Everyone has flaws. What matters is what people accomplish in spite of them. Being rich can be a pretty serious handicap, but he managed to overcome that and do something amazing.
>> his company's working on that goal of expanding affordability, right? <<
That's a later step.
1) Develop reusable spaceflight. You can't do some important other things with single-use equipment, it's too damn expensive and tedious.
2) Commercialize spaceflight for rich people. Milk them for as much as you can -- they have it to spare -- and use it to subsidize further development.
This has the excellent benefit of getting rich people into space. That's not a frill. It's one of the few experiences with a real chance of getting a clue into them. It is worthwhile for even a tiny number of enlightenments, because each rich person has a great deal of power and influence, so motivating them to protect the planet is always a big win.
3) Then you work on pushing down the cost so that more people can enjoy spaceflight. This is really the refinement phase, and takes a while, but the more you do, the better it tends to get.
Just remember, folks, it is still space and it will kill you if you can. Making it a rich person's thrill doesn't mean it won't eat a few along the way. If that makes you uncomfortable, don't chase the golden ticket.
I'm just really pleased to see humanity moving up another step.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dancing_serpent
Yes ...
Date: 2021-07-12 12:53 am (UTC)Everyone has flaws. What matters is what people accomplish in spite of them. Being rich can be a pretty serious handicap, but he managed to overcome that and do something amazing.
>> his company's working on that goal of expanding affordability, right? <<
That's a later step.
1) Develop reusable spaceflight. You can't do some important other things with single-use equipment, it's too damn expensive and tedious.
2) Commercialize spaceflight for rich people. Milk them for as much as you can -- they have it to spare -- and use it to subsidize further development.
This has the excellent benefit of getting rich people into space. That's not a frill. It's one of the few experiences with a real chance of getting a clue into them. It is worthwhile for even a tiny number of enlightenments, because each rich person has a great deal of power and influence, so motivating them to protect the planet is always a big win.
3) Then you work on pushing down the cost so that more people can enjoy spaceflight. This is really the refinement phase, and takes a while, but the more you do, the better it tends to get.
Just remember, folks, it is still space and it will kill you if you can. Making it a rich person's thrill doesn't mean it won't eat a few along the way. If that makes you uncomfortable, don't chase the golden ticket.
I'm just really pleased to see humanity moving up another step.