My main point is that a space exploration capability is more than just rocketry. You are right, the rocket boosters were originally military-developed, and eve

My main point is that a space exploration capability is more than just rocketry. You are right, the rocket boosters were originally military-developed, and even today, many launch vehicles have heritage in the military. But, as we move past the first phase of the space program (demonstration orbiters), and NASA started to design capsules for astronauts and complex remote sensing instruments, rocketry became a smaller piece of the technology pie. I tried to amplify this point by noting examples where NASA-DoD partnerships have fizzled, mainly due to cultural/technology mismatches. The reason I replied to the comment is that it referred to SpaceX not having a DoD minder, as if that distinguishes SpaceX from today's NASA. There is no DoD minder calling the shots at NASA, so this struck me as a weird thing to say. (I have worked at JPL for many years...not on rockets. ;-)