Re:Robots are not very good at picking strawberries yet
by craftyguy on Wednesday March 21, 2018 @12:33AM
(#16635484)
The difference between the technology to build a 69 Camaro and a vehicle to take us to the Moon (heh, among many) is that the technology to build the Camaro has steadily evolved into the technology we use to build cars today, whereas we literally stopped making Moon transfer vehicles about 50 years ago and literally haven't made anything since that is capable of doing it again.
[ Parent
| on HN ]
Re:Robots are not very good at picking strawberries yet
by Gibbon1 on Wednesday March 21, 2018 @12:44AM
(#16635529)
It's not the the technology hasn't advanced. There's been a lot of improvements in aerospace manufacturing techniques and materials since then. It's just the cost vs interest isn't there.
In the case of the US the space shuttle program was the big disaster. Keeping them operational consumed so much of NASA's budget that they couldn't afford to develop a heavy lift vehicle. That and the bloated US military industrial pork complex can't make anything on time and on budget.
Re:Robots are not very good at picking strawberries yet
by JetSpiegel on Wednesday March 21, 2018 @08:31AM
(#16637453)
> It's not the the technology hasn't advanced. There's been a lot of improvements in aerospace manufacturing techniques and materials since then. It's just the cost vs interest isn't there.
Isn't that a distinction without difference?
We have the technology to solve world hunger, it's just the cost vs interest isn't there.
Re:Robots are not very good at picking strawberries yet
by valuearb on Wednesday March 21, 2018 @01:53AM
(#16635807)
We could be sending people to the moon monthly if NASA got out of the business of building launch vehicles. The first version of the SLS will be only lift slightly more than the Falcon Heavy, yet each launch of the SLS will cost over $2B while the Heavy costs $100M.