WHAT? Elon Musk manipulating, using other people's money, for personal GAIN? Perish the thought!

I'm in total agreement with you. OF COURSE this is self-serving. Starship is LEO-optimized. Built for pushing Starlink into space even faster. Falcon 9 can only launch 22 current-generation Starlinks at once, and that does not please the Dark Lord.

As for Artemis, all I can do is sigh. Von Braun is spinning in his grave.

SpaceX's Starship will deploy next-gen Starlink satellites Pez-dispenser style
June 6, 2022

https://www.space.com/spacex-starsh...s-pez-dispenser

Current Starlink spacecraft are launched by SpaceX's workhorse Falcon 9 rocket. But Starlink 2.0 satellites will be much more capable and much bigger, each of them tipping the scales at about 1.25 tons (1,130 kilograms) here on Earth, compared to about 660 pounds (300 kg) for current Starlink craft.

That's too hefty for the Falcon 9 to handle, at least in the big batches that SpaceX likes to loft.

Starship "is the only thing that can carry the Starlink 2 satellites," SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk said in a recent interview with Everyday Astronaut's Tim Dodd.

"Falcon has neither the volume nor the mass-to-orbit capability required for Starlink 2," Musk added, presumably referring to both the Falcon 9 and its brawnier cousin, the Falcon Heavy.

__________________
The other day I sat next to a woman who has a profound fear of flying. I wanted to comfort her, so I said, "Don't worry, we're not gonna' crash. Statistically, we got a better chance of being bitten by a shark." Then I showed her the scar on my elbow from a shark attack. I said, "I got this when my plane went down off of Florida." - Dennis Regan

Another thing I like about that video is that it points out using historical evidence that the Apollo program was 99% political and science was only added after the fact. The race to the moon was only announced a mere month after the Bay of Pigs catastrophe as a kind of PR diversion and, not made clear enough in the video, JFK after seeing the cost later wanted to go the robotic route, but it was too late because he'd already made the pledge.

Luckily, there were some major technological advances from the Apollo program, something that isn't going to happen with the new political race to the dead, dusty ball orbiting us because those advances these days come from the consumer and military sectors and are then used in civilian spaceflight. For instance, the amazing Ingenuity helicopter was made possible ONLY by using consumer electronics where the cell phone processor used was vastly more powerful than all of the CPUs on all previous rovers combined.

The video is incorrect at the end where, after correctly pointing out earlier in the video that the vast majority of the planned, listed SCIENCE to be carried out by the Artemis missions on the lifeless, dusty ball (while also trashing the costly while elephant called the ISS) could be done vastly more cheaply with robotics, he states that there is no political race this time. I don't know how he missed this:

"I would not want us to be there 2nd": NASA administrator aims to beat China in the race to the Moon
May 17, 2023

https://news.yahoo.com/not-want-us-...-210458266.html

Nelson didn't mince words about America's next space race. "We are in a space race with China," he said.

WHY?! When they eventually get there, simply welcome them VERY PUBLICLY to the one member club we started over 50 years ago and note that WE have advanced since then and prefer using robots now. But, then, that last part would make people also question the cash cow human spaceflight cr*p, wouldn't it...

__________________
The other day I sat next to a woman who has a profound fear of flying. I wanted to comfort her, so I said, "Don't worry, we're not gonna' crash. Statistically, we got a better chance of being bitten by a shark." Then I showed her the scar on my elbow from a shark attack. I said, "I got this when my plane went down off of Florida." - Dennis Regan

Mentioned in the BOOST-ED video:

What made Apollo a success?

Acquisition Source - Legacy CDMS
Document Type - Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Date Acquired - September 2, 2013
Publication Date - January 1, 1971
Report/Patent Number - NASA-SP-287

Spacecraft development, mission design planning, flight crew operations, and flight operations are considered. Spacecraft design principles and test activities are described. Determination of the best series of flights leading to a lunar landing at the earliest possible time, flight planning, techniques for establishing flight procedures and carrying out flight operations, and crew training and simulation activities are discussed.

https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations...19720005243.pdf

__________________
The other day I sat next to a woman who has a profound fear of flying. I wanted to comfort her, so I said, "Don't worry, we're not gonna' crash. Statistically, we got a better chance of being bitten by a shark." Then I showed her the scar on my elbow from a shark attack. I said, "I got this when my plane went down off of Florida." - Dennis Regan

Thanks for that link. I'm looking forward to reading that one.

__________________
Bernard Cawley
NAR 89040 L1 - Life Member
SAM 0061
AMA 42160
KG7AIE