That’s true but it doesn’t solve the problem now.
Comment on We Should Immediately Nationalize SpaceX and Starlink
Blackmist@feddit.uk 1 day ago
You could always just fund the space agency you already have, instead of funneling money to a foreign billionaire.
fodor@lemmy.zip 22 hours ago
Cocodapuf@lemmy.world 20 hours ago
This is the thing, NASA is underfunded as it is, if we nationalized SpaceX, we wouldn’t actually continue to fund it appropriately and it would simply die. It would be an awful shame for the space industry and for humanity’s future in space.
I hate musk as much as the next guy, but I think the success of spaceX is undeniable. Their success with reusable rockets is not just impressive, it’s ground breaking and important. Developing a fully reusable rocket is probably the most important challenge humans are working on in this era, and I only know of three companies attempting to do it.
lagoon8622@sh.itjust.works 20 hours ago
You guys are so stuck in the cult of personality. WE PAID FOR EVERYTHING SPACEX DID. IT BELONGS TO US.
ChickenLadyLovesLife@lemmy.world 16 hours ago
Not to mention that Musk himself contributed nothing to SpaceX’s technical achievements. All he did was insist that the audio of their launches and recoveries include employees cheering maniacally - easily the most annoying aspect of SpaceX.
cole@lemdro.id 12 hours ago
I’m sorry… you don’t think employees who are achieving world firsts are allowed to celebrate?
You must be fun at parties
Marand@feddit.dk 15 hours ago
You paid for services rendered. By your logic you should eventually own your neighborhood grocery store because that’s where you buy your bread.
tyler@programming.dev 13 hours ago
You’re talking to someone on lemmy, there’s a very high likelihood they think exactly that.
Cocodapuf@lemmy.world 20 hours ago
Let’s say I bought you a car, I paid for it in full and then gave it to you, and I’m return you sometimes drive me around.
Let’s say I get tired of this arrangement, should I repossess the car just to drive it into the ocean? What would be the point of that? Sure, it’s rightfully mine, but what good does it do to destroy it?
Plebcouncilman@sh.itjust.works 18 hours ago
Us? Do you own NASA? Do you have any say on how funds are assigned to NASA? No? Then it doesn’t belong to “Us” it belongs to the government, a distinct organization with different goals and motivations than “Us” the people.
KumaSudosa@feddit.dk 20 hours ago
Of course he was always a jerk, but I still think of a reality where Elon never went (officially) Nazi and just stuck with his otherwise important companies. Tesla being an important early mover in EVs, especially in such an oil-dependent country, and all the cool stuff SpaceX has been up to.
Cocodapuf@lemmy.world 20 hours ago
I hear you, why can’t we be in that timeline?
TronBronson@lemmy.world 23 hours ago
No this the one time I’m with the commies. Nationalize that shit. Like you said it’s all taxpayer money anyway. A little bit of Wall Street speculation, but who gives a fuck about those people
A_norny_mousse@feddit.org 22 hours ago
Good point.
ChaoticNeutralCzech@feddit.org 21 hours ago
Yes but with very little to show for it. If the government just treated all undelivered orders as debt, it would end up deep in the red.
Balex@lemmy.world 20 hours ago
What do you mean little to show for it?
explodicle@sh.itjust.works 17 hours ago
Reusable rockets are cool
ChaoticNeutralCzech@feddit.org 17 hours ago
Never lived up to the hype. Take almost as much effort to get ready for another flight as building another one.
Fenrisulfir@lemmy.ca 21 hours ago
So you wanna nationalize the whole telecom industry then?
Aqarius@lemmy.world 21 hours ago
Well, now that you bring it up…
Fenrisulfir@lemmy.ca 20 hours ago
I fully agree. Any industry that can’t survive on its own and needs public funds shouldn’t exist and if it’s an essential service it should be nationalized.
