Elon opens his mouth and you put your money on it not happening on time or it is bull shit about an amazing first that has been done before or done far cheaper than before. For example comparing the cost of just digging a tunnel to the cost of a fully operation metro system with stations.
@@alexwright6038 Tesla kickstarted the EV industry, SpaceX is making orbital reusable rockets that land vertically over 10 times, and stupid people like you still criticize him for taking 1 year longer to do something, that others said would take at least 10 years to do
I think a lot of people are forgetting spacex is not a space agency they are a launch provider. Someone payed their cost for a falcon heavy flight and they can do whatever they damn well please with it. It isn’t “mankind’s” falcon heavy, it’s theirs. You pay the price, which even at double the advertised cost of falcon heavy is considerably less than just one NROL satellite launch on Atlas V, you can do whatever you like with the rocket you just purchased and you can control the disclosure agreement as well. This isn’t like a country of people being forced to pay for a couple of people to fly by the moon, this is a voluntary purchase of private individuals with a private company for one of the companies products.
Amy, I get why you think this mission is a bit of a pointless tourist exercise with no real science being done, but I think you've missed the point a bit. I don't think reason for SpaceX doing this is really driven by money / revenue. The risks for SpaceX are huge... imagine being responsible for killing two billionaires if something goes wrong! No, I think the real reason is to test their equipment. And if others are prepared to pay for the pleasure and prestige of being part of your testing regime then that is a great for business. Elon has relatively little interest in the moon compared to Mars but it makes sense to test out your equipment with a quick "once around the block at home" before setting off on a massive "trip across the dessert" . SpaceX will get loads of data and a whole lot of publicity from this. And if someone else is paying for it even better. Love your channel, keep em coming.
"imagine being responsible for killing two billionaires if something goes wrong!" A lot of people would start asking for more of these missions then, I suspect. XD
I see this launch as a proof of concept with testing the crew dragon on a longer duration launch and dealing with the van Allen belts since spaceX always tend to go non traditional with their production, and if private customers can bankroll what is effectively a test flight it certainly saves musk a few pennies
I know, It for me it seems likes a free test flight test the craft against all those things, and you can bet spaceX will have had those two passengers sign a waiver in the event of their death spacex will not be held responsible. So if the mission is a success get some great data back for future ITS stuff, if it blows ups on reentry or orbiting the moons still get good data and they haven't lost any money.
When I first heard the news coverage "Tourists to replicate Apollo 8" I thought that it was a boondoggle, but after hearing more information I realized that SpaceX needs to do this sort of a mission just to test the spacecraft systems, and I'll bet when some rich people suggested that they would like to fly, Elon decided to take a chance and also recoup some of the development costs. So, I don't think that this should be thought of as an "Inspirational adventure" but as a test flight with benefits.
I think there is value, its like Elons idea for tesla, First he made expensive sports car Model S... which in return funded the Model X Which is now funding the Model 3 "affordable electric sports sedan". So Elon getting maybe 160 million out of a mission that might cost him 90 million that's 70m which is a big boost for getting the rest of us out there.. My thoughts at least...
Sniperx01 Thats capitalism for you. The first of many things being very expensive, and the rich overpaying for those things until cheap and economical means can be developed. Cause you might make a few million selling to a few customers, but you make billions selling to everyone :)
except from he didn't. He loses money on any car produced, so they just produce by an enormous credit line (16 billion dollar so far) and yearly capital increases. So this is not a very good business model to follow.
NicosMind That's especially how technology markets have functioned. Early adoptors cover a huge part of the market costs to bring new tech into the market. Remember when a flatscreen television cost $8,000?
Any analogy which is not true is a bad one, so please be careful with Elons business plans. Secondly SpaceX is a private company as Boeing or any other contractor to NASA is and was. NASA never built rockets.And they (SpaceX) got a lot of money from the US government. They do a tremendous job, but they do it on public money for a big part of their works. Which is absolutely fine from my point of view. Thirdly it is simply not true that private companies always do better. Especially on big infrastructure project private companies almost always fail, because they underestimate their costs and efforts. So I would offer any bet that SpaceX will not send any person around the moon by end of next year and also nobody to mars by beginning of 2020. Theay will not even have a man rated rockt system by end of next year, this is close to absolutely sure. So by any means I simply do not get what this fuzz is all about. This is simple marketing garbage. Unfunded and completely unrealistic, why do intelligent people fall for that bullshit?
Thank you for your work, Amy! Intelligent, informed, witty, and a lovely person. It's clear that you do your homework prior to making your videos. Very informative and entertaining. Thanks!
I think that this mission could inspire young people to get into science. I live in Cambodia and I met a nine year old girl selling books for money for school. She saw that I was marking papers and so she asked if I was a teacher, I replied yes and that began a Q&A about all things space and science. She also told me that her goal is to be the first Cambodian astronaut. She inspired me! Such an awesome little person. Perhaps more missions like the one above might give more kids the desire to aim for the stars or to at least get more into science.
I don't understand why your feigning puzzlement, Amy. SpaceX is a commercial transportation company. Someone wants to pay them for transportation. Also, questioning the "value" of the mission is a rather pointless waste of time. The "value" to the tourists is the chance to do the mission vs. the cost. The "value" to SpaceX is ~$160M in income and maybe opening up a new revenue stream. SpaceX isn't a charity. If you want them to launch something for a more "valuable to mankind," pure science purpose, you can figure out a way to pay the company to launch it, or bug your congressman. SpaceX will be happy to launch anything from a groundbreaking science mission to yet ANOTHER wheel of cheese, if the price is right.
the revenue stream will collapse the moment the flight doesn't come back. Only a fool like musk would take that kind of loss upon himself. It's not transportation if you just fly around and come back. It's "flying around" and it will not be long before becomes mundane and as boring as watching the moon landings and load if black-and-white. I won't argue your cost estimates, but the first time it does come back, the price will "shoot beyond the moon" sarcastic :-)
Mark Edwards you do realize spacex is not a space agency they are a launch provider. Someone payed their cost for a falcon heavy flight and they can do whatever they damn well please with it. It isn’t “mankind’s” falcon heavy, it’s theirs. Plus 160 million is the price of a falcon heavy launch plus the estimated cost of the mission control services. Spacex isn’t Lockheed or Boeing they aren’t interested in price gouging.
We have all seen and heard the very realistic, to the point of sheer terror, horror stories of what happens when for-profit interests and space mix. Let a private corp lead the way for space colonization and you effectively have allowed de facto and even de jure, eventually, kingdoms to establish themselves. In space, distances are vast, so for all intents and purposes, any colony with today's tech, or any tech available in the next five decades at least, would be on their own. No government answerable to the governed. Only executives with a kind of technical lordship over the colonists and no way to enforce any extension of the US constitution, or any country's constitution for that matter. What amounts to a constitution is a mission statement and an employee handbook... Both of which may be changed arbitrarily without warning, notice, or employee consultation... Since the lattermost metric is considered communism.
Lori Novak I'm having trouble understanding your point if you have any. Are you for or against this sort of private expansion into space? Or are you just stating the facts for the sake of reading them back to yourself? I really want to know
Timothy McCarthy private expansion into space is inevitable. I think it's too soon, though. I don't want private corporations leading the way to colonies with no way to prevent declaration of independance from a legitimate government. I think we haven't done enough to get rid of king-building tendencies yet to trust private corps to effectively govern themselves with citizen accountability, since they don't do that here on Earth and have people who vehemiebtly protect their property rights insofar as it gives them the power to suspend the Constitution on said property. Treaty or no treaty disallowing private or government ownership of celestial objects, with no means to affordabily and reliably enforce international law, the risk is too great. So, i think we need to wait for government to lead the way and establish a means to keep law and order without profit interests involved before the private sector should be allowed into it beyond helping to establish that extension of existing government without their political influence's corruption.
I love how you launch into knowledgeable mode when you land on secure ground, ie, the Apollo missions. It's a refresher to hear someone interested purely for interest's sake, in something that is, on the face of it, entirely abstract. xx
What is the issue with this mission not having science objectives Amy? The passengers will be paying customers, they aren't required to do anything for us.
Because she has a sense of entitlement apparently(SpaceX is a private company and so it isn't a problem that they don't tell her much) that can't understand that missions to the moon have indirect benefits to science. Like the number of STEM grads after Apollo 11. Society loves stuff like this and it inspires.
Yeah, and if you want to complain that SpaceX is a difficult private space company to follow, Amy should try covering Blue Origin... Fundamentally I'm not sure why this warranted a 12 minute video. Question: Should SpaceX Bother Going to the Moon? Answer: A customer is paying them to do exactly that. So yes, yes the should. Video done, in about 12 seconds.
And because of aforementioned inspirations. And, like I mentioned elsewhere: She herself said they were frugal on mission details. So how can she complain about there being nothing scientific about it? My guess is: There will be tons of instrumentation(not literally). Hell, when Felix Baumgartner jumped out of a balloon, even HE was loaded with scientific equipment. Saying we won't do the same going to the moon and beyond when SpaceX has an interest there? I doubt.
Nah, I think it's the fatuous marketing attempt to borrow the the glory of genuine explorers to promote what is basically a billionaire's version of Space Mountain. There's nothing wrong with paying millions of dollars to amuse yourself, but you shouldn't kid yourself that makes you anything like men who took incredible risks for science, some of whom gave their lives. It's in extremely poor taste to suggest this honors real space explorers or makes you comparable in any way to them.
Actually, it's publicity all right but what SpaceX really wants is to have the Dragon capsule man-rated and the preferred vehicle for resupplying the ISS. The other contenders are catching up ...
Hi Amy! To me this mission looks a lot like Apollo 8 scaled back a bit. Most of the "science" has been done, so what SpaceX really needs is a good proof-of-concept and procedural test flight. Like Apollo 8, just doing it into Earth orbit doesn't really test communications or control systems well enough. So if you get a few folks to help pay for it, why not take their money? I'd be very surprised if they could actually charge enough to pay for the whole mission, but even if they "only" paid for half of it, that's money SpaceX doesn't have to shell out. As a smaller point - Please stop calling NASA a company. They're a gov't agency. They have to do what others tell them, or at the very least have their wish lists vetted, approved and funded, whereas companies can make their own plans and raise their own money. It's an important distinction these days, when NASA makes contracts with companies to help execute NASA's various Congress-approved objectives. Keep up the great work!
+Vintage Space, The one thing that you are not considering is the PR value of this trip. While I much enjoy hearing about Musk, Tesla, and Space X and try to keep track of what they are doing this is the first that I have heard of it. IE, the MSM is not spreading this story to widely yet. So while the scientific value may be nil, if it just gets Space X and the trip noticed by the wider public it will be worth whatever additional money they spend in addition to the passenger fees. You are in your own little bubble where space and the stories about it are very noticed, but I would bet that anywhere from 50-90% of the US population have no idea of what Space X is or what they are doing. This could easily change all of that.
PR can go both ways. If a success, it can boost things along. Otherwise it can have a chilling effect which can delay things by even more years. The US space proogrm had a 2 decade long lag, and is still lagging.
Thank you Amy for making this video - albeit me seeing it 5+ years later. You have a special way of presenting your topic to keep my interest. Maybe it is my soft spot for your infectious smile or you just know lots. Either way, thank you.
Commercial Crew flights didn't happen in 2018, either, and NASA needed them to happen before having Orion orbit the Moon. But while the first Orion fight was in 2014, we know what she meant.
It's Sept 2021 and SLS still hasn't flown. Looks like SH/Starship may beat it to orbit taking the prize for largest and most powerful rocket ever. SH is on the orbital launch stand with 29 raptors getting ready for static fire. Hope the hold-down bolts are up to it ! 16 million lb thrust vs 7.5 million for Saturn V
NASA is already in shaky ground, they only fly American stuff so their international visibility is murky at best, and having to bum rides to space from RUSSIA while talking trash about Russia is doubly pathetic! the plutocracy/bureaucracy in all the big aerospace manufacturers involved with NASA are suffering while being subject to the us government and politicians pushed by LOBBYISTS. It is appalling, that they get only .02% of the money they need as a dead minimum (blame Obama! he broke them and weakened the military more than Clinton did by killing our space shuttle that could have carried larger spaceships in parts to be assembled IN ORBIT!) Whenever Virgin finally steps up it will be good for competition, (i did help build the STRATOLAUNCH aircraft for Paul Allen while at Scaled Composites (my hopes and dreams go with that aircraft) who will also be launching smaller payloads to space from the comfort of an aircraft missile pylon making it a reusable launching platform while being the SINGLE LARGEST AIRCRAFT IN THE PLANET is point of pride to me, But now with Space X at full speed! Government space agencies will have to re-evaluate their footing, while we love having NASA and the rest of the world as a customer to help us fund our MARS venture, i cannot help but wonder if we might end up replacing or absorbing NASA eventually(im a spaceX'er), we do have all the same check and balances, quality controls and science to back our rockets, being able to send the same rocket in more than one mission should have SILENCED all the nay Sayers and condescending millennials, and they need to stop hating and get behind an AMERICAN company that CHOSE TO STAY and hire Americans in America, we could have gone to another country and build cheaper, pay less, but we are HERE expanding and giving jobs to AMERICANS, and covering them with benefits, why would anything we do need to go under suspicion and trollish condecendance? its pathetic! this milenials need stop smoking weed, study and train for the future instead of criticize because! they don't qualify to be part of it.
Why is it a problem if they do a tourism flight "just for the money". If we want to be able to take a summer on Europa in the future, someone has to go first, and these someones are going to be very very wealthy people. It often surprises me how frequently I hear the criticism that this kind of thing is only for the super-rich and therefore immoral somehow. These kinds of missions will drive down the prices as we learn and move along. It was the same for airplanes. Also, it is a test flight of sorts for Dragon. Of course they could send it unmanned, but if they can make money by adding two passengers, why not? Hell, I'd go if I had the bucks. As for the lacking of science: I am a scientist and while I love discoveries and pushing mankind forward, frankly I couldn't care less in this case. As you said: private company, private citizens. Also, this kind of tourism will hopefully open up space for all mankind, so it's a good thing in my book, especially if some of these super-rich people see earth anew, from a differen perspective. Maybe it will change some of their opinions regarding climate change, nationalism, nature, etc.
FerrowTheFox Whatever loosens the purse-strings of the super-rich is fine by me. It's money going into space ventures. A buck from government or a buck from Scrooge McDuck's vault doesn't matter, it's a buck that builds space expertise and builds a space economy.
Exactly. I would say a buck from Scrooge McDuck is actually better, because no-one can say it's a waste of taxpayer money. Also, if space ventures can't stand on their own toes (i.e. making money by developing space) human spaceflight will always stay government prestiege project.
The mission has a purpose: To help SpaceX develop its technology. Sure, NASA has the technology, but SpaceX doesn't. Your main objection is private funding. Private funding helped NVIDIA develop graphics processors for gamers (private money for a non-productive purpose). That technology is now being used for server farms to do data mining. Why is it any different for a private person to pay for a flight around the moon than for cruise around the Caribbean? Both seem like a waste of money to the person living in poverty.
I am sure SpaceX will gain a lot of useful data that will help with going beyond LEO and help confirm the life support systems for deep space missions, so if private individuals pay for this so much the better for SpaceX.
Anything that gets young people interested in science, engineering, physics, mathematics, and astronomy has to have some good to it. I would rather Musk put his money into developing orbital platforms for industry and further exploration to the moon and beyond without the massive expense of getting out of Earth's gravity each and every time, but what do I know? Maybe PR is the way to start.
so you're certain that,space X. will open up their research, publish everything and excite the minds of these nebulous youth?I doubt you could find one kid in a major college who would even want to sit next to someone in a tiny spacecraft simply to circle around the moon and come home. I wouldn't wait up for space X. to do daily broadcasts from a technical point of view, or make anything available to the public the way that NASA eventually had to do. not to mention the fact that the engineering physics and mathematics has already been done for this infantile company. just remember space X. is not inventing anything. Besides where is the challenge?NASA got there and back on raw brain power and incredible resolve something. that is severely lacking in our society today. none of that exists in the snowflakes coming out of academia today. professors don't teach math science physics and electronics. They teach Marx ,Alinsky and socialism none of which will ever ignite a rocket. You don't believe me? look at the way NASA reacted and responded to Apollo 13, and then go onto any campus in America and ask any of those floozies to show you how to use a slide rule. Most of them don't even know where the moon is :-( there are no videos on RUclips to prove that to you :-)
There are videos on RUclips about the moon. I've seen videos proving that the moon is flat and that it's a giant hologram and that Apollo didn't go there and they faked it at Area 51. Lots of things you can learn about the moon on RUclips.
we already have the ISS. we need to work on going beyond earth orbit and out into space. why has NASA dropped the ball on this???? Elon Musk is throwing down the gauntlet by saying "Hey NASA!!!!!! If you won't do it, I will!!!!!!" The only good thing that NASA has done recently is retire the Space Shuttle death trap!!!!
Welcome to private business - where yeah, making money is a big deal, and you're free to do things like space tourism. Something that has been talked about for a long time, but only become a reality recently. . . . and it may very well serve as a way of testing the equipment for longer missions deeper into space. I'm actually a tad annoyed that testing equipment isn't mentioned more. These are still new spacecraft with new technologies. It seems to make a lot of sense to me to perform testing closer to the Earth and perhaps to the Moon before heading out to Mars. You can return to Earth pretty quickly with a mission like this, compared to a Mars mission where returning is going to take a very, very long time. You can have an Apollo 13 style incident on a mission to the moon and survive - but if something like that were to happen on a Mars mission, it would likely be a death sentence. Making sure everything works on a long term mission would be at the top of my list of things to be absolutely sure of before sending people to Mars. I'm actually a bit unsure of the "everything has to be science" type of mandate. Even with NASA, they're launching satellites for GPS, satellite TV, spy satellites, and other things that aren't really strictly science. Space tourism is becoming a reality rapidly, and I imagine that it won't be too long before we talk about things like mining asteroids or other bodies for resources. Here is an interesting thought: Maybe if NASA were in fact to perform some space tourism - perhaps that would reduce the need for direct government funding. They wouldn't be the first government agency to raise their own money - the US Post Office is actually run more like a private business than like the government agency it technically is. I personally wouldn't mind some government agencies taking some of the tax load off of taxpayers by raising their own money.
I understand this comment was three years ago, but pretty nice read. I'm surprised you don't have more replies. When it comes to testing experiments on Earth first, they've been testing on Earth for decades, even mistakes have happened with other matters as researchers know. Our planet Earth has been picked apart so many times. And a significant travel to Mars, sounds like life time trip really, I mean the amount observing that will happen and 1000's of things to journalise. Wow. Also a Wow to travel to the moon. I get a Rush just seeing the moon in the backyard. Sorry for rambling. Good day.
You have an interesting opinion and I fully respect different sides when regarding space/space flight. However, I believe that this moon mission, if successful, we pave the way for more interest and investment into space. For example, the mission will get an insane amount of press coverage. Imagine the pictures that will be uploaded to sites like Facebook and Instagram for all to see; the world will be inspired. Furthermore, if SpaceX gets to the moon then other organisations and companies will be eager to attempt this too, possibly developing space technology futher and creating another space race. All of this is a benefit for humanity and we can't always follow the paths that we did in past governmental space missions. We msut evolve and accept new area of spaceflight. Also, love your videos and I am no way trying to be confrontational. Keep up the good work, debating inspires!
You're pretty down on SpaceX doing something interesting, and complain about people wanting to pay their way to the moon when you yourself say you're jealous. I'm surprised you don't shit on Disney World and say theirs no point to it, that its just for rich people who are too bored with things in their home town. If I had ~80 million dollars I didn't need I'd think about going to the moon.
"Nascar for Space" !!! Priceless! You have absolutely made my day. SpaceX is absolutely commerce-driven. And that's okay. And as a credentialed space researcher and journalist, you are absolutely entitled to opinions. We'd like to hear more of them!
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry wrote, “If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up people to collect wood…and don’t assign them tasks and work...but rather…teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.” The message - inspiration. The inspiration is crucial to get young people to long for the immensity of planetary science, engineering, astronomy, astro-physics, etc. Without that longing, space exploration, and the fields of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) will continue to be under pursued by students. Like you in 2nd grade learning about men landing on the moon, these manned missions, even just a circumlunar flight, will give kids a vision of what's possible. Another lesson that I have learned, and one that I reiterate to the middle school students the I teach, is that there are many ways to be involved an whatever industry or field that they are passionate about. Again, like you who can't do math (discussed in your intro video), you have found a way to be part of the space industry as a science historian. I am part of the space industry as a Space Foundation Teacher Liaison. We didn't become astronauts, or rocket scientists, or something more glamorous in the space industry for various reasons (like Navin R. Johnson, I failed everything on my astronaut application but the date of birth--didn't get the job). But the space industry needs accountants, secretaries, lawyers, doctors, graphic artists, publicists, and even janitors. So the inspiration can even reach to kids who are talented in other areas besides STEM related careers in space. To me, that's why we need manned missions beyond LEO.
Wrong analogy. This is more like a cruise than an airplane flight. But if someone wants to spend hundreds of millions for a week in a business class seat that flies by the Moon, that's their decision.
5:17 "You don't really need this mission to happen at all" 1) Great advertising and PR for SpaceX (provided no one gets seriously injured) 2) Revenue--hopefully just the start for much more in the future
It helps to prove what Musk has said for a while, that the dragon can reach any body in the solar system. If he can do a moon landing next time, he has the best lander for the entire solar system. That is a business plan.
LOL LOL. If you step outside of the space station, and throw a baseball, it will reach any body in the solar system. It's not hard. people have known for years how to do it.
I think it's inspiring. It makes me feel like space exploration is gaining meaningful momentum within humanity as a whole, and new highly publicized footage of the moon shot within its own orbit (possibly catching glimpses of the "footprint" of the old Apollo programs) could really boost interest and optimism towards space travel. There is a slight hint of melancholy in knowing I'll still never afford it, but it's a good step forward. Commercial aviation had to start somewhere too. Maybe this is a step toward "spaceliners." At the very least an increased human presence in space!
The science for this mission happens on the back-end. Even if SpaceX does no science on this mission, they'll make profit, and SpaceX tends to roll all of their profit back to R&D. How do we have reusability today? SpaceX launched many non-science missions, earning them money to spend on R&D, and out of that came reusability. If SpaceX can earn, say, $50m on this "unscientific" mission, that's $50m they can now spend on developing new things like BFR, Red Dragon, etc. Just think... How did we get the CD player? Lots and lots of people bought tape players, and the companies that sold those tape players could then spend the profits developing the CD player. It's the march of technology!
You have it backwards, buddy. SpaceX can't (and wouldn't) exist without NASA. Without NASA there is no ISS, and SpaceX needs those ISS resupply missions. SpaceX also needs NASA's launch facilities. Without being able to rely on the rocket technology that NASA developed, SpaceX never would have been able to develop a rocket and make a profit. Hell, without NASA's Apollo program, the computer technology that makes SpaceX's rockets possible probably wouldn't even exist! NASA was always going to develop new rockets, whether SpaceX existed or not, and they'll always have more capable rockets than any private company could ever dream of. Scientific instruments are not toys, they are what we use to advance and develop as a race. Taking tourists to the moon makes rockets into nothing more than toys for the rich. Again, you're completely backward.
The separation of science and engineering is always a good thing. It's only in the early stages of a certain area of human knowledge that science and engineering are one and the same, after it matures, it's all about separation of concerns. SpaceX doesn't do science, they do engineering, and they do it terrifyingly well. And that's a good thing, Engineering companies are very efficient at making thing more reliable and cheaper, and that eventually means any group can do the science they want to do with off the shelve components at a fraction of the price. This is A Good Thing (TM)
I'm a science guy, too. But SpaceX is first and foremost a business. They WILL get lots of exciting science done and have very lofty and inspiring goals...but they also have bills to pay and stockholders to appease. So, from my soapbox, I'm willing to put up with a couple of millionaires rounding the moon without the accompanying science we both crave. After all, as you mentioned, this is the first time humans have orbited the moon since Apollo. That alone gets me juiced. Love your vids!
Exploring is what we humans do. As space travel gets cheaper because of SpaceX we will all be able to go. This is just the beginning. The high frontier is opening.
If we could say what our taxes go to(in today's world) I would say Cruise missiles rather than Space anything. What exactly is the private space people's goals? Is it making billions of dollars or is it just the ultimate hobby? Will Musk leave his glorious life on Earth to die hitting Mars surface? Cheaper unmanned deep space goals could answer the ultimate question, though very unlikely. Negative you bet!
yawn, what human society are you talking about? All we want to do is beg for others to give us stuff, and hide out in Safe zones zones. Humanity no longer cares about exploring. It's a wonderful exhilarating and uplifting thought, but for God's sake, just look around you and ask yourself if the people you are watching graduate college have it within themselves to even care about exploring. It's obvious all they want to do is sit in a safe zone in demand "stuff" if you tell them they will have to work if they want to explore, LOL LOL expect the Russians to land men and women on Mars way before anybody from America even cares to try. It's horribly negative, and I apologize, but for what you say to happen will require some ferocious leadership, and even someone with the stones to stand up and demand America to do anything. That person will be dragged through the streets tarred and feathered and left for dead
I encourage you to watch a SpaceX launch and check out the crowd in the mission control center going nuts at the launch. They are almost all under thirty, science and engineering geeks that totally negates your argument. I'm 66 and remember the enthusiasm of the manned space program and have days when I feel much the thought you expressed. Yes, there are lots of millenials who will sleep throug life, but there are those like the SpaceX team of young people that give me great encouragment.
Amy: You generally rock, but I was 11 at the time of the moon landing and was the only person watching it in my house late that night and I remember that I could not make out what was happening on the screen very well. You are young, smart, enthusiastic and space knowledgeable plus nice to watch and listen to. THIS IS THE NEW SPACE AGE THE 60'S AND 70'S IS NOW. Most of us don't have much time to cover it as we are just trying to keep up with the pace of life. I know a lot of us would love it if you would drill down on the current space happenings, technology, interviews, projects, problems, significant launches etc. I try to watch the Space X launches and the enthusiasm reminds me of the 1960's & 1970's. By the time this current space age is vintage space I will probably be dead!!! I enjoy vintage space but I enjoy current space and the challenges to come. If we are truly to become a spacefaring people we will need to get the public buy in and that is where you can contribute big time. What do you other folks think???
It's nearly the end of 2019. Did I miss the moon landing?? Please, next time will someone send me a reminder when they land on Mars? I would hate to miss that one too.
I love science also, and loved my cat, until she died. I was first one that she saw me, and was mom's cat, asked me to care for her, I did. She was the first that she saw after birth, and last she saw when she passed, opened her eyes and looked at me, then died Love your blogs!
It's a bit of a test flight. There have been space Tourists before... Russia was not above selling seats to whoever could pay. But this is significant in that the USA in a private company not bound to a government now has the means to do what it took governments and their deep pockets to do. It signals an increase in the private use of space. In order for us to have... to develop the technology... for humans to live and work in space there must be a way to make money doing things in space. Humans will not colonize or explore the solar system to the extent you or I want and definitely not in a timely manner unless the transition from slow... inefficient... pure science... government and to to Fast, efficient, profit and free market driven private companies is made. The more space is utilized the more opportunity for scientific discovery is available. The rate of science knowledge we gain about the solar system will explode when multiple private companies take over as compared to the slow trickle we currently have from government. Things always start off Expensive. SpaceX is leading the charge to reduce the price. Joining them in the effort is Blue Origin. Columbus' trip across the Atlantic was very expensive and dangerous. But once Business interests got involved then the technology to get across developed rapidly and the price dropped dramatically. Necessity and financial gain are the mothers of invention. Humanity will remain stagnate so long as government is in charge... This trip is inspirational as it signals the end of governments monopoly and the reduction in cost that will very soon make it affordable for the rest of us. A raising tide lifts all boats means this isn't just some "class warfare derogatory term for successful people you should aspire to emulate instead of hate" taking a vacation that doesn't benefit the rest of us. These are people taking the personal and financial risk to raise the rest of us up with them as they advance a cause they believe in.
The government's role has been and should remain the vanguard into the unknown. When the business case is mirky. When the technologies are unknown. The deep pockets of government should break open (or squelch) the business case. Government needs to fund R&D into technologies whose feasibility and payoff are too uncertain for private enterprise to stomach. Space is now a largely known quantity so NASA's role should diminish or change. SpaceX and Blue Origin can now cinch cheap access to space. Bezos or Diamandis (or whoever) can get on with the business of industrializing space. Give private enterprise a decade or two of dog-eat-dog competition and NASA could buy a tourist ticket to Mars for pocket change.
***** NASA cinched the rocket engine, fuels, steering, navigation, pressure vessel for crew, life support... on and on. Once all these had been tried over and over, mastered to the point of putting 12 guys on the Moon, they were old hat. Time to hand the knowledge off to free enterprise to optimize and build an economy on. While it's been 40+ years since the last Apollo mission lots of activity has gone on around and on the Moon. Clementine, GRAIL, Cheng-e and Yutu. The Moon hasn't been the only target. Russia went after Venus early and hard, the only nation to have put anything on its surface. India is a late-comer but managed a Mars orbiter on the cheap. China put together a space program all by itself and I'll wager they will keep at it longer since they're not at the mercy of changing politics every 4 to 8 years. NASA's Mars rovers to be followed up by still more rovers. Cassini mission at Saturn. New Horizon at Pluto. Dawn at Vesta and Ceres. Just the Moon, or just Mars as the only worthy goals for space exploration does all the other targets in our solar system and beyond a huge disservice.
Couod you imagine if NASA had their Apollo budget today? They were around 5% of the Federal budget back then and just .4% today. But even with .4%, $19 billion, they can still get so much done. And as you say, if they cut out the BS with ISS, Orion and SLS and went with commercial launch providers they could do all those robotic missions. It's hard to decide which of the robotic missions I like best. I would just say yes to all of them and throw on a few others for good measure. You sound pessimistic around SpaceX's and Blue Origin's chances. I'm pretty sure we're going to see something of a gold rush now that rocket reuse is getting so much attention. The price to LEO aught to drop a good 30% very soon.
could you imagine if other government agencies didn't waste over 26 times NASA's entire budget like HUD has been doing? And instead we actually spent that on NASA... an agency that actually does accomplish something.
The pursuit of Science in Space has not inspired investment in the tech. I love the science. I love the development of the tech. To your average American, they don't see science and tech. Do you know what gets these birds going up? Funding makes these birds go up. People want to see guys going on adventures on those birds going up. Achievements. The eye candy. Much like you are the eye candy for this channel. The Mercury Astronauts said it best. No Bucks...no Buck Rogers. And investors want to see Buck Rogers for their bucks...
yup, flying any and all satelites from whatever leaser or country that NEEDS a satellite to go up into space, and also to feed and supply the astronauts in the ISS(international space station), but this millenials don't get it, because she slept through economics, and i doubt has any aerospace schooling, ill be seriously surprised if this ABBY(NCIS) lookalike here has any relevant education in commerce, marketing, business administration, aviation or aerospace technologies what so ever, PLEASE i beg this girl prove me wrong and produce some semblance of a related education!!
Hi Amy, I'm totally with you with the Europa mission.... Let's work on a mission to this moon. It's a trip that would lead us to find something much more interesting than any other mission.
I think it’s important to remember the main goal of this trip ultimately is to get the general public interested in space exploration. After all we know Musk wants this so he can justify his trip to mars. Largely, citizens have lost interest in science, and this could rally a lot of intention to this specific field.
I already wrote this in another topic, "Taking a walk is not Exploration," we have been walking up there for over 50 years without doing anything significant, now if we add SPACE TOURISM, only for billionaires, relies and sheikhs who can afford it, I empower a Future of STAGING for humanity.
So she believes space travel only should be done by governments and only for scientific research. I couldn't disagree more. Space isn't some sacrosanct thing.
The question is, why is it bothering you so much, Amy? Looks like you envy those two lucky ones. Do you have problem with them having that much money or with the trip itself? Or maybe you don't like the idea of some private company doing the same things, only NASA could do?
tomric79 , I think you've missed the gist of Amy's view on what really is SpaceX mission..? And I agree with her as far as going to moon...really..why?...We've been there done that 40 years ago..and is this a "joy ride" for a few multi-millionaires. , or a PR stunt as the last last SpaceX launch with one of his cars on board...but kudo's to SpaceX for their advancement in some of their technology...i.e having the boosters return and land back was more impressive than the Dragon 9 launch.. As in true Musk fashion he says alot...how about specific facts and figures to back this up (aka Tesla Motors)...As far as future space travel beyond the moon, privatization is NOT a bad idea, no government agency is as efficient as the free market system...as far as NASA doing things "better" I need not remind you of the Challenger and Discovery tragedies ...and the entire Shuttle program being extremely OVER budget , but what the heck its only taxpayer money...
nope nope and nope... just because someone gets excited about actual scientific progress, doesn't mean jack. Rich people can do what they like and others can rightfully find it completely uninspiring. its pretty clear that some of these private companies aren't doing it for scientific exploration. And yeh she mentions your point at the end of the video...so why is it 'envious' to point out there will be little scientific advantage and on the whole won't be interesting for anyone else unlike all the space exploration that has come before it?
Really. How does she come up with the statement, "Do you think they are sticking it to the rest of us?" How would that even enter someone's mind? It is none of our business.
what i like is. if rockets can finally = profit then people will finally compete to get out there. if boeng and private engineering companies see “hey space has money, lets get that money, it will be worth the investment” and that could mean a lot, competition=innovation. governments make colonies, but companies make colonies popular.
YEA i DO, BUT HIS COVERAGE WAS NO MORE THAN i REMEMBER. Seems TO ME WALTER CRONKITE FILLED AN HOUR SPECIAL WITH INFORMATION AT THE TIME IT WAS CANCELLED.Just wondering if you would look at it.
Anyone that refers to kerbal space program in any way, shape or form has lost nearly all credibility. SpaceX can do whatever they want, it's their money. Expressing that you have a problem with that, tells volumes about a person. As well as how they vote and where they shop. The idea behind this mission as well, is to further stimulate the human component and get more and more people behind this new space race. We haven't been out of LEO in nearly 46 years. Its time we return, in whatever capacity that may be. It will also help put some steam behind SLS as well.
It's not their "Money" they taken $1.5 Billion from NASA. No NASA funding. There would be no SpaceX. Do your homework please. As nothing worse then someone that gets their Space Flight Experience from the backs of a Cereal Box.. Thank You
Do your homework, son. NASA advanced SpaceX $1.6B for future services rendered. They are being PAID for contractual work being performed. That's not "being funded" as if they are just being given free money.
Are you public schooled? I bet you are.... As SpaceX even tells you. Had NASA not"Funded" them $1.6 Billion. They would have never existed moron..As the Tax Payer "fund" NASA. Paid for the clean up of SpaceX failures www.reddit.com/r/spacex/comments/4eaxc9/ars_technica_without_nasa_there_would_be_no/ www.popularmechanics.com/space/rockets/news/a22674/who-pays-for-spacexs-spaceport-calamity/ Now get back on your Short Bus. There is a reason you ride it...
Master Chief, SpaceX has saved NASA money in the long run. Their SLS program cost 7 billion in 2 years, and is estimated to have a final price tag of 30 billion over the course of 10 years. SLS will cost 500 million per launch versus Falcon Heavy's 90 million per launch price tag. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to tell that the tax payers are saving millions of dollars with NASA giving SpaceX contracts while enjoying the benefits of an accelerated space race. I would also like to point out, since you mentioned failures, that NASA has failed on numerous occasions, and would argue that the cost of NASA's past failures have had a much larger cost than SpaceX. NASA deserves some credit for this absolutely, but remember who started the expensive shuttle program, and that without SpaceX we would be stuck only with the SLS which is a money vacuum. Very soon we will be launching American astronauts on US soil for the first time since the shuttle program was abandoned.
NASA collaborated with the developers of Kerbal Space Program to develop DLC for the game, so I guess they've lost all credibility. Oh, shit. I just referred to it, as well. Disregard that first sentence, I've lost all credibility. Referencing a spaceflight simulator when discussing spaceflight is a sure sign that you're some idiot who thinks simulations have any relation to the phenomena they're simulating. I completely disagree with many of Amy's opinions regarding SpaceX; they're one of the most important organizations in our entire civilization right now. However, she can say whatever she wants, it's her channel. She can also vote however she wants, it's her vote. And she can shop wherever she wants, it's *her money.* Expressing that you have a problem with that tells volumes about a person.
You are doing great work. Take this from someone born the year of Sputnik. The sad part is that politics is too unpredictable. Politicians change out in only 4 years of a 10 year long program. What was seen as a boon, can be re-politicized as a waste in only a few years. A public can be motivated to get behind a race to the moon against the Soviets, but doing it for science is a difficult sell. Too many pure-science people don't get that. And why projects can easily loose public support. Because it stops being promoted in an effective way. Private projects can help push things faster or bring things to years long standstill if something goes horrifically wrong. On the other hand, government projects are exactly set up so that many states get a piece of the action. That's how you get things through congress. But it also makes things inefficient and wasteful. Just my two rubles.
I basically agree with what you are saying, Amy. I don't think there is any significant "inspirational" aspect to a commercial lunar mission, but I don't think there needs to be. It has a purpose: to help generate revenue for SpaceX, so they can do amazing things like build the BFR and launch science missions to the outer planets. I'd analogize it this way: Yes, it's like taking a joyride in an expensive jet. But you get a lot of benefit from that joyride: people are employed, companies make money building and servicing the aircraft. It may not have the scientific value of a NASA research flight, but there is nothing sacred about space travel. In fact, it needs to NOT be sacred. It needs to be mundane. This is a step in that direction. Just as the first commercial airliners were too pricey for most people, eventually, after flying around a lot of rich people, it became something available to almost everyone.
For the passengers, or rich people.. there is the title "I was the First Private Citizen in History to the Moon" (kind of a selfie thing). The only place we can compare is with the 1500 or 1600 sailing ships.. what motivated them? Land real estate. Although communications routes as in postal delivery and proven means of resalable communications.. like postage, or internet relay routers would be pretty valuable. Tesla Super charger like solar charging stations and depots for spacecraft not quite up to the task of completing the trip in one go.. especially for commerical tugs and mining equipment along the way might be good. Then a slower Ion or MHD style engine could get them to the Moon with a few layovers at Flying-J truck stops along the way. Station keeping would be a problem.. but there's lots of solar energy out there.. and orbital mechanics would bring them back around on a schedule.
I agree with your feeling that sending private individuals to the Moon would not beneficial from a scientific stand point. However what interested me, was that it might take place almost 50 years to the day that Apollo 8 went to the Moon. I know you were not around to experience the flight of Apollo 8 real time. But at the time it was the most inspirational events of my lifetime (not talking about the reading from Genesis). Love your shows, even if I don't always agree with your 'soap box'. It IS your soap box, and a very nice one too.
It's also possible (whether it's scientifically worthwhile is, of course, debatable) that "interplanetary suborbital missions" may become space tourist flights, where they try to "one-up" each other by reaching the greatest distances from Earth. (In his 1957 book "The Making of a Moon: The Story of the Earth Satellite Program," Arthur C. Clarke wrote about exploring space out to millions of miles from Earth by launching instrumented rockets that *almost* reach escape velocity, then fall back to Earth [they could return films that record cosmic rays, to give just one example]. Such vehicles could also pass by the Moon during either ascent or descent, providing close-up lunar views. Such trajectories would also be easier to "hit" than orbits around the Earth, because the guidance requirements would be simpler.)
I watch the "Below Deck" show, which the ultra-rich rent a boat for 10k/day to boat around the mediterranean. It would be cheaper for them to stay in a hotel and do guided excursions, but the "superyacht" is an appeal for bragging rights. I really think that "I paid to go to the moon" will become the next best thing for the super-rich, which is basically how all modes of transportation start. My great grandfather was a land owner and was the first man around to have an Automobile. This is the gateway to progress, and I totally agree that this is how he can fund space exploration. And If i had the money, I would go on this tour as well. There was no real "reason" to go to North America besides looking for new resources. It was basically tourism at first, then small bases, then small isolated societies. This is human exploration as its best.
Tourist trip around the Moon makes more sense for Space Flight growth than tourist trip up Everest makes sense at all. Dollars & practice, R&D money and proof of reliability - one more step upwards & outwards.
The point of this thing is a proof of concept: to move people who aren’t professional astronauts around space. If you want to get past only a few specialists flying around the solar system then this is the obvious first step.
The cat behind is having a good time
BAD KITTY!
"Oh it's going to play with that... that's not playing"
Came here to say that.
What even is the cat fucking?
What are you doing Pete?
PETE!
😂
Watching this in 2019 I can just express my admiration of Amy's analysis. The 2018 SpaceX Moon mission never took place - no surprise here.
Elon opens his mouth and you put your money on it not happening on time or it is bull shit about an amazing first that has been done before or done far cheaper than before. For example comparing the cost of just digging a tunnel to the cost of a fully operation metro system with stations.
Don't be so quick to judge. The government's space shuttle program was 12 years behind schedule, and everyone BUT the passengers paid for it.
@@alexwright6038 Tesla kickstarted the EV industry, SpaceX is making orbital reusable rockets that land vertically over 10 times, and stupid people like you still criticize him for taking 1 year longer to do something, that others said would take at least 10 years to do
Neither did the SLS flyby. Meanwhile NASA selected SpaceX to actually land on the Moon
2024 here. Still nothing afaik.
nobody seems to notice that the cat fucks the blanket lmao
thank you!
You should have heard the parrot scream.
or at 2.21 when it flips a leg and chows down on its ass
Javazown da haha I was cheering him on...what was this video about again?
I have never seen a cat do that, and I have had lots of cats lol...
I think a lot of people are forgetting spacex is not a space agency they are a launch provider. Someone payed their cost for a falcon heavy flight and they can do whatever they damn well please with it. It isn’t “mankind’s” falcon heavy, it’s theirs. You pay the price, which even at double the advertised cost of falcon heavy is considerably less than just one NROL satellite launch on Atlas V, you can do whatever you like with the rocket you just purchased and you can control the disclosure agreement as well. This isn’t like a country of people being forced to pay for a couple of people to fly by the moon, this is a voluntary purchase of private individuals with a private company for one of the companies products.
Try to learn about SpaceX and end up watching a cat hump a blanket😂 Go Pete go
Amy, I get why you think this mission is a bit of a pointless tourist exercise with no real science being done, but I think you've missed the point a bit. I don't think reason for SpaceX doing this is really driven by money / revenue. The risks for SpaceX are huge... imagine being responsible for killing two billionaires if something goes wrong! No, I think the real reason is to test their equipment. And if others are prepared to pay for the pleasure and prestige of being part of your testing regime then that is a great for business. Elon has relatively little interest in the moon compared to Mars but it makes sense to test out your equipment with a quick "once around the block at home" before setting off on a massive "trip across the dessert" . SpaceX will get loads of data and a whole lot of publicity from this. And if someone else is paying for it even better. Love your channel, keep em coming.
"imagine being responsible for killing two billionaires if something goes wrong!"
A lot of people would start asking for more of these missions then, I suspect. XD
Eric: Nah. Being that rich sounds pretty tough. I'd rather just be comfortable.
Of course Amy doesn't understand, she's a liberal and believes government is the answer to everything.
I see this launch as a proof of concept with testing the crew dragon on a longer duration launch and dealing with the van Allen belts since spaceX always tend to go non traditional with their production, and if private customers can bankroll what is effectively a test flight it certainly saves musk a few pennies
Daniel Flood high energy cosmic rays or a coronal mass ejection from the sun are more dangerous.
I know, It for me it seems likes a free test flight test the craft against all those things, and you can bet spaceX will have had those two passengers sign a waiver in the event of their death spacex will not be held responsible. So if the mission is a success get some great data back for future ITS stuff, if it blows ups on reentry or orbiting the moons still get good data and they haven't lost any money.
i agree totally with you daniel
When I first heard the news coverage "Tourists to replicate Apollo 8" I thought that it was a boondoggle, but after hearing more information I realized that SpaceX needs to do this sort of a mission just to test the spacecraft systems, and I'll bet when some rich people suggested that they would like to fly, Elon decided to take a chance and also recoup some of the development costs. So, I don't think that this should be thought of as an "Inspirational adventure" but as a test flight with benefits.
