“.....this also highlights that a private American company was able to send a payload beyond Earth orbit, and it took them only seven years of development and no government funds. ..”
That extremely cool launch, shows the way.
Totally agree. But there is a strange deep seated dislike on this forum for Elon Musk and anything he does.
I loved the way it “jumped” off the launch pad. It had PLENTY of spare thrust — impressive indeed.
IMHO people don’t grasp the magnitude of what Musk has achieved.
By showing what a private company and motivated entrepreneur can achieve, on his own, we have just goosed the exploration of space. Its like in 1500 the King of Spain telling everyone - go to the New World, its open for business!
Also, who is freaking out? The military-political apparatchiks of China and Russia. They very much want a model where all space is controlled from the top down. They definitely do NOT want to compete with US entrepreneurs, because they will fall behind very quickly.