SpaceX Does What Government Won’t

On August 2nd, two American astronauts return to Earth. Their launch was the first from the US in 10 years. It wasn’t NASA that sent them into space. NASA would still be filling out forms and running up costs. It was Elon Musk‘s SpaceX that did it. Private enterprise makes good things possible.
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“Musk had not only done something that it was ... thought that only the governments or superpowers could do-he had done things that they thought they couldn't do,” says aerospace engineer Robert Zubrin, author of The Case for Space.
But wait: NASA sent astronauts to the moon. Why couldn't they do what SpaceX did?
Because after that success, they became just another bureaucratic government agency.
Zubrin explains, “When you don't have a truly commanding purpose, the purpose of the program becomes to supply money to various suppliers.”
Like Lockheed Martin, where Zubrin worked and where he discovered a way for a rocket to carry twice as much weight.
When he pitched it to management, they responded, "Look, if the Air Force wants us to improve the Titan, they'll pay us to do it," says Zubrin.
NASA paid the contractor’s development costs, then added 10% percent profit. The more projects cost, the bigger the profit. So innovation was discouraged by how NASA paid most contractors.
"You have good people engaged in cost maximization,” says Elon Musk. “You just gave them an incentive to do that.”
High costs were okay at NASA, as long as spaceships were assembled in many congressmen’s districts.
“NASA is a very large job program,” aerospace lawyer James Dunstan explains, “By spreading its centers across the country, NASA can get more support from more different congressmen.”
Fortunately, now private competitors are finding better and cheaper ways to launch astronauts into space.
Musk’s SpaceX invented rocket boosters that land themselves. NASA dropped theirs into oceans.
“If you had to get a new plane everytime you flew somewhere … very few people could afford to fly,” explains Musk.
His next spacecraft, Starship, is meant to take people to Mars and back.
Let’s celebrate the entrepreneurs who break government’s old rules.

[@heinconradie4918]

Elon Musk is from South Africa (where I am a citizen). He would never be able to achieve here what he has in the US. Don't lose what has made you great!

[@wajnerw]

Amen

[@Sybertek]

Prayers to you during these troubling times.

[@lanzer22]

Government is like any old and bureaucratic company that will never be able to innovate and improve at a rate we need. But as much as we make fun of this fact, at least they continue to provide the backbone of the democratic structure that allows for all these start up companies to innovate.

[@mehrshadvr4]

@@lanzer22 really? I bet most of the things you are using right now were invented by the government. Look up internet, touch screen, satellite, and list goes on and on. You guys are idiots. The U.S government funds the experiment and research on many stuff and then they give them away to corporations to make profit. look up how many of drugs FDA have approved were government funded. And Elon would have never got Tesla or space x if it wasn't for the government money.

[@Premi3R000]

Get your ass over here Hein!

[@Deontjie]

Musk is the first African-American to send someone into space.

[@Fister_of_Muppets]

Facts

[@myman8336]

African - American - Black - White - Orange - blah - blah - blah.. If you want it bad enough and play your cards right, you will get it.. Participation is not an award.. 🏅💥 🔫

[@thisisntsergio1352]

@@myman8336 Shut up, old man.

[@billybobjoe198]

@@myman8336 This is one of the most stupid things you can say. the vast majority of people could make every right decision and get no where. The extremely successful are just wildly lucky. That's it.

[@mnorth1351]

@@billybobjoe198 That is your religion, that the system is just against people, and they will never suceed. What does it get anyone? And it forces you to minimize and deny when people do suceed, instead of being encouraged. Pretty lousy religion, if you ask me.

[@1blakklab1]

I saw a post on why billionaires shouldn't exist. This is why they should. They innovate and create.

[@user-wj4mx1ez9d]

Yup, They compete making it cheaper for consumers as well.

[@LAWSON08]

According to AOC, no one ever "makes" a billion dollars. They "take" a billion dollars. It's derptastic, but a lot of people eat it up.

[@1blakklab1]

@@LAWSON08 but when government "makes income from taxes" its not taking...I mean stealing. I mean taking.

[@rudder727]

And this is exactly why Elon Musk wanted to live in the United States. He got more freedom to innovate and create.

[@rodolfomienert8292]

lets keep the technology and creativity HERE, and well-protected!!

[@RicardoSanchez-es5wl]

This guys one of the few real journalists left. It’s refreshing to see.

[@DarkKnight-ree]

He is the only one who asks the right questions.

[@drewm3996]

He ignores government sucsess they helped fund space x

[@godsstrength7129]

If government didn’t take so much from citizens, people would have more to spend

[@t.3465]

@@drewm3996 government didn't give them free money. They gave them a contract to fulfill a job they needed to get done, and Spacex just so happened to offer the best solution for getting that job done

[@invidofinp1828]

Leave it to the private sector to once again get things done.

[@gustavsorensen9301]

Yes, when a foreign country invaded the U.s. It’s the private sector that will protect America 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😀

[@thriveni1857]

@@gustavsorensen9301 America was protected by mercenaries from the British in case you didn't know.

[@281Travels]

@nobody important ....Its almost as if the whole fuckin video went right over your head!!!🤣🤣🤣.. But yet again I'm not surprised

[@maccon1]

Invid of INP ....If it’s for public good it should be run by the people. Corporatists defund social programs to prop up the need for privatization. This is just another Koch Brothers hit piece.

[@33fastcar]

And make governments look as bad as they really are!

[@GoldenTV3]

Nasa: *Does nothing* Elon Musk: *Fine I'll do it myself*

[@stubkar]

.... with taxpayer dollars....

[@kuez8708]

@@stubkar Of course, SpaceX has acquired contracts from NASA, and by proxy taxpayer dollars, but he does so in a way that is not development + labor + launch cost. SpaceX receives money upfront, and if they do not succeed they will run over budget, but they don't get any more money like the other ULA contractors. It would be proverbial suicide in an industry primarily composed of government contracts and not commercial launches, to not accept the government contracts.

[@Whisper0ak]

@@kuez8708 NASA's Commercial Crew Program (taxpayer money) awarded SpaceX with about $1.75 billion to develop Crew Dragon. That was development costs alone. The actual launch and flight contracts are separate.

[@Nightdreaux22647]

Elon: I AM IRON MAN

[@alanmay7929]

Actually nasa helped Elon musk alot you can't even imagine

[@pixelzpusher]

Again, Stossel shows how government sucks at everything.

[@aaronlandry3934]

Like King Midas in reverse, everything they touch sucks more

[@leftright6301]

@Adam Lee It's a good thing the politicians won't. It would cost US taxpayers 10x more compared to the private sector. