Good afternoon, everyone. Happy Friday. Yesterday, the SpaceX Starship rocket exploded a few moments after it launched. Despite this fact, there has been a copious amount of spin on this event. To the point where the media is saying that this is not “that big of a deal”. Thankfully, this was an uncrewed rocket, but this is more than a bit concerning if Elon Musk’s Space X is going to supposedly be the company to commercialize space flight. Not to mention the environmental impact of that explosion which almost no one is discussing in a thoughtful manner.
A rocket that was meant to venture into space exploded. Rather than rationalizing the failure of Space X, the questions should be asked as to what shortcuts and safety measures were not taken for this to happen. Mealymouth doublespeak which yielded us the term “rapid unscheduled disassembly” is part of exactly what is wrong with corporations taking the lead in the space program.
How about properly funding NASA and having them carefully come up with a reusable rocket?
I wholeheartedly agree that space flight should be controlled by the government and layered with all the safety regulations they can reasonably apply. My fear is that one of these unregulated crafts is going to come down on a civilian population.
Indeed, Bill. Space flight is too risky to just leave to the whims of corporations. Thank you for your commentary.