SpaceX: Entrepreneur's race to space (60 Minutes Interview)

[Pelf]

Aired last night. Very good watch.[video=youtube;H3u0IIQj6FY]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3u0IIQj6FY[/video]Better version, US only (I think): [URL]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNwg8FvfuuU[/URL]

[zin908]

Not available in the UK, aw man.

[brie_irl]

I saw this when it was on yesterday. Despite what he says, for now commercial space flight really isn't possible without government help. As the video states, they have a contract with NASA and NASA engineers provided them with help. Maybe eventually the commercial industry will be as advanced as NASA, but for the time being, his thing about privatization taking over is kind of bull.

[Pelf]

[QUOTE=zin908;35208128]Not available in the UK, aw man.[/QUOTE]I found a different upload. See if it works now.

[retroboy4]

What a legend, it's a bummer Neil Armstrong doesn't support his work

[DrLuke]

There have to be rules and regulations that put safety before profit for this kind of stuff.

[Techno-Man]

He's a genius, thanks to him we may get to Mars by 2025.

[Edthefirst]

[QUOTE=Baboo00;35208181]I saw this when it was on yesterday. Despite what he says, for now commercial space flight really isn't possible without government help. As the video states, they have a contract with NASA and NASA engineers provided them with help. Maybe eventually the commercial industry will be as advanced as NASA, but for the time being, his thing about privatization taking over is kind of bull.[/QUOTE]

Well the technical assistance bit is obvious. Why reinvent the wheel?

The biggest thing is government funding, but that makes sense too. Government helped fund commercial flight in its early days; why not help commercial space flight?

[OvB]

I felt really bad for him when you could see he was choking up about his Heroes not supporting his work.
(12:05)

[_Kayla_]

Having everything in the rocket built by the same company on the same factory is sure to improve safety. Not only will every part be compatible with every other part, but the same safety standard will apply to all of it. For example, the Apollo 13 mission was almost a disaster because an oxygen tank exploded from a bad heater (or pressure gauge, I forgot which). Grumman was hired by NASA to build the module, which then contracted another company to build the tanks. That company hired someone else to make little bits and pieces.
TL;DR:
Elon Musk has the right idea.