Rob Mrowiec I think Musk delivers on a real scale. He's all about the long term big picture. Unlike the quarterly earnings report world we live in.
I think there is value, its like Elons idea for tesla, First he made expensive sports car Model S... which in return funded the Model X Which is now funding the Model 3 "affordable electric sports sedan". So Elon getting maybe 160 million out of a mission that might cost him 90 million that's 70m which is a big boost for getting the rest of us out there.. My thoughts at least...
It'll cost SpaceX much less than 90mil if they recover the Falcon Heavy boosters
Sniperx01 Thats capitalism for you. The first of many things being very expensive, and the rich overpaying for those things until cheap and economical means can be developed. Cause you might make a few million selling to a few customers, but you make billions selling to everyone :)
except from he didn't. He loses money on any car produced, so they just produce by an enormous credit line (16 billion dollar so far) and yearly capital increases. So this is not a very good business model to follow.
NicosMind
That's especially how technology markets have functioned. Early adoptors cover a huge part of the market costs to bring new tech into the market. Remember when a flatscreen television cost $8,000?
Any analogy which is not true is a bad one, so please be careful with Elons business plans. Secondly SpaceX is a private company as Boeing or any other contractor to NASA is and was. NASA never built rockets.And they (SpaceX) got a lot of money from the US government. They do a tremendous job, but they do it on public money for a big part of their works. Which is absolutely fine from my point of view. Thirdly it is simply not true that private companies always do better. Especially on big infrastructure project private companies almost always fail, because they underestimate their costs and efforts. So I would offer any bet that SpaceX will not send any person around the moon by end of next year and also nobody to mars by beginning of 2020. Theay will not even have a man rated rockt system by end of next year, this is close to absolutely sure. So by any means I simply do not get what this fuzz is all about. This is simple marketing garbage. Unfunded and completely unrealistic, why do intelligent people fall for that bullshit?
You are an incredibly talented public speaker with amazing knowledge. You've got my sub. Keep up the amazing work!
Thank you for your work, Amy! Intelligent, informed, witty, and a lovely person. It's clear that you do your homework prior to making your videos. Very informative and entertaining. Thanks!
Talking about sending humans to the moon again, meanwhile, cat humps his toy in the background :D
I think that this mission could inspire young people to get into science. I live in Cambodia and I met a nine year old girl selling books for money for school. She saw that I was marking papers and so she asked if I was a teacher, I replied yes and that began a Q&A about all things space and science. She also told me that her goal is to be the first Cambodian astronaut. She inspired me! Such an awesome little person. Perhaps more missions like the one above might give more kids the desire to aim for the stars or to at least get more into science.
Best wishes and good luck to the little girl :)
Joseph Fuller lol humankind, the one who wrote that took a class in political correctness
I don't understand why your feigning puzzlement, Amy. SpaceX is a commercial transportation company. Someone wants to pay them for transportation.
Also, questioning the "value" of the mission is a rather pointless waste of time. The "value" to the tourists is the chance to do the mission vs. the cost. The "value" to SpaceX is ~$160M in income and maybe opening up a new revenue stream. SpaceX isn't a charity. If you want them to launch something for a more "valuable to mankind," pure science purpose, you can figure out a way to pay the company to launch it, or bug your congressman. SpaceX will be happy to launch anything from a groundbreaking science mission to yet ANOTHER wheel of cheese, if the price is right.
the revenue stream will collapse the moment the flight doesn't come back. Only a fool like musk would take that kind of loss upon himself. It's not transportation if you just fly around and come back. It's "flying around" and it will not be long before becomes mundane and as boring as watching the moon landings and load if black-and-white. I won't argue your cost estimates, but the first time it does come back, the price will "shoot beyond the moon" sarcastic :-)
Mark Edwards you do realize spacex is not a space agency they are a launch provider. Someone payed their cost for a falcon heavy flight and they can do whatever they damn well please with it. It isn’t “mankind’s” falcon heavy, it’s theirs. Plus 160 million is the price of a falcon heavy launch plus the estimated cost of the mission control services. Spacex isn’t Lockheed or Boeing they aren’t interested in price gouging.
We have all seen and heard the very realistic, to the point of sheer terror, horror stories of what happens when for-profit interests and space mix. Let a private corp lead the way for space colonization and you effectively have allowed de facto and even de jure, eventually, kingdoms to establish themselves. In space, distances are vast, so for all intents and purposes, any colony with today's tech, or any tech available in the next five decades at least, would be on their own. No government answerable to the governed. Only executives with a kind of technical lordship over the colonists and no way to enforce any extension of the US constitution, or any country's constitution for that matter. What amounts to a constitution is a mission statement and an employee handbook... Both of which may be changed arbitrarily without warning, notice, or employee consultation... Since the lattermost metric is considered communism.
Lori Novak I'm having trouble understanding your point if you have any. Are you for or against this sort of private expansion into space? Or are you just stating the facts for the sake of reading them back to yourself? I really want to know
Timothy McCarthy private expansion into space is inevitable. I think it's too soon, though. I don't want private corporations leading the way to colonies with no way to prevent declaration of independance from a legitimate government. I think we haven't done enough to get rid of king-building tendencies yet to trust private corps to effectively govern themselves with citizen accountability, since they don't do that here on Earth and have people who vehemiebtly protect their property rights insofar as it gives them the power to suspend the Constitution on said property. Treaty or no treaty disallowing private or government ownership of celestial objects, with no means to affordabily and reliably enforce international law, the risk is too great.
So, i think we need to wait for government to lead the way and establish a means to keep law and order without profit interests involved before the private sector should be allowed into it beyond helping to establish that extension of existing government without their political influence's corruption.
I love how you launch into knowledgeable mode when you land on secure ground, ie, the Apollo missions. It's a refresher to hear someone interested purely for interest's sake, in something that is, on the face of it, entirely abstract. xx
That horny cat was cracking me up..funniest thing ive seen all day!!!
What is the issue with this mission not having science objectives Amy? The passengers will be paying customers, they aren't required to do anything for us.
Because she has a sense of entitlement apparently(SpaceX is a private company and so it isn't a problem that they don't tell her much) that can't understand that missions to the moon have indirect benefits to science. Like the number of STEM grads after Apollo 11. Society loves stuff like this and it inspires.
Yeah, and if you want to complain that SpaceX is a difficult private space company to follow, Amy should try covering Blue Origin...
Fundamentally I'm not sure why this warranted a 12 minute video.
Question: Should SpaceX Bother Going to the Moon?
Answer: A customer is paying them to do exactly that. So yes, yes the should.
Video done, in about 12 seconds.
And because of aforementioned inspirations. And, like I mentioned elsewhere: She herself said they were frugal on mission details. So how can she complain about there being nothing scientific about it? My guess is: There will be tons of instrumentation(not literally). Hell, when Felix Baumgartner jumped out of a balloon, even HE was loaded with scientific equipment. Saying we won't do the same going to the moon and beyond when SpaceX has an interest there? I doubt.
Nah, I think it's the fatuous marketing attempt to borrow the the glory of genuine explorers to promote what is basically a billionaire's version of Space Mountain. There's nothing wrong with paying millions of dollars to amuse yourself, but you shouldn't kid yourself that makes you anything like men who took incredible risks for science, some of whom gave their lives. It's in extremely poor taste to suggest this honors real space explorers or makes you comparable in any way to them.
Actually, it's publicity all right but what SpaceX really wants is to have the Dragon capsule man-rated and the preferred vehicle for resupplying the ISS. The other contenders are catching up ...
Hi Amy! To me this mission looks a lot like Apollo 8 scaled back a bit. Most of the "science" has been done, so what SpaceX really needs is a good proof-of-concept and procedural test flight. Like Apollo 8, just doing it into Earth orbit doesn't really test communications or control systems well enough. So if you get a few folks to help pay for it, why not take their money? I'd be very surprised if they could actually charge enough to pay for the whole mission, but even if they "only" paid for half of it, that's money SpaceX doesn't have to shell out. As a smaller point - Please stop calling NASA a company. They're a gov't agency. They have to do what others tell them, or at the very least have their wish lists vetted, approved and funded, whereas companies can make their own plans and raise their own money. It's an important distinction these days, when NASA makes contracts with companies to help execute NASA's various Congress-approved objectives. Keep up the great work!
+Vintage Space,
The one thing that you are not considering is the PR value of this trip. While I much enjoy hearing about Musk, Tesla, and Space X and try to keep track of what they are doing this is the first that I have heard of it. IE, the MSM is not spreading this story to widely yet.
So while the scientific value may be nil, if it just gets Space X and the trip noticed by the wider public it will be worth whatever additional money they spend in addition to the passenger fees.
You are in your own little bubble where space and the stories about it are very noticed, but I would bet that anywhere from 50-90% of the US population have no idea of what Space X is or what they are doing. This could easily change all of that.
PR can go both ways. If a success, it can boost things along. Otherwise it can have a chilling effect which can delay things by even more years. The US space proogrm had a 2 decade long lag, and is still lagging.
Thank you Amy for making this video - albeit me seeing it 5+ years later. You have a special way of presenting your topic to keep my interest. Maybe it is my soft spot for your infectious smile or you just know lots. Either way, thank you.
"The first Orion flight in 2018" me: chokes on food.
Commercial Crew flights didn't happen in 2018, either, and NASA needed them to happen before having Orion orbit the Moon.
But while the first Orion fight was in 2014, we know what she meant.
It's Sept 2021 and SLS still hasn't flown. Looks like SH/Starship may beat it to orbit taking the prize for largest and most powerful rocket ever. SH is on the orbital launch stand with 29 raptors getting ready for static fire. Hope the hold-down bolts are up to it ! 16 million lb thrust vs 7.5 million for Saturn V
NASA's going to look like a bit of an ass if their $7 billion dollar SLS rocket gets upstaged by a $100 million dollar Falcon Heavy.
*Ding*
NASA, has to be re-named NASSA lol
NASA is already in shaky ground, they only fly American stuff so their international visibility is murky at best, and having to bum rides to space from RUSSIA while talking trash about Russia is doubly pathetic! the plutocracy/bureaucracy in all the big aerospace manufacturers involved with NASA are suffering while being subject to the us government and politicians pushed by LOBBYISTS. It is appalling, that they get only .02% of the money they need as a dead minimum (blame Obama! he broke them and weakened the military more than Clinton did by killing our space shuttle that could have carried larger spaceships in parts to be assembled IN ORBIT!)
Whenever Virgin finally steps up it will be good for competition, (i did help build the STRATOLAUNCH aircraft for Paul Allen while at Scaled Composites (my hopes and dreams go with that aircraft) who will also be launching smaller payloads to space from the comfort of an aircraft missile pylon making it a reusable launching platform while being the SINGLE LARGEST AIRCRAFT IN THE PLANET is point of pride to me, But now with Space X at full speed! Government space agencies will have to re-evaluate their footing, while we love having NASA and the rest of the world as a customer to help us fund our MARS venture, i cannot help but wonder if we might end up replacing or absorbing NASA eventually(im a spaceX'er), we do have all the same check and balances, quality controls and science to back our rockets, being able to send the same rocket in more than one mission should have SILENCED all the nay Sayers and condescending millennials, and they need to stop hating and get behind an AMERICAN company that CHOSE TO STAY and hire Americans in America, we could have gone to another country and build cheaper, pay less, but we are HERE expanding and giving jobs to AMERICANS, and covering them with benefits, why would anything we do need to go under suspicion and trollish condecendance? its pathetic! this milenials need stop smoking weed, study and train for the future instead of criticize because! they don't qualify to be part of it.
