this post was submitted on 09 Mar 2025
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Fuck Elon Musk, Fuck Privatized Flight Control, Fuck the entire Trump Admin
But in all fairness, they're intentionally trying to build rockets with cheaper materials, them blowing up is expected for a very long time going forward, and is definitely worth it in the long run. If somebody like Blue Origin were in charge, the fucking Natural Gas rocket company, that would be much worse.
What does this mean? Starship uses methane too, you know?
Importantly they use methane because you can generate methane on Mars(especially if you bring some spare hydrogen).
They say this a lot, so I expect they have some machinery running to demonstrate the technology here on earth? We have plenty of hydrogen here after all.
Correct. It’s called the Sabatier reaction and it’s over 100 years old.
So where are the machines on earth demonstrating the process?
Oddly enough when the process was demonstrated by French scientists in the 1800s they did it in space, so the earth has yet to see this advanced technology.
Since it's been around so long, surely there exists a plant somewhere that is creating methane at scale? Or a system has been designed that will produce enough methane to fill a starship economically? This problem must be long solved, I should be able to buy an off the shelf methane generator, no?
Are you being obtuse or do you have a point? A Sabatier reactor has flown on the ISS, so they exist clearly. Audi had a pilot plant producing methane using this method as recently as 10 years ago.
It's obvious the technology exists, and has been tested in space, and is viable on mars according to numerous studies dating back from the 80s to current day.
Do you have any proof to the contrary? I'm a huge space nerd so if there's a fatal flaw in this plan I'd like to know.
My point is, if there's not a simple box you can buy that makes methane on earth, we're a long way away from a methane factory on Mars. Spacex has said they're not working on it and hope someone else does. Without this magical machine there will be no people landing on Mars. Or, more specifically, no people leaving Mars.
My further point is, the whole Mars thing is just a bullshit ruse to trick us into funding the launch of capitalism into space.
Your ideology begets your conclusions. You are a troll, intentional or not.
Fair. But before I leave, let me challenge you to consider how your ideology might be determining your own conclusions.
We've never launched from mars much less have an entire manufacturing plant and refueling station built, so it doesnt really seem pertinent at this juncture to be launching Vulcan rockets and frequent satellites that that technology.
They use methane because it's cheap and light. Any other justification is just bullshit greenwashing.
We have flown this experiment on the ISS. It is a chemical process that is over 100 years old and is well understood.
It’s also the only way to lift any significant mass off of mars, because as you said we have no manufacturing or refueling there. So the rocket must refuel itself.
It then follows that if Mars is the next major target of exploration, and methane is cheap and abundant, why not get started now? The alternative is to spend a decade qualifying an engine for human space flight after the green light for a crewed mission.
Alright cool but we've never used these rockets anywhere other than earth. Their development for future use isn't an excuse to use them over other types currently.
Also, Mars has lower gravity and little to no atmosphere, there are definitely other ways in that pointless hypothetical.
SpaceX uses natural gas on anything equipped with a Raptor engine, this is true, but it wasn't the company's primary accomplishment or field of research like with Blue Origin.
It looks like starting with BE-7 Blue Origin started using Hydrogen and are now researching potential nuclear fuel options, I hadn't even heard of these engines before today, it looks like they've never been used outside of testing phase, so I suppose I might have been overly critical.
So what were you trying to say when you said "fucking natural gas rocket engine company?"
If you read my comment you will see that Blue Origin has primarily developed and sold Natural Gas rocket engines. Blue Origin is the Jeff Bezos owned Fucking Natural Gas Rocket Engine Company. What part about this is unclear to you?
The part where your not calling Elon Musk's fucking natural gas rocket engine company a Fucking Natural Gas Rocket Engine Company
SpaceX also had the Merlin, Kestrel, and Falcon series which were LOX/RP-1 fueled and they also had the Draco series which were Hydrazine fuel.
Fuck both of them, but Blue Origin is most well known for their Natural Gas rocketry.
People occasionally bring up how Canada's ATC is private. Those people always forget there are still strict government contracts with tight regulations. There's no huge influence on "good" healthcare and benefits as an excuse for lower pay and QOL for the same job in the US. Comparing working in the *US to Canadian private sector is comparing apples to shit oranges.
Trump appointed Bridenstone his first term. There was an explicit goal of privatizing space exploration and moving programs from in-house NASA (“failure is not an option”) to the wonders of letting Musk and Bezos light our tax dollars on fire.
If Trump keeps this shit up I might have to stop blaming everything bad on Ronald Reagan, soon.
His current nominee is a billionaire known for providing training to militaries, a payment processing company, and buying his way into becoming an astronaut.
The only part of NASA that won’t be stripped and sold for parts will be whatever can be retooled into Space Force.