NASA astronauts launch from US soil for first time in nine years!!!

[Logwyn]

This launch was awesome to watch!!!!

https://www.nasa.gov/specials/dm2/

[Easo]

1. Launch was already yesterday.
2. We have thread about it https://www.mmo-champion.com/threads...-Moon-and-Mars

[Logwyn]

1. Launch was already yesterday.
2. We have thread about it https://www.mmo-champion.com/threads...-Moon-and-Mars

Opps my bad!

[plz delete account]

This launch was awesome to watch!!!!

https://www.nasa.gov/specials/dm2/

1. Launch was already yesterday.
2. We have thread about it https://www.mmo-champion.com/threads...-Moon-and-Mars

Artemis is NOT commercial crew.
Dragon 2 isn't designed with the intent of going near the moon.

[ParanoiD84]

Followed the livestream on YouTube the day before but it got cancelled then, missed the acual launch and that sucks.

Amazing though I love shit like this.

[xenogear3]

Dragon 2, by looking at the name, Made in China !

[Sorensen]

Followed the livestream on YouTube the day before but it got cancelled then, missed the acual launch and that sucks.

Amazing though I love shit like this.

Same. I was all excited on the first launch attempt day and then got distracted on Saturday when it actually launched.

[Zuben]

The Apollo days were cool, but high cost and merely demonstration pieces between ideologically competing nations that waned fast once US "won". This time the space race is between private businesses with high consideration to sustainable models, while NASA is in a more supportive and science-based role, delegating engineering to companies so they can be more focused on discovering new stuff. All this makes me much more hopeful to see a proper space frontier develop rather than facing another era of stagnation.

[plz delete account]

Dragon 2, by looking at the name, Made in China !

Names can be rather deceiving. SpaceX produces everything inhouse in the USA.

[xenogear3]

The Apollo days were cool, but high cost and merely demonstration pieces between ideologically competing nations that waned fast once US "won". This time the space race is between private businesses with high consideration to sustainable models, while NASA is in a more supportive and science-based role, delegating engineering to companies so they can be more focused on discovering new stuff. All this makes me much more hopeful to see a proper space frontier develop rather than facing another era of stagnation.

Sorry to disappoint you.
SpaceX gets lots of money from the government.
Without it, it would be bankrupted.

[Zuben]

Sorry to disappoint you.
SpaceX gets lots of money from the government.
Without it, it would be bankrupted.

Sure, but those subsidies are an investment the government would otherwise give to NASA to do the same thing these companies are doing. Difference is, the companies do it more cost-effectively AND create business that pays taxes. Space is a new sector that used to be the playing field of nations, but now it's open to private contractors and therefore grounds for more than scientific endeavors. What's more, diversifying projects (=using multiple contractors, SpaceX isn't the only one) makes odds of securing working space launch capabilities for US more likely and abundant.

We shall see in the future how Artemis goes and if we're ever getting to Mars and that delicious asteroid mining, but at least as far as Earth's orbit is concerned investing in private contractors has proven fruitful.

[PACOX]

Sure, but those subsidies are an investment the government would otherwise give to NASA to do the same thing these companies are doing. Difference is, the companies do it more cost-effectively AND create business that pays taxes. Space is a new sector that used to be the playing field of nations, but now it's open to private contractors and therefore grounds for more than scientific endeavors. What's more, diversifying projects (=using multiple contractors, SpaceX isn't the only one) makes odds of securing working space launch capabilities for US more likely and abundant.

We shall see in the future how Artemis goes and if we're ever getting to Mars and that delicious asteroid mining, but at least as far as Earth's orbit is concerned investing in private contractors has proven fruitful.

Adding to what you wrote.

The commercial crew does two things.

1) It allows NASA to hand off mundane tasks to third parties while takes to the role of pioneer.

2) It sets up for a future where NASA acts as a regulatory body for spaceflight instead of having to be both the operator and administrator.


NASA shouldn't be doing human LEO stuff at this point besides supervising. Its a poor allocation of resources. It should be laying the foundation for third parties to follow. For example, NASA uses Orion to establish what's needed to safely get to the Moon, what's needed to survive beyond - not just the Moon. Then the private companies can come up with all the cool, cost-effective, long term commercial applications based on the requirements set by NASA.