Many hundreds of billions of dollars were paid to haul all of that mass up the gravity well into orbit. And guess who spent all of that money? And guess who’d like to make a LOT MORE money?
Apart from the spent rockets (now sitting at the bottom of Point Nemo) and fuel, most of ISS was clearly expensive and versatile and well-designed. And VERY likely to be worth recycling.
Instead, send a rocket up there to LIFT ISS into a stable parking orbit that won’t decay in thousands of years. By then somebody will have found a use for most of it. If ‘space-faring’ is really the goal, and not just a gimmick to put money into private pockets.
Using it to make a spectacular fireworks show is an ENORMOUS waste. The Egyptians didn’t dynamite the pyramids … a lucrative decision.
The Egyptians didn’t dynamite the pyramids … a lucrative decision.
They (or someone anyway) did take the gold off 'em, tho.
Hmmm… private operators’ space stations in low earth orbit. What could go wrong?
I wanted to vomit when I read that.
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who’s fucked up more historically, private entities or governments?
Historically, private entities … not even close. Governments are far more open to scrutiny. Entities pay well to keep their fuckups hidden. You have dig into the hundreds of books written about them to learn the documented facts. How many workers did Ford have shot? (Why did Hitler give him a golden award?) Why did the German dye-makers move their factories to New Jersey, then China? Why was noone willing to insure the early nuclear reactors … so the government had to?
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So why is our healthcare absolute shit?
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Because privatization (and capitalism in general) opens the door for greedy corporations to squeeze every bit of profit they can out of something. And skirt regulation or oversight in the process
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Way to miss the forest for the lichen on the trees.
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My bet: a Starship variant. Send it up, refuel it as needed, and you’ve got a metric shit ton of de-orbit push. Starship will have been to the moon by then, it’ll be a proven platform.
Hell, use a fleet and you could reland the ISS if you wanted it back on Earth intact.
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Oh I know. It would be expensive, nobody would pay to do it. But the Smithsonian would get one hell of a display if someone did.
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