Chulk@lemmy.ml 7 hours ago
Don’t threaten me with a good time!
explodicle@sh.itjust.works 17 hours ago
lol you really threatened Lemmy with a good time
Squirrelanna@lemmynsfw.com 18 hours ago
Yes please, maybe they’ll fix the shit they’ve been getting paid for decades to fix finally.
lagoon8622@sh.itjust.works 20 hours ago
Yes, absolutely. And power too
Fenrisulfir@lemmy.ca 20 hours ago
And pharma. And O&G
AES_Enjoyer@reddthat.com 17 hours ago
Are you against universal and free healthcare, education and retirement? Are you against improving worker rights, paid holidays, sick leave, guaranteed housing and guaranteed employment? Are you against unionisation of workplaces and collective worker decisions mattering in business? Are you against heavy regulation against climate change and pollution of the environment? Are you against anti-racism, feminism, anti-fascism and the redistribution of wealth from the richest to the poorest? I’m sure you have a lot more common ground with us commies than you think
0ndead@infosec.pub 13 hours ago
*in theory
AES_Enjoyer@reddthat.com 11 hours ago
All of those things I mentioned are/were a material reality in socialist countries such as Cuba or the Soviet Union
Plebcouncilman@sh.itjust.works 23 hours ago
NASA was always there and they couldn’t achieve what SpaceX has while simultaneously having a lot more capital to do so. I’m sorry but if there’s any proof that private sector’s self interest is a better driver of innovation than common interest SpaceX is it. This is a terrible idea that sounds like a good idea if you do not understand how good Musk was and is at cutting costs. That’s his actual real skill in business and is well documented. Doesn’t make him less of a prick but you also cannot downplay what he has achieved with this company.
outhouseperilous@lemmy.dbzer0.com 22 hours ago
The agency that landed people on the moon so long ago most of the people involved have died if old age, and the event will soon pass out of living memory?
The one where when they let a single rocket explode, one time, rocked the nation, because their record was so close to flawless?
The one that constantly gives us new sources for scientific data?
Yeah fuck them. They never made a dick rocket.
cole@lemdro.id 2 hours ago
I’m sorry… dick rocket? Your issue with SpaceX is that the rockets are… rocket shaped?
Like everything else notwithstanding, physics dictates the shapes of these things. That is why they all look rather… dick-ish
pupbiru@aussie.zone 16 hours ago
let’s not forget the agency that launched the probe that passed the edge of the solar system and is still functional and doing valuable things…… in the 70s
Senal@programming.dev 23 hours ago
You mean the NASA who landed people on the moon?
So let’s assume you aren’t a moon landing denier and use that as a baseline, NASA is clearly capable of things given the right circumstances and budget.
SpaceX benefited from his reputation and money, because they sure as shit didn’t benefit from his technical acumen.
Business wise he is successful because he’s rich and influential and that works to mitigate how shitty he is at actually running an organisation, that doesn’t mean he has skills as a business person that means he has money and influence, in his case originally from the mine, then from buying and bullying his was in to businesses that were technologically sound and boosting them with his money.
You could make an argument he’s a relatively good investor, but he’s an actively bad CEO.
Plebcouncilman@sh.itjust.works 22 hours ago
When Musk started SpaceX he was not well known yet, SpaceX came before Tesla.
He was able to get into the businesses he has because he was rich yes, but you can find many accounts of engineers that worked under him speak of how good he was at finding ways to cut unnecessary costs.
He’s not a technical genius that’s for sure. But he has been a good CEO for SpaceX. Terrible one for Tesla though, mostly because he bought into his own myth and became a drug addict. But I refuse to simply wave away his achievements simply because I don’t like him. I can not like someone and still acknowledge they have done something good.
khannie@lemmy.world 20 hours ago
Absolutely agree with this but there is no denying the innovation levels at spacex are higher (I’m not saying this is down to musk specifically. The man is a horror story of a human).
We were all in total awe when seeing booster stages land themselves successfully for the first time. It was such a giant leap forward and to the best of my knowledge no government funded space agency was even considering it before spacex.
OmegaLemmy@discuss.online 22 hours ago
it’ll be sold to the highest bidder is my bet
I would find it funny that billionaires would pass off the opportunity of taking musk’s position on a discount
Blackmist@feddit.uk 23 hours ago
I’ll settle for whichever one annoys him the most.