I agree, the president has no clue regarding what’s feasible.
But he has some VERY SMART people, starting with Steven Chu, who understand this stuff fully...he knows enough to use these guys to get what he ultimately wants.
Just because the guys knows something about physics, doesn’t mean he knows anything about this particular problem. Remember, it was not professor Langley was first flew, but two mechanics in a bike-shop in Ohio who figured out the principles of flight using gliders.The they cobbled together the first plane by attached an internal combustion motor to the frame and a propellor to push the thing. Orville was the brother who really figure out how to make the contraption work. But I must say that the Wright brothers did more to master aerodynamics than any of the scientists who worked on the problem. These guys were much more than tinkerers. They deserved a Nobel prize for physics.
Just because the guys knows something about physics, doesn’t mean he knows anything about this particular problem. Remember, it was not professor Langley was first flew, but two mechanics in a bike-shop in Ohio who figured out the principles of flight using gliders.The they cobbled together the first plane by attached an internal combustion motor to the frame and a propellor to push the thing. Orville was the brother who really figure out how to make the contraption work. But I must say that the Wright brothers did more to master aerodynamics than any of the scientists who worked on the problem. These guys were much more than tinkerers. They deserved a Nobel prize for physics.