Why is it a problem if they do a tourism flight "just for the money". If we want to be able to take a summer on Europa in the future, someone has to go first, and these someones are going to be very very wealthy people. It often surprises me how frequently I hear the criticism that this kind of thing is only for the super-rich and therefore immoral somehow. These kinds of missions will drive down the prices as we learn and move along. It was the same for airplanes. Also, it is a test flight of sorts for Dragon. Of course they could send it unmanned, but if they can make money by adding two passengers, why not? Hell, I'd go if I had the bucks.
As for the lacking of science: I am a scientist and while I love discoveries and pushing mankind forward, frankly I couldn't care less in this case. As you said: private company, private citizens. Also, this kind of tourism will hopefully open up space for all mankind, so it's a good thing in my book, especially if some of these super-rich people see earth anew, from a differen perspective. Maybe it will change some of their opinions regarding climate change, nationalism, nature, etc.
FerrowTheFox tak get back to the Tofu Delivery.
Just waiting for dad to fill the cup!
FerrowTheFox Whatever loosens the purse-strings of the super-rich is fine by me. It's money going into space ventures. A buck from government or a buck from Scrooge McDuck's vault doesn't matter, it's a buck that builds space expertise and builds a space economy.
Exactly. I would say a buck from Scrooge McDuck is actually better, because no-one can say it's a waste of taxpayer money. Also, if space ventures can't stand on their own toes (i.e. making money by developing space) human spaceflight will always stay government prestiege project.
The mission has a purpose: To help SpaceX develop its technology. Sure, NASA has the technology, but SpaceX doesn't. Your main objection is private funding. Private funding helped NVIDIA develop graphics processors for gamers (private money for a non-productive purpose). That technology is now being used for server farms to do data mining. Why is it any different for a private person to pay for a flight around the moon than for cruise around the Caribbean? Both seem like a waste of money to the person living in poverty.
I am sure SpaceX will gain a lot of useful data that will help with going beyond LEO and help confirm the life support systems for deep space missions, so if private individuals pay for this so much the better for SpaceX.
“No bucks, no Buck Rogers” Classic! 🚀
Bad news as of early 2019...
Anything that gets young people interested in science, engineering, physics, mathematics, and astronomy has to have some good to it. I would rather Musk put his money into developing orbital platforms for industry and further exploration to the moon and beyond without the massive expense of getting out of Earth's gravity each and every time, but what do I know? Maybe PR is the way to start.
so you're certain that,space X. will open up their research, publish everything and excite the minds of these nebulous youth?I doubt you could find one kid in a major college who would even want to sit next to someone in a tiny spacecraft simply to circle around the moon and come home. I wouldn't wait up for space X. to do daily broadcasts from a technical point of view, or make anything available to the public the way that NASA eventually had to do. not to mention the fact that the engineering physics and mathematics has already been done for this infantile company. just remember space X. is not inventing anything.
Besides where is the challenge?NASA got there and back on raw brain power and incredible resolve something. that is severely lacking in our society today. none of that exists in the snowflakes coming out of academia today. professors don't teach math science physics and electronics. They teach Marx ,Alinsky and socialism none of which will ever ignite a rocket. You don't believe me? look at the way NASA reacted and responded to Apollo 13, and then go onto any campus in America and ask any of those floozies to show you how to use a slide rule. Most of them don't even know where the moon is :-( there are no videos on RUclips to prove that to you :-)
There are videos on RUclips about the moon. I've seen videos proving that the moon is flat and that it's a giant hologram and that Apollo didn't go there and they faked it at Area 51. Lots of things you can learn about the moon on RUclips.
we already have the ISS. we need to work on going beyond earth orbit and out into space. why has NASA dropped the ball on this????
Elon Musk is throwing down the gauntlet by saying "Hey NASA!!!!!! If you won't do it, I will!!!!!!" The only good thing that NASA has done
recently is retire the Space Shuttle death trap!!!!
Most of them dont even know where the moon is? Thats where you should be quite.
It’s eerily similar to the space tesla
Lmao off at pete enjoying himself
Off off??? Shoot me
Is that cat smoking a cigarette towards the end?
best comment ever made me LOL
😁😁😁👍👍👍🐈
well it is california, i think that cat is chillin like snoop dog smoking a blunt there
No, the cat is asleep, the pillow is smoking, LOL...
He's working out how he can get to the moon 😁
Cat humps pillow in the background of the video. Leaves it in. Classic.
Besides being very smart you have the prettiest smile !!
Thank you so much for your vidz !!
Welcome to private business - where yeah, making money is a big deal, and you're free to do things like space tourism. Something that has been talked about for a long time, but only become a reality recently.
. . . and it may very well serve as a way of testing the equipment for longer missions deeper into space. I'm actually a tad annoyed that testing equipment isn't mentioned more. These are still new spacecraft with new technologies. It seems to make a lot of sense to me to perform testing closer to the Earth and perhaps to the Moon before heading out to Mars. You can return to Earth pretty quickly with a mission like this, compared to a Mars mission where returning is going to take a very, very long time.
You can have an Apollo 13 style incident on a mission to the moon and survive - but if something like that were to happen on a Mars mission, it would likely be a death sentence. Making sure everything works on a long term mission would be at the top of my list of things to be absolutely sure of before sending people to Mars.
I'm actually a bit unsure of the "everything has to be science" type of mandate. Even with NASA, they're launching satellites for GPS, satellite TV, spy satellites, and other things that aren't really strictly science. Space tourism is becoming a reality rapidly, and I imagine that it won't be too long before we talk about things like mining asteroids or other bodies for resources.
Here is an interesting thought: Maybe if NASA were in fact to perform some space tourism - perhaps that would reduce the need for direct government funding. They wouldn't be the first government agency to raise their own money - the US Post Office is actually run more like a private business than like the government agency it technically is. I personally wouldn't mind some government agencies taking some of the tax load off of taxpayers by raising their own money.
I understand this comment was three years ago, but pretty nice read. I'm surprised you don't have more replies. When it comes to testing experiments on Earth first, they've been testing on Earth for decades, even mistakes have happened with other matters as researchers know. Our planet Earth has been picked apart so many times. And a significant travel to Mars, sounds like life time trip really, I mean the amount observing that will happen and 1000's of things to journalise. Wow. Also a Wow to travel to the moon. I get a Rush just seeing the moon in the backyard. Sorry for rambling. Good day.
Your cat is so goddamn distracting that I missed half of what you said
Cannot unsee.
"No bucks... No Buck Rogers." 10/10 A+++
"Wanna take a ride?' - S R Hadden
:)
Amazing haha
Well, they certainly won’t miss their 2018 launch date.
- Nov 2021
That kitty has issues......
no issues, but he does still need tissues...
You have an interesting opinion and I fully respect different sides when regarding space/space flight. However, I believe that this moon mission, if successful, we pave the way for more interest and investment into space. For example, the mission will get an insane amount of press coverage. Imagine the pictures that will be uploaded to sites like Facebook and Instagram for all to see; the world will be inspired. Furthermore, if SpaceX gets to the moon then other organisations and companies will be eager to attempt this too, possibly developing space technology futher and creating another space race. All of this is a benefit for humanity and we can't always follow the paths that we did in past governmental space missions. We msut evolve and accept new area of spaceflight. Also, love your videos and I am no way trying to be confrontational. Keep up the good work, debating inspires!
The SpaceX mission to the moon. I'm all for it.
I all for failx going to the moon as long as I am not on it.
"Relatively small" Hahahahahahaha, the Dragon is a MASSIVE capsule though!
"Hey guys" [Pete photo-bombs] "it's Amy." LOL!
WTF is that cat doing?!? (yes, I meant that...) LMAO!
You're pretty down on SpaceX doing something interesting, and complain about people wanting to pay their way to the moon when you yourself say you're jealous. I'm surprised you don't shit on Disney World and say theirs no point to it, that its just for rich people who are too bored with things in their home town.
If I had ~80 million dollars I didn't need I'd think about going to the moon.
Shes a liberal. What do you expect?
there's
You might be right. She doesn't seem to subscribe to the philosophy of "live and let live", but rather "what is this going to do for me?"
No one is going to the moon
FailX is about money and a circus show for investors.
More money for space companies = more space travel/research
The private citizens have turned themselves into volunteer test pilots. I hope that they can safely make it back to earth.
Lab rats that fund their own experiments, with the additional caveat that their fortunes are bequeathed to future space exploration. I'm on board.
Corponauts! Remember, pilots (heh!), this craft is worth more than you are!
"Nascar for Space" !!! Priceless! You have absolutely made my day.
SpaceX is absolutely commerce-driven. And that's okay.
And as a credentialed space researcher and journalist, you are absolutely entitled to opinions. We'd like to hear more of them!
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry wrote, “If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up people to collect wood…and don’t assign them tasks and work...but rather…teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.” The message - inspiration.
The inspiration is crucial to get young people to long for the immensity of planetary science, engineering, astronomy, astro-physics, etc. Without that longing, space exploration, and the fields of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) will continue to be under pursued by students. Like you in 2nd grade learning about men landing on the moon, these manned missions, even just a circumlunar flight, will give kids a vision of what's possible.
Another lesson that I have learned, and one that I reiterate to the middle school students the I teach, is that there are many ways to be involved an whatever industry or field that they are passionate about. Again, like you who can't do math (discussed in your intro video), you have found a way to be part of the space industry as a science historian. I am part of the space industry as a Space Foundation Teacher Liaison. We didn't become astronauts, or rocket scientists, or something more glamorous in the space industry for various reasons (like Navin R. Johnson, I failed everything on my astronaut application but the date of birth--didn't get the job). But the space industry needs accountants, secretaries, lawyers, doctors, graphic artists, publicists, and even janitors. So the inspiration can even reach to kids who are talented in other areas besides STEM related careers in space.
To me, that's why we need manned missions beyond LEO.
I've never seen an airline require all the passengers to have science objectives. No difference. $$$$, ka-ching, sit down, strap in, shut up.
Wrong analogy. This is more like a cruise than an airplane flight.
But if someone wants to spend hundreds of millions for a week in a business class seat that flies by the Moon, that's their decision.
5:17 "You don't really need this mission to happen at all"
1) Great advertising and PR for SpaceX (provided no one gets seriously injured)
2) Revenue--hopefully just the start for much more in the future
It helps to prove what Musk has said for a while, that the dragon can reach any body in the solar system. If he can do a moon landing next time, he has the best lander for the entire solar system. That is a business plan.
LOL LOL. If you step outside of the space station, and throw a baseball, it will reach any body in the solar system. It's not hard. people have known for years how to do it.
100% agree
Yo!! Your Cat is having his way with your pillow LMAO cats rock.
❤🐱😄
I think it's inspiring.
