[ExI] 50+ Reasons Our Favorite Emerging Technologies Had an Amazing 2019

[spike at rainier66.com]

From: extropy-chat <extropy-chat-bounces at lists.extropy.org> On Behalf Of John Grigg via extropy-chat



 

>…SpaceX lands and reuses rockets …

John I had an interesting conversation yesterday with a guy who has been my friend since we were in second grade together, we went all the way thru and even went to engineering school together.  He worked on the shuttle when it came along in 1979 (he left college to do that) for several years, then has been contracting at the Cape in various capacities on and off since then.  He is a business owner and knows plenty about what goes on.  I was delighted by his comments.  

When he worked for NASA in the 80s, he hated it, didn’t like the way things went, eventually left that work and did his own thing for less money.  Yesterday he was telling me how the Rocket Ranch has been transformed by SpaceX and the other civilian companies launching stuff.  He tells me it is such a joy to work with the new companies, for so many reasons.  For starters, they are incentivized to save money rather than to waste money.  They have no reason to spread the work to all 50 states in order to get congressional support, so most of the stuff is now made locally, which makes it so much easier and more practical to keep your eye on things.  The efficiency is 10 times greater, as local businesses have synergy, share talent, work as a team while they compete with each other. 

My friend has lived across the river from the Cape his whole life.  He tells me there is nothing cooler, nothing he has ever seen cooler than watching two rockets come down feet first and land in unison.  He fully understands why the Chinese can launch stuff so much cheaper: the old way was intentionally inefficient.  Now, when someone is paying the bill, he demands efficiency and he damn-well gets efficiency.

Cool part: the same guy, Elon Musk, has changed the complexion of both our neighborhoods, revitalized both areas.  Musk built an electric car company up the street from me and is doing much of the launching at the Rocket Ranch in Florida.  I could hug that man (in a totally hetero clumsy sideways shoulder hug of course.)

May we be carried into a glorious future by shrewd businessmen rather than wasteful politicians.

spike

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