Alan Boyle has updated his coverage of last week’s and weekend’s rocket festivities up in the desert. Stupid comments like this are somewhat dismaying, as usual:
Definitely not a million dollar subject to write about Alan. These amateur rockets look like something cobbled together from legos by crazy kids. Write about these amateurs when they do something significant like getting one of their Frankenstein rockets into space, or to the moon.
The real news was the awesome success Ares 1-X had yesterday, why no Cosmic Log article Alan? NASA showed us they are still the professional adult at the rocket launching party. What a beautiful sight it was to watch the Ares 1-X launch live on NASA tv. We need to give more money to NASA to get the Ares and Constellation programs rocking and rolling to the moon and Mars.
Go NASA!
Yes, go NASA, which has billions of taxpayer dollars to play with, with little accountability. But yeah, let’s give them even more money.
Whereas Armadillo and Masten are accountable to their shareholders, which is why they accomplish so much for so little money. So who are the “adults” at this party, again? Give either of these companies one one hundredth of what NASA spent on the Corndog flight, and see how far they get with it. I’d bet a lot higher than the Corndog flew. In fact, I suspect that Armadillo for one will be higher within a year, with their existing funds.
[Update a few minutes later]
Mike Massee has put up a nice photo gallery.
[Mid-morning update]
Speaking of Armadillo flying higher, they got to almost two thousand feet yesterday.
Actually the relevant comparison is NASA and Ares 1X to SpaceX and Falcon, and the relevant point is that SpaceX built on thirty years of entrepreneurial, commercial space launch activity, much of which was, at the beginning, on a scale similar to or even more modest than the NGLLC contestants. And the entire combined investment in commercial space launch over that time period was probably not much more than the cost of the Corn Dog.
And it’s interesting that the same people who call the Corn Dog’s flight a brilliant success called the Falcon flight that experienced a similar recontact a failure.
Stupid comments like this are somewhat dismaying, as usual:
And that’s another reason I can add to my catalogue of silly reasons for supporting NASA/SDLV: hero worship.
1. The government forces, at the point of a gun, everybody who has a job to contribute the sweat of their labor to the government to do the “majority will”. The virtual slave time is presently over 1/4 of the average person’s working life.
2. Bread and Circuses.
I find it difficult to believe that the people who enjoy # 2 really understand #1.
Uh, Rand, I assume that what you meant was “go _away_ NASA.” 😉
I think that both Armadillo and Masten may (relatively) soon be exceeding the corndog’s altitude. Armadillo may do it first, but Masten has its own assets that may bring them to nearer term commercial apps (as opposed to free rides for instruments).
Masten plans to start doing its own ‘boosted hops’ with Xoie and/or its planned (not quite)twin brother “Brutus” very shortly.
We may be about to see a very interesting but friendly “race” between the companies.
I find it difficult to believe that the people who enjoy # 2 really understand #1.
Progressive taxation. Entitlements.
The guy comments three times (and counting…?). I’d respond if it wasn’t feeding a troll.
“Yeah, take the $1.35M away from these “amateurs” so we can have two extra camera angles of a $501.65M re-do of Ares I-X. Smart money!”