It makes me feel like space exploration is gaining meaningful momentum within humanity as a whole, and new highly publicized footage of the moon shot within its own orbit (possibly catching glimpses of the "footprint" of the old Apollo programs) could really boost interest and optimism towards space travel.
There is a slight hint of melancholy in knowing I'll still never afford it, but it's a good step forward. Commercial aviation had to start somewhere too. Maybe this is a step toward "spaceliners." At the very least an increased human presence in space!
The science for this mission happens on the back-end. Even if SpaceX does no science on this mission, they'll make profit, and SpaceX tends to roll all of their profit back to R&D. How do we have reusability today? SpaceX launched many non-science missions, earning them money to spend on R&D, and out of that came reusability. If SpaceX can earn, say, $50m on this "unscientific" mission, that's $50m they can now spend on developing new things like BFR, Red Dragon, etc. Just think... How did we get the CD player? Lots and lots of people bought tape players, and the companies that sold those tape players could then spend the profits developing the CD player. It's the march of technology!
just what we need, more better, different, iPhone's :-(
It's never going to be profitable, there are only so many billionaires in the world, and not many are likely to want to go to the moon.
You have it backwards, buddy. SpaceX can't (and wouldn't) exist without NASA. Without NASA there is no ISS, and SpaceX needs those ISS resupply missions. SpaceX also needs NASA's launch facilities. Without being able to rely on the rocket technology that NASA developed, SpaceX never would have been able to develop a rocket and make a profit. Hell, without NASA's Apollo program, the computer technology that makes SpaceX's rockets possible probably wouldn't even exist! NASA was always going to develop new rockets, whether SpaceX existed or not, and they'll always have more capable rockets than any private company could ever dream of.
Scientific instruments are not toys, they are what we use to advance and develop as a race. Taking tourists to the moon makes rockets into nothing more than toys for the rich. Again, you're completely backward.
That cat is screwing the pillow right?
Smart and beautiful...I love you....and your channel
The separation of science and engineering is always a good thing. It's only in the early stages of a certain area of human knowledge that science and engineering are one and the same, after it matures, it's all about separation of concerns. SpaceX doesn't do science, they do engineering, and they do it terrifyingly well. And that's a good thing, Engineering companies are very efficient at making thing more reliable and cheaper, and that eventually means any group can do the science they want to do with off the shelve components at a fraction of the price. This is A Good Thing (TM)
I'm a science guy, too. But SpaceX is first and foremost a business. They WILL get lots of exciting science done and have very lofty and inspiring goals...but they also have bills to pay and stockholders to appease. So, from my soapbox, I'm willing to put up with a couple of millionaires rounding the moon without the accompanying science we both crave. After all, as you mentioned, this is the first time humans have orbited the moon since Apollo. That alone gets me juiced. Love your vids!
Pete you naughty boy.. You either hurled, peed, or had his wicked way with Amy's plush toy on the sofa.
Richard Mattingly Or maybe all 3
thus the post coital smoking
Exploring is what we humans do. As space travel gets cheaper because of SpaceX we will all be able to go. This is just the beginning. The high frontier is opening.
Tranquility Base babe?
If we could say what our taxes go to(in today's world) I would say Cruise missiles rather than Space anything. What exactly is the private space people's goals? Is it making billions of dollars or is it just the ultimate hobby? Will Musk leave his glorious life on Earth to die hitting Mars surface? Cheaper unmanned deep space goals could answer the ultimate question, though very unlikely. Negative you bet!
yawn, what human society are you talking about? All we want to do is beg for others to give us stuff, and hide out in Safe zones zones. Humanity no longer cares about exploring. It's a wonderful exhilarating and uplifting thought, but for God's sake, just look around you and ask yourself if the people you are watching graduate college have it within themselves to even care about exploring. It's obvious all they want to do is sit in a safe zone in demand "stuff" if you tell them they will have to work if they want to explore, LOL LOL expect the Russians to land men and women on Mars way before anybody from America even cares to try.
It's horribly negative, and I apologize, but for what you say to happen will require some ferocious leadership, and even someone with the stones to stand up and demand America to do anything. That person will be dragged through the streets tarred and feathered and left for dead
I encourage you to watch a SpaceX launch and check out the crowd in the mission control center going nuts at the launch. They are almost all under thirty, science and engineering geeks that totally negates your argument. I'm 66 and remember the enthusiasm of the manned space program and have days when I feel much the thought you expressed. Yes, there are lots of millenials who will sleep throug life, but there are those like the SpaceX team of young people that give me great encouragment.
Yes all very serious and challenging debate, meanwhile puss is getting his rocks off. There is a message for mankind in there somewhere 😁😁😁
Why not.
Progress happens when the rich do with what the poor can't.
I agree. Like paying higher capital gains and estate taxes to better fund NASA, DARPA, DoE, and NSA.
Damn! I thought this was brand new lol but when she said 2018... woah this is still so current haha
Amy:
You generally rock, but I was 11 at the time of the moon landing and was the only person watching it in my house late that night and I remember that I could not make out what was happening on the screen very well. You are young, smart, enthusiastic and space knowledgeable plus nice to watch and listen to. THIS IS THE NEW SPACE AGE THE 60'S AND 70'S IS NOW. Most of us don't have much time to cover it as we are just trying to keep up with the pace of life.
I know a lot of us would love it if you would drill down on the current space happenings, technology, interviews, projects, problems, significant launches etc. I try to watch the Space X launches and the enthusiasm reminds me of the 1960's & 1970's. By the time this current space age is vintage space I will probably be dead!!! I enjoy vintage space but I enjoy current space and the challenges to come. If we are truly to become a spacefaring people we will need to get the public buy in and that is where you can contribute big time.
What do you other folks think???
the fuck is the cat doing?
having a good time. jealous? XD
Is the cat doing fuck?
the fuck is doing the cat?
Doing the cat is the fuck...
C,mon guys. Some things thought are better left unsaid. No matter your age, you need to grow up and stop trying to impress.
If Space X asked you to make the trip to the Moon, would you go?
MyworstEnemy oh yeah!
Hope they give them some pills so they can have a painless death if things go wrong
Not for 80 million dollars thanks :)
It's nearly the end of 2019. Did I miss the moon landing?? Please, next time will someone send me a reminder when they land on Mars? I would hate to miss that one too.
I love science also, and loved my cat, until she died. I was first one that she saw me, and was mom's cat, asked me to care for her, I did. She was the first that she saw after birth, and last she saw when she passed, opened her eyes and looked at me, then died Love your blogs!
I can see the future headlines now : "SpaceX funeral pyre - two daring passengers fried to death".
It's a bit of a test flight. There have been space Tourists before... Russia was not above selling seats to whoever could pay. But this is significant in that the USA in a private company not bound to a government now has the means to do what it took governments and their deep pockets to do. It signals an increase in the private use of space. In order for us to have... to develop the technology... for humans to live and work in space there must be a way to make money doing things in space. Humans will not colonize or explore the solar system to the extent you or I want and definitely not in a timely manner unless the transition from slow... inefficient... pure science... government and to to Fast, efficient, profit and free market driven private companies is made. The more space is utilized the more opportunity for scientific discovery is available. The rate of science knowledge we gain about the solar system will explode when multiple private companies take over as compared to the slow trickle we currently have from government.
Things always start off Expensive. SpaceX is leading the charge to reduce the price. Joining them in the effort is Blue Origin. Columbus' trip across the Atlantic was very expensive and dangerous. But once Business interests got involved then the technology to get across developed rapidly and the price dropped dramatically. Necessity and financial gain are the mothers of invention. Humanity will remain stagnate so long as government is in charge... This trip is inspirational as it signals the end of governments monopoly and the reduction in cost that will very soon make it affordable for the rest of us. A raising tide lifts all boats means this isn't just some "class warfare derogatory term for successful people you should aspire to emulate instead of hate" taking a vacation that doesn't benefit the rest of us. These are people taking the personal and financial risk to raise the rest of us up with them as they advance a cause they believe in.
What He^^ said.
The government's role has been and should remain the vanguard into the unknown. When the business case is mirky. When the technologies are unknown. The deep pockets of government should break open (or squelch) the business case. Government needs to fund R&D into technologies whose feasibility and payoff are too uncertain for private enterprise to stomach. Space is now a largely known quantity so NASA's role should diminish or change. SpaceX and Blue Origin can now cinch cheap access to space. Bezos or Diamandis (or whoever) can get on with the business of industrializing space. Give private enterprise a decade or two of dog-eat-dog competition and NASA could buy a tourist ticket to Mars for pocket change.
***** NASA cinched the rocket engine, fuels, steering, navigation, pressure vessel for crew, life support... on and on. Once all these had been tried over and over, mastered to the point of putting 12 guys on the Moon, they were old hat. Time to hand the knowledge off to free enterprise to optimize and build an economy on.
While it's been 40+ years since the last Apollo mission lots of activity has gone on around and on the Moon. Clementine, GRAIL, Cheng-e and Yutu. The Moon hasn't been the only target. Russia went after Venus early and hard, the only nation to have put anything on its surface. India is a late-comer but managed a Mars orbiter on the cheap. China put together a space program all by itself and I'll wager they will keep at it longer since they're not at the mercy of changing politics every 4 to 8 years. NASA's Mars rovers to be followed up by still more rovers. Cassini mission at Saturn. New Horizon at Pluto. Dawn at Vesta and Ceres. Just the Moon, or just Mars as the only worthy goals for space exploration does all the other targets in our solar system and beyond a huge disservice.
Couod you imagine if NASA had their Apollo budget today? They were around 5% of the Federal budget back then and just .4% today. But even with .4%, $19 billion, they can still get so much done. And as you say, if they cut out the BS with ISS, Orion and SLS and went with commercial launch providers they could do all those robotic missions. It's hard to decide which of the robotic missions I like best. I would just say yes to all of them and throw on a few others for good measure.
You sound pessimistic around SpaceX's and Blue Origin's chances. I'm pretty sure we're going to see something of a gold rush now that rocket reuse is getting so much attention. The price to LEO aught to drop a good 30% very soon.
could you imagine if other government agencies didn't waste over 26 times NASA's entire budget like HUD has been doing? And instead we actually spent that on NASA... an agency that actually does accomplish something.
The pursuit of Science in Space has not inspired investment in the tech. I love the science. I love the development of the tech. To your average American, they don't see science and tech.
Do you know what gets these birds going up? Funding makes these birds go up.
People want to see guys going on adventures on those birds going up. Achievements. The eye candy. Much like you are the eye candy for this channel.
The Mercury Astronauts said it best. No Bucks...no Buck Rogers.
And investors want to see Buck Rogers for their bucks...
yup, flying any and all satelites from whatever leaser or country that NEEDS a satellite to go up into space, and also to feed and supply the astronauts in the ISS(international space station), but this millenials don't get it, because she slept through economics, and i doubt has any aerospace schooling, ill be seriously surprised if this ABBY(NCIS) lookalike here has any relevant education in commerce, marketing, business administration, aviation or aerospace technologies what so ever, PLEASE i beg this girl prove me wrong and produce some semblance of a related education!!
So it is July of 2019 and this event has yet to take place
couldnt help but notice pete helping himself to that blanket lmao
Hi Amy, I'm totally with you with the Europa mission.... Let's work on a mission to this moon. It's a trip that would lead us to find something much more interesting than any other mission.
