Astronauts Aren’t Cheese

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Like Frank Morring at AviationWeek, who wrote this post, Astronauts Aren’t Cheese, we think what SpaceX has accomplished with the Falcon 9 and Dragon capsule in the time and money it and NASA have invested is pretty impressive.

But like Frank Morring, we have to agree that astronauts are not cheese, that sending one is not nearly the same as sending the other, and that the Falcon 9 and Dragon, as impressive as they are, do not even mildly compare with the Shuttle in complexity, nor, we would add, in capability. As Morring notes in his closing, “… it’s going to require more than pixie dust to get [Falcon 9 and Dragon] ready for human spaceflight.”

Still…two test flights and only about $600 million, if one includes money spent by both SpaceX and NASA, in R&D is impressive.

One Comment

  1. Sorry but the Shuttle’s complexity is not an asset and cheese is less resilient than the human body. (drop a cheese wheel from 3 ft and yourself and you will see.)

    The falcon 9 has been built to scale with all stresses designed to allow immediate attachment of more engines for higher lift capability. It’s DONE.

    The achievement of SpaceX is TREMENDOUS. It’s the same achievement you’ll be lauding NASA for in the 60’s.
    (actually far better)

    SpaceX IS the new NASA.
    http://www.vivzizi.com/spacefan.html

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