Flame — HabitableZone

Flame » in reply to Ditto

¿Et tu, Gary? :-) I STILL wish Beagle 2 had succeeded and outshined NASA, though...
SpaceProjects.com — (archived)

Gary, if I remember correctly, you and I had numerous discussions about Beagle 2's perceived inadequacy. I could be thinking of someone else but if it was you, you were very much on top of your game...whoever gave such an elaborate analysis of Beagle 2's likely shortcomings before they resulted in its ultimate failure is to be commended. At the same time, though, I sensed that the author worked with JPL. While serving NASA HQ I spent meaningful time at JPL and I sensed that they fear competition like the kind that competitive prizes could bring about. In MY view, though, anyone pursuing a prize regarding Mars would need JPL, at least a productive version of JPL. Moreso than they'd need NASA, in fact, because civil service protections supposedly don't get in the way nearly as much out at JPL as they do at NASA. I'm sorry if you perceive that I'm a threat to your livelihood with my pro-entrepreneurial preachings. I am not aware of any reason to doubt that you could make it in a more entrepreneurial space industry. Perhaps it's some of your friends that you seek to protect; I don't know. Or maybe you fear that salaries would be reduced if Mars ventures suddenly became significantly more competitive. Yeah, but there'd be more opportunities. I don't think I'm worthy of your attempted censorship, even if you view me from a most selfish prism. At least you never called me mean & inaccurate names though :-)

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