Re:Space Station grabs SpaceX Dragon ship
by tobtoh on Friday May 25, 2012 @01:56PM
(#4024675)
I think if you are comparing 'accomplishments' based on 'lives saved', then your comment has a lot of validity.
But to me, the reason the SpaceX success is so noteworthy is that that achievement isn't just new, but ground breaking on so many levels.
* first time a private firm has created, launched and docked a space craft
* done it on a budget several magnitudes less than ever done before
* done it with a fraction of the staff than conventionally used
* opened a new era in space development
Whilst I'm being grossly unfair to medical researchers, at a simplistic level I see most new vaccines like the release of a new model of car - beneficial, but incremental development . Whereas I see the SpaceX achievement as something that broke all the conventional wisdom on how things could be done.
And that's what makes it so special and worth celebrating a bit more than other accomplishments.
But to me, the reason the SpaceX success is so noteworthy is that that achievement isn't just new, but ground breaking on so many levels.
* first time a private firm has created, launched and docked a space craft
* done it on a budget several magnitudes less than ever done before
* done it with a fraction of the staff than conventionally used
* opened a new era in space development
Whilst I'm being grossly unfair to medical researchers, at a simplistic level I see most new vaccines like the release of a new model of car - beneficial, but incremental development . Whereas I see the SpaceX achievement as something that broke all the conventional wisdom on how things could be done.
And that's what makes it so special and worth celebrating a bit more than other accomplishments.