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History Making First Recovery for SpaceX - Orbcomm-2 Launch

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Short term, StarLink is indeed the SpaceX effort more likely to directly impact the average person, so from that standpoint I can see the more immediate interest. I think of it as a tactical initiative.

Long term, not only enabling human travel to another planet (not just our local satellite), but perhaps the initial steps at colonizing another world are far more exciting than simply building more efficient away to move IP packets from point A to point B. It's the strategic initiative.

Well, that 's an example of what people are talking about here. _You're_ excited about the idea of colonizing another world, but other people aren't.

The prevailing attitude is "fix the problems here first". But that's not my attitude. My attitude is that SpaceX's work is important because cheap access to space opens up new possibilities. I'm not excited about colonizing Mars itself, and I'm not really that excited about the Mars mission because I think that solving challenges on a hostile, empty planet wouldn't translate that well into the best solutions for a more friendly planet, particularly for densely-populated areas.

To me StarLink represents a clear benefit of cheap launches, and the impact would be more than just a different communications network. It represents the ability to avoid the market barriers that lead to local monopolies and oligopolies and to enable good telecoms _everywhere_ at low cost.
 
Same here. I can't find anyone in .my immediate group of friends, nay, any group of people I have regular contact with, to have a conversation about SpaceX. I can see their eyes glaze over so I move on. Thank God for this group!
For most in this community, witnessing the Orbcomm-2 booster landing two years ago left us awestruck. A sci-fi idea became reality. There's some irony in the fact that last week's spectacular Iridium-4 satellite launch generated tremendous public and media interest. This was primarily because of the assumed UFO, sci-fi like visual display in the upper atmosphere. If Jimmy Kimmel interviewed ten of those sky observers on an LA street today, I'll bet none of them would use the term Iridium to describe the mission. Almost 50 years since Apollo 11. Since that day the public attitude of indifference towards spaceflight has remained an enigma to me.
 
Well, that 's an example of what people are talking about here. _You're_ excited about the idea of colonizing another world, but other people aren't.

The prevailing attitude is "fix the problems here first". But that's not my attitude. My attitude is that SpaceX's work is important because cheap access to space opens up new possibilities. I'm not excited about colonizing Mars itself, and I'm not really that excited about the Mars mission because I think that solving challenges on a hostile, empty planet wouldn't translate that well into the best solutions for a more friendly planet, particularly for densely-populated areas.

To me StarLink represents a clear benefit of cheap launches, and the impact would be more than just a different communications network. It represents the ability to avoid the market barriers that lead to local monopolies and oligopolies and to enable good telecoms _everywhere_ at low cost.
Indeed, that's why I acknowledged, "from that standpoint I can see the more immediate interest.".

Regardless... however popular that stance may be with some, or even the majority, of folks I believe it to be a rather myopic view. Whish shouldn't be surprising... most people don't look beyond the next quarter's earing report for their investing decisions either.
 
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There's some irony in the fact that last week's spectacular Iridium-4 satellite launch generated tremendous public and media interest.

Also interesting about the outcry against SpaceX disposing of the 1st stage in the ocean. We've gone from "every booster landing in the ocean is normal" to "any booster landing in the ocean is a waste".
 
There's a lot of feeling of "What's the point?"
Talking about plans to go to Mars won't excite many people. To be honest, I'm really not that excited about going to Mars. What excites me is what it would mean for global telecommunications to have cheap access to space. StarLink is the _really_ interesting project.
I’m sure that in the 16th century the majority of the European population, when asked if they wanted to make a hazardous journey to the New World, would have said “What, are you nuts? I’ll stay here.” Nevertheless, a small fraction of the population eagerly made the trip even though they had essentially no accurate information about their destination. Many died. Some survived.

Today we have a very different situation. We have a great deal of hard data about Martian conditions. We have the knowledge to build the technology to get there and we can conceivably develop the technology to live there long term. It will be incredibly difficult. But there is a chance of success. It need not involve public funds, in my opinion. SpaceX will press forward. If I was 30 years younger I would try to figure out a way to be part of the mission. Regardless, I’m excited to have the opportunity to directly observe the progress of the mission to colonize Mars.

As to Starlink, that is a small but important part of the Mars mission. Establishing a Starlink network in LEO is a critical step in developing the technology so that it can be used around Mars, and hopefully the Earth operation will generate a lot of much needed revenue for SpaceX.