In spite of all the valid criticisms of Elon Musk, I am fascinated to watch the progress SpaceX is making on its Starship program.
And the progress is happening fast enough that I can actually watch it happen without getting bored.
It’s not like NASA’s government bureaucracy, moving at a speed that only a glacier would be jealous of. From week to week, usually day to day, real progress is being made at SpaceX’s Boca Chica, Texas facility.
When there’s an inevitable “RUD” (rapid unscheduled disassembly– an explosion), as there have been a few of, it doesn’t stall the program for a year and a half while committees write up reports about what they think may have happened. The problem is analyzed while the program continues to progress.
Admittedly, none of SpaceX’s RUDs have killed astronauts yet (it will happen eventually) but NASA– along with its favored “contractors” (boing!)– looks downright incompetent by comparison.
And I enjoy that.
Imagine the progress SpaceX could make if freed from government millstones entirely. Just imagine how much progress could be made in every area if government were shoved aside like the worthless parasite it is.
That’s a future I’m hungry to see.