Quote:
Originally Posted by porwolf
I think "private" space endeavors are much over-hyped. There is not really any technical reason why private space technology should be much cheaper than NASA projects and be as safe. It just is inherent in "private" (for-profit) enterprises that corners are cut. It is called "efficiency". Safety will inevitably be sacrificed on the altar of profitability. Space flight is not like riding in a car that can just stop and wait by the side of the road for help if anything goes wrong. Failure No.1 this week was because the "private" enterprise used 40 year old, discarded, Russian rocket engines because they were cheap. And the Virgin "space" plane probably crashed because it did not use the same safety protocols that NASA uses.
Private space flights proved to be extremely risky enterprises!
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What NASA did was in a
whole different league.(speeds, altitude and payload - HUGE! ) And, NASA had some rather spectacular losses, even with NASA safety protocols.