Its 2019... No people on the Moon
It's 2021 ... Musk's boasts have dwindled to silence.
I think it’s important to remember the main goal of this trip ultimately is to get the general public interested in space exploration. After all we know Musk wants this so he can justify his trip to mars. Largely, citizens have lost interest in science, and this could rally a lot of intention to this specific field.
Well it’s just turned over to 2019 I haven’t heard of space X putting a man in space let alone of this mission getting off the ground
OMG! The cat is humping the pillow in the background! Hilarious!!!!
I already wrote this in another topic, "Taking a walk is not Exploration," we have been walking up there for over 50 years without doing anything significant, now if we add SPACE TOURISM, only for billionaires, relies and sheikhs who can afford it,
I empower a Future of STAGING for humanity.
Darling ... I think that your cat feels lonely ... ;)
So she believes space travel only should be done by governments and only for scientific research. I couldn't disagree more.
Space isn't some sacrosanct thing.
The question is, why is it bothering you so much, Amy? Looks like you envy those two lucky ones. Do you have problem with them having that much money or with the trip itself? Or maybe you don't like the idea of some private company doing the same things, only NASA could do?
yes, yes & yes!!
zimThuet ^This
tomric79 , I think you've missed the gist of Amy's view on what really is SpaceX mission..? And I agree with her as far as going to moon...really..why?...We've been there done that 40 years ago..and is this a "joy ride" for a few multi-millionaires. , or a PR stunt as the last last SpaceX launch with one of his cars on board...but kudo's to SpaceX for their advancement in some of their technology...i.e having the boosters return and land back was more impressive than the Dragon 9 launch.. As in true Musk fashion he says alot...how about specific facts and figures to back this up (aka Tesla Motors)...As far as future space travel beyond the moon, privatization is NOT a bad idea, no government agency is as efficient as the free market system...as far as NASA doing things "better" I need not remind you of the Challenger and Discovery tragedies ...and the entire Shuttle program being extremely OVER budget , but what the heck its only taxpayer money...
nope nope and nope...
just because someone gets excited about actual scientific progress, doesn't mean jack. Rich people can do what they like and others can rightfully find it completely uninspiring. its pretty clear that some of these private companies aren't doing it for scientific exploration. And yeh she mentions your point at the end of the video...so why is it 'envious' to point out there will be little scientific advantage and on the whole won't be interesting for anyone else unlike all the space exploration that has come before it?
Really. How does she come up with the statement, "Do you think they are sticking it to the rest of us?" How would that even enter someone's mind? It is none of our business.
what i like is. if rockets can finally = profit then people will finally compete to get out there. if boeng and private engineering companies see “hey space has money, lets get that money, it will be worth the investment” and that could mean a lot, competition=innovation. governments make colonies, but companies make colonies popular.
....really informative clip, excellent perspective and speculation
Love that Angels & Airwaves shirt! ;)
Amy, Have you thought about doing a show on the early 1960's Sea Dragon rocket.?
YEA i DO, BUT HIS COVERAGE WAS NO MORE THAN i REMEMBER. Seems TO ME WALTER CRONKITE FILLED AN HOUR SPECIAL WITH INFORMATION AT THE TIME IT WAS CANCELLED.Just wondering if you would look at it.
Brian Snyder enjoy. neverworld.net/truax/Sea_Dragon_Concept_Volume_1.pdf
CuriousDriod was a complete unknown to me until I watched his Sea Dragon episode yesterday.
I also recently saw that Sea Dragon video. lol
That's not a bad concept either.
guilty!!
*Did you reupload this video?* I'm 99% sure you uploaded this video last week.
As it says in the description, this is a repost from my personal channel because I wanted to see how you guys like opinion vlogs on Vintage Space!
Oh, right this is Vintage Space. XD thanks for your reply.
Opinion/bestiality fetish videos deserve their own channel.
The cat beating up the pillow in the back is funny.
Great Job. Just discovered your channel. Awesome!
Anyone that refers to kerbal space program in any way, shape or form has lost nearly all credibility. SpaceX can do whatever they want, it's their money. Expressing that you have a problem with that, tells volumes about a person. As well as how they vote and where they shop.
The idea behind this mission as well, is to further stimulate the human component and get more and more people behind this new space race. We haven't been out of LEO in nearly 46 years. Its time we return, in whatever capacity that may be. It will also help put some steam behind SLS as well.
It's not their "Money" they taken $1.5 Billion from NASA. No NASA funding. There would be no SpaceX.
Do your homework please. As nothing worse then someone that gets their Space Flight Experience from the backs of a Cereal Box..
Thank You
Do your homework, son. NASA advanced SpaceX $1.6B for future services rendered. They are being PAID for contractual work being performed. That's not "being funded" as if they are just being given free money.
Are you public schooled? I bet you are.... As SpaceX even tells you. Had NASA not"Funded" them $1.6 Billion. They would have never existed moron..As the Tax Payer "fund" NASA. Paid for the clean up of SpaceX failures
www.reddit.com/r/spacex/comments/4eaxc9/ars_technica_without_nasa_there_would_be_no/
www.popularmechanics.com/space/rockets/news/a22674/who-pays-for-spacexs-spaceport-calamity/
Now get back on your Short Bus. There is a reason you ride it...
Master Chief, SpaceX has saved NASA money in the long run. Their SLS program cost 7 billion in 2 years, and is estimated to have a final price tag of 30 billion over the course of 10 years. SLS will cost 500 million per launch versus Falcon Heavy's 90 million per launch price tag. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to tell that the tax payers are saving millions of dollars with NASA giving SpaceX contracts while enjoying the benefits of an accelerated space race. I would also like to point out, since you mentioned failures, that NASA has failed on numerous occasions, and would argue that the cost of NASA's past failures have had a much larger cost than SpaceX. NASA deserves some credit for this absolutely, but remember who started the expensive shuttle program, and that without SpaceX we would be stuck only with the SLS which is a money vacuum. Very soon we will be launching American astronauts on US soil for the first time since the shuttle program was abandoned.
NASA collaborated with the developers of Kerbal Space Program to develop DLC for the game, so I guess they've lost all credibility. Oh, shit. I just referred to it, as well. Disregard that first sentence, I've lost all credibility. Referencing a spaceflight simulator when discussing spaceflight is a sure sign that you're some idiot who thinks simulations have any relation to the phenomena they're simulating.
I completely disagree with many of Amy's opinions regarding SpaceX; they're one of the most important organizations in our entire civilization right now. However, she can say whatever she wants, it's her channel. She can also vote however she wants, it's her vote. And she can shop wherever she wants, it's *her money.* Expressing that you have a problem with that tells volumes about a person.
You are doing great work. Take this from someone born the year of Sputnik.
The sad part is that politics is too unpredictable. Politicians change out in only 4 years of a 10 year long program. What was seen as a boon, can be re-politicized as a waste in only a few years. A public can be motivated to get behind a race to the moon against the Soviets, but doing it for science is a difficult sell. Too many pure-science people don't get that. And why projects can easily loose public support. Because it stops being promoted in an effective way.
Private projects can help push things faster or bring things to years long standstill if something goes horrifically wrong.
On the other hand, government projects are exactly set up so that many states get a piece of the action. That's how you get things through congress. But it also makes things inefficient and wasteful.
Just my two rubles.
I basically agree with what you are saying, Amy. I don't think there is any significant "inspirational" aspect to a commercial lunar mission, but I don't think there needs to be. It has a purpose: to help generate revenue for SpaceX, so they can do amazing things like build the BFR and launch science missions to the outer planets. I'd analogize it this way: Yes, it's like taking a joyride in an expensive jet. But you get a lot of benefit from that joyride: people are employed, companies make money building and servicing the aircraft. It may not have the scientific value of a NASA research flight, but there is nothing sacred about space travel. In fact, it needs to NOT be sacred. It needs to be mundane. This is a step in that direction. Just as the first commercial airliners were too pricey for most people, eventually, after flying around a lot of rich people, it became something available to almost everyone.
For the passengers, or rich people.. there is the title "I was the First Private Citizen in History to the Moon" (kind of a selfie thing). The only place we can compare is with the 1500 or 1600 sailing ships.. what motivated them? Land real estate. Although communications routes as in postal delivery and proven means of resalable communications.. like postage, or internet relay routers would be pretty valuable. Tesla Super charger like solar charging stations and depots for spacecraft not quite up to the task of completing the trip in one go.. especially for commerical tugs and mining equipment along the way might be good. Then a slower Ion or MHD style engine could get them to the Moon with a few layovers at Flying-J truck stops along the way. Station keeping would be a problem.. but there's lots of solar energy out there.. and orbital mechanics would bring them back around on a schedule.
"No bucks. No Buck Rogers." LOL
MOON FIRST !!! Love Your videos and the Kitteh :)
I agree with your feeling that sending private individuals to the Moon would not beneficial from a scientific stand point. However what interested me, was that it might take place almost 50 years to the day that Apollo 8 went to the Moon. I know you were not around to experience the flight of Apollo 8 real time. But at the time it was the most inspirational events of my lifetime (not talking about the reading from Genesis). Love your shows, even if I don't always agree with your 'soap box'. It IS your soap box, and a very nice one too.
Your cat giving himself a butt bath in the background was quite amusing. :)
Watch from the beginning
@@astroguy8210 I did.
Just found your channel and I love it! Bravo, nicely done.
Learning how to live off planet for long duration is key, and our moon is perfect for that.
I hope missions like this would help inspire People to take risks and have their eye in the sky like in the 50's and 60's
It's also possible (whether it's scientifically worthwhile is, of course, debatable) that "interplanetary suborbital missions" may become space tourist flights, where they try to "one-up" each other by reaching the greatest distances from Earth. (In his 1957 book "The Making of a Moon: The Story of the Earth Satellite Program," Arthur C. Clarke wrote about exploring space out to millions of miles from Earth by launching instrumented rockets that *almost* reach escape velocity, then fall back to Earth [they could return films that record cosmic rays, to give just one example]. Such vehicles could also pass by the Moon during either ascent or descent, providing close-up lunar views. Such trajectories would also be easier to "hit" than orbits around the Earth, because the guidance requirements would be simpler.)
I watch the "Below Deck" show, which the ultra-rich rent a boat for 10k/day to boat around the mediterranean. It would be cheaper for them to stay in a hotel and do guided excursions, but the "superyacht" is an appeal for bragging rights.
I really think that "I paid to go to the moon" will become the next best thing for the super-rich, which is basically how all modes of transportation start. My great grandfather was a land owner and was the first man around to have an Automobile. This is the gateway to progress, and I totally agree that this is how he can fund space exploration. And If i had the money, I would go on this tour as well.
There was no real "reason" to go to North America besides looking for new resources. It was basically tourism at first, then small bases, then small isolated societies. This is human exploration as its best.
Tourist trip around the Moon makes more sense for Space Flight growth than tourist trip up Everest makes sense at all.
Dollars & practice, R&D money and proof of reliability - one more step upwards & outwards.
The point of this thing is a proof of concept: to move people who aren’t professional astronauts around space. If you want to get past only a few specialists flying around the solar system then this is the obvious first step.