Earlier quoted context omitted.
Then you know nothing of NASA and it's history
NASA hired private companies to engineer and design their early rockets? I thought Wernher von Braun engineered the Saturn V rocket after NASA borrowed him from thew Nazi's
NASA picks Eric Schmidt's rocket company for Mars mission
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Re: NASA picks Eric Schmidt's rocket company for Mars mission
#22Using private rocket companies is highly concerning.
Why? Are private companies not the engineering force in most military equipment these days.
Re: NASA picks Eric Schmidt's rocket company for Mars mission
#23Earlier quoted context omitted.
NASA hired private companies to engineer and design their early rockets? I thought Wernher von Braun engineered the Saturn V rocket after NASA borrowed him from thew Nazi's
worse https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wernher_von_Braun
I would say same. ;)
https://www.thewrap.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/trump-ina...
Re: NASA picks Eric Schmidt's rocket company for Mars mission
#24Picking company that haven't launched anything at the size and range your need where there are competitors that do is ... interesting move.
Re: NASA picks Eric Schmidt's rocket company for Mars mission
#25Picking company that haven't launched anything at the size and range your need where there are competitors that do is ... interesting move.
"trust me bro"
Re: NASA picks Eric Schmidt's rocket company for Mars mission
#26Picking company that haven't launched anything at the size and range your need where there are competitors that do is ... interesting move.
Maybe ES' companies gave they a contract stating they assume all the risks and take not a cent unless they succeed, including reparation on failure, just to win the market.
Re: NASA picks Eric Schmidt's rocket company for Mars mission
#27Re: NASA picks Eric Schmidt's rocket company for Mars mission
#28Don't read too much into this.
The way these always work is they pick a low-stakes mission to give a new competitor a chance to build the market. If they're on track to miss the deadline badly they'll switch vendors to SpaceX who they know can pick up the slack on a short timeline. And if they do manage to deliver, great.
Re: NASA picks Eric Schmidt's rocket company for Mars mission
#29Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why? Are private companies not the engineering force in most military equipment these days.
Private companies paid with government dollars that employ lots of smart people from public universities. This is not Arasaka.
Sorry I could not understand your point through all the snark.
How is using Schmidt’s company any different than any of the other thousands of military equipment programs? I don’t see how anything you said shows the difference.
Re: NASA picks Eric Schmidt's rocket company for Mars mission
#30This mission is an orbital science mission studying Mars' atmosphere, not the same objective as SpaceX's long-term goal of sending large cargo and eventually humans to Mars. So I think the title might be taking the piss just a smidge.
I don't assume "Mars mission" to necessarily mean cargo for settlement or humans. In fact, that all seems quite distant at this point, so I ignore it entirely unless specific concrete actions occur.
So for many people like myself, the title is perfectly reasonable. The world does not revolve around SpaceX and its purported plans.