• Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    nobody thought landing a rocket was possible

    You’ve clearly never watched a 1950s sci-fi movie, since half of them involve rockets which land.

    It was clearly something people thought was possible.

    • jramskov@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Okay, trying to say it in another way: I don’t think many people thought SpaceX had much chance of success or becoming basically the #1 in the industry, far ahead of everyone else.

      I don’t buy your sci-fi argument. Do people also think time travel will be possible?

      • urgenthexagon@lemmy.ml
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        1 year ago

        Have you ever heard of NASA’s DC-X? It was a working reusable launch vehicle prototype in the 90s based on the same concept. Often, when someone talks about SpaceX, it seems like they’re not even interested in launch vehicle development. The DC-X was a well-known project.

        • jramskov@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Yes, I’m fully aware of it. Very cool, but it never got any further than the prototype stage AFAIK - SpaceX made it work and has lowered the price to orbit considerably and the rest of the industry is scrambling to catch up.

          Scientists are really looking forward to Starship because of the incredible potential it provides. If SpaceX manages to get it working, it’ll likely change space exploration in a massive way. I find that quite exciting.

          • urgenthexagon@lemmy.ml
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            1 year ago

            Then I don’t understand why you mentioned that a reusable launch vehicle was inconceivable before. Anyway. This whole story isn’t as one-sided as you described it. Even though the program was cost-effective, it was eventually discontinued due to budget constraints and an accident. At that time, understandably, ISS was the priority, since unlike SpaceX, space agencies are not transportation companies. This is why the growing market demand for low-Earth orbit transportation in the 2000s was beneficial, and NASA got involved in the Falcon 9 project early on in the 2000s, providing engineers and funding for development. It was/is mutually beneficial, since the costs were lower for both NASA and SpaceX. Therefore, NASA didn’t fail to develop its own reusable launch vehicle, but joined a similar project shortly after the end of the DC-X(A). The vertical takeoff and landing concept isn’t as groundbreaking after the aforementioned proof of concept as some people make it out to be. Apart from a few years after DC-X, the concept went through a steady development to practical use.

            Edit: typo

            • jramskov@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              I might have been lacking coffee when I wrote my first comment 🙂 I re-wrote it in a later comment.

              SpaceX and the other big space companies wouldn’t exist without NASA and/or the military. NASA have sent quite some money towards SpaceX - I think NASA is quite satisfied with their investement.

      • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Well, again, I also showed that Von Braun was suggesting the same thing at the same time. And yes, I do think some people think time travel will be possible considering people have believed time travel hoaxes before.

        But I don’t know what people thought SpaceX’s chances of success were.

        • jramskov@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          I have added an update to my previous post. I think we just misunderstand each other.

          Of course there are people believing all kinds of crazy shit, like the Earth being flat. I don’t see how that is relevant?

          Von Braun was amazing.

      • vimdiesel@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Musk is good at getting investors, but he was smart enough to let other people run Space X. Twitter is just a toy they convinced that he needed so that he would leave the cars and rockets alone for a while.

    • KubeRoot@discuss.tchncs.de
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      1 year ago

      Sci-fi also includes forms of travel like Hyperloop, FTL travel, time travel… Does that mean people believe all those things are possible, or does it mean people like those fantasies and/or they hope future innovations will make those things possible?

      I don’t think “look at sci-fi” really means anything here, regardless of what the opinion of experts and the public was.