Great vid for those interested in the next big thing in human space flight. However, what I also enjoyed about this vid is it’s a perfect example of how a gov agency (in this case NASA) will always find the most expensive inefficient route to a problem vs private industry, in this case Space X, which will be able to get payloads into space for a fraction of the $ compared to NASA using both creative low tech and high tech options:
Hi, I’m big Government have a leaky pail that we deliver cash in Citizens, we’re not exactly sure how much we spilled getting here, but we can always count on you giving some more. Under threat of civil forfiture or prison time of course.
It’s all about perception. Does SpaceX really seem “Private” to you?
In gov, it’s about budget’s. They always want bigger ones and if you become efficient and save money, your budget becomes smaller.
Or it’s relative, compared to NASA, yes. It runs and operates essentially as a private org via the cult of personality that is Musk, as did Apple under Jobs, etc.
That, and Musk has a whole lot better record of results than the “never pass up an opportunity to miss an opportunity” in tandem with recklessness and negligence that have defined post-Apollo NASA. Seriously, the corners that were cut to get a proof-of-concept Shuttle prototype flying should have been corrected before ANY move into regular service, starting with restoring a pair of jet engines for Flyback Abort capability. Make that one change and the 51-L Seven would have landed safely. Ditto extra investment in onboard tankage and lifeboat systems that would’ve let Columbia divert to ISS rather than a “we don’t care about the risks, make reentry or die trying” NASA brass served up. Further ditto having multiple-launch capability so that when you put one up you can have a second on launch standby as a rescue vehicle if needed.
When you design and produce things by protect-our-budgets-at-all-costs committees made of bureaucrats, you get big corners cut, over budgets, and a product that does not fulfill its intended need well as it’s a compromise all around.
That pretty much sums of the Shuttle program, and most gov entities in general.
When you have a smart person with a vision at the helm, who knows BS when he hears it, knows what he wants, and hires those who can achieve it and fires those who can’t, you often get something like Space X, etc.
Indeed, sir. NASA is the textbook example of Jerry Pournelle’s Iron Law of Bureaucracy.
I’m no Jerry Pournelle, but if you’re an SF reader, my three SF novellas are well rated. If you like military based SF such as the BOLO series started by Keith Laumer, as I did, my first story will hit the spot if that’s a genre you enjoy.
Thanks for the reco; with a parent to take care of, a house to pack up and sell and another relative’s estate to put to rest I sadly don’t have as much time to put my nose into non-work-related books as I’d like. (Hoping to clear the decks in time to revisit Jurassic Park for the 30th anniversary of my childhood’s last hurrah next June.)
https://www.jerrypournelle.com/reports/jerryp/iron.html
https://sagehana.substack.com/p/the-iron-law-of-bureaucracy examines the Iron Law as applied to today’s Feral Gov.
One reason I prefer and write novellas, short fast paced read that does not require a large investment time wise. Perfect for our busy ADHD lives.
Problem is, my intellectual appetite is as tyrannosaurian in scale as my physical one… a typical novella for me is like eating one or two Auntie Anne’s mini pretzel dogs, a tasty sniff but leaves me still hungry for more. 
I’m one of those dudes that used to power through Tom Clancy’s longest in an hour or two…
I preferred 1000+ page books when I was reading a lot of fiction, but my brain power is focused on reading studies, etc, and if any extra time and brain power exists, writing the fiction. My highly rated thriller series is 4.5 novella’s deep, so a full novel worth of reading at least. Part one HERE, also found as full print version.
You read Sum of all Fears in a couple hours? Geez.
Personally, I rarely got through his books as I’d usually put them down. I enjoyed some of the movie versions like Hunt For Red October, didn’t like his books much. His writing style just didn’t hold me.
I get it. Not for everyone. I liked it. I’m a technical, know how it works guy (not that you aren’t). Clancy is very detailed on those fronts. His unusual attention to detail is what makes made me enjoy them. You aren’t just getting a story, you are also learning how things work and are done. Even the minor things like a side character and their job and how it is done is usually accurate.
As a scientist type who reads peer reviewed studies with a level of details that will make your ears bleed, someone who always prefers “hard” science fiction which has a big focus on the details, and do same with my own fiction, his attention to details was not the issue. It was his poor character development, utterly non engaging writing style, and coverage of the details that seemed the only strength of the books, which he managed to make boring for me. I only made it through a few of his books. I thought Rainbow Six sucked actually.
He and King are two popular writers I will never understand their popularity, but both made big $ from it, and I have not, so there’s that…
Agreed on R6. That was not one of his stronger books.
There was another recommend to me about Japan taking revenge on the US for WWII. I got maybe 100 pages in and put it down. I read Hunt For Red October, and it was OK, mostly because it’s supposedly based on a true story, but liked the movie version more. I think I read 2-3 books through, started and did not finish 2-3 others, and that was it for me.
In terms of extreme details and amazing amount of research done to write it, but with good to great character development, etc, have you read anything from Neal Stephenson? He’s usually (incorrectly) considered a scifi writer, but his historical fiction is second to none, such as Cryptonomicon:
https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/99/05/23/reviews/990523.23garnert.html
Read a few King books as a kid and though they were complete garbage. Maybe he got better over time, but the genre itself holds no interest for me. I met King once and he was a total weirdo, and the fact he’s an ultra woke type, just ends any interest there.
Haven’t tried Stephenson. Will try and make time for it.
I have tried Patrick Robinson and Larry Bond.