2 orbital launches with a partly reusable system. They build rockets. SpaceX was founded in 2002 and has around 660 orbital launches with a fully reusable system. They build rocket factories. BO is absolutely the underdog, in every way, unless you want to count 38 suborbital joyrides, then they're ahead at 38 to 0.
- perilunar 5mo agoNone of the SpaceX orbital launches so far have been fully reusable. The second stage is not recovered.
- brookst 5mo agoAlways hope for the stupid mistake. It’s embarrassing but so much better than having the same problem caused by a complex and difficult-to-root-cause issue. After a long day of working on a car I would much rather have it fail to start because I forgot to connect the battery than fail to start because the starter I replaced had been returned to the store by a previous purchaser, with the wrong part in the box, which was mechanically compatible with the mount but not with the flywheel. (Hypothetically speaking…)
- Rover222 5mo agoCalling Blue Origin a vanity project is so ridiculous.
- steve1977 5mo agoWhat would you say is Jeff Bezos' motivation behind it?
- GMoromisato 5mo agoJeff Bezos loves space exploration. He loves O'Neil's vision of orbital colonies, and he firmly believes that moving heavy industry to orbit will leave Earth better off. That's not a vanity project. The Washington Post, on the other hand, he purchased as a trophy. That's the vanity project.
- Rover222 5mo agoLots of Americans are only capable of this logic for now: billionaire bad
- steve1977 5mo agoIt's more like pretending to care about earth but living a lifestyle with private jets and yachts: hypocrisy
- j1mc 5mo agoI disagree. The poet Gary Snyder thought space travel was unimaginative - that living life as things are on earth was more interesting and challenging. Owning the Washington Post gives him control over a high visibility U.S. news operation. Nothing vanity about that.
- NetMageSCW 5mo agoApparently Gary Snyder was an idiot.
- 5mo ago