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Commercial Space: Spirit of Apollo Or Spirit of Solyndra?

Posted by Soulskill on from the little-of-column-a-little-of-column-b dept.

MarkWhittington writes "Andrew Chaikin, the author of A Man on the Moon: The Voyages of the Apollo Astronauts, believes that the spirit of Apollo no longer resides at NASA, but rather in the nascent commercial space companies such as SpaceX. This assessment is disputed by many, who see in the Obama administration program of government subsidies for commercial space the spirit of Solyndra."

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  1. Re:Why have Americans become nancies? by queazocotal · · Score: 1, Troll

    Why are the lives of astronauts any more precious than those of fishermen?
    Over a 30 year career, according to dept of labour statistics, 5% will die.
    If you asked the average trawlerman if they would prefer to make 3 or 4 flights in shirt-sleeve conditions, taking perhaps a week at a time, and make what they would make over 10-15 years, a huge fraction will leap at it, even knowing the risks.