Re:SpaceX wins $440M contract with NASA to develop Space Shu...
by nitrogen on Saturday August 04, 2012 @09:39PM
(#4340284)
First of all, what do you think you're arguing against? The argument isn't that SpaceX can't do better than existing designs. It isn't that they aren't trying. It isn't that they aren't going around this the right way. It is simply that we do not have data right now to have any real idea how well they actually will do.
It seems we were using a different vocabulary and/or arguing along orthogonal axes. My initial impression of your and ballooney's comments was one of excessive pessimism, presumably to temper what you perceived as excessive optimism.
I'm just an interested layman trying to keep people from giving up on the idea of eventually sending people to Mars, because darn it, I really want to go ;), and I'm willing to accept "extensively simulated and unit tested with a few successful integration/flight tests" as good enough for me.
It seems we were using a different vocabulary and/or arguing along orthogonal axes. My initial impression of your and ballooney's comments was one of excessive pessimism, presumably to temper what you perceived as excessive optimism.
I'm just an interested layman trying to keep people from giving up on the idea of eventually sending people to Mars, because darn it, I really want to go ;), and I'm willing to accept "extensively simulated and unit tested with a few successful integration/flight tests" as good enough for me.