Despite the setback of a year ago at XCOR, there’s still hope for spaceflight. An inspiring interview with Jeff Greason.
[Thursday-morning update]
A little back story.
@rocketrepreneur @YouTube That interview was given about a week before what I knew was last chance effort to stay at XCOR. I stand by it.
— Jeff Greason (@JeffGreason) October 13, 2016
Thanks for posting this Rand.
-SJ
His opening statement is a contrast to that article linked the other day at the end of the Mars colonization post.
We already have science fiction books, movies, and TV shows. Some are popular, others not, but the market is already there. Maybe some new people can be brought into fandom but for the most part, people already consume as much scifi as they want.
In the link from the other post, inspiration is supposed to lead to support of the government and its partners but Greason is already inspired to build something.
Stories can be inspiring but equally, if not more, inspiring are people’s real stories of accomplishment. If NASA or anyone else wants the support of the populace, then they need to do something to earn it, not just make posters.
Imagine what might be accomplished if Greason had a weekly space show to inspire the public?
Not much more. Public inspiration is pretty much meaningless. It has to make money, and offer people something on a personal basis. “Inspiration of the public” is Apolloism.
I respect your skepticism Rand, but inspiration does matter.
Especially in the dumbed down culture wars we find ourselves in. How many people’s careers were affected by Apollo and Star Trek? Why does Hollywood continue to rewrite history in their image?
I thought Jeff wasn’t at XCOR anymore? I don’t put much faith in the current administration from what I’ve heard so far. Regardless of how economically viable you think the approach is (I’m not a fan of HTHL) Jeff actually believed in the approach and his team made meaningful steps towards it especially with regards to propulsion. He had a vision and followed it. The current leadership doesn’t have a vision at all so I don’t see this working.
As he tweeted, it was recorded a year or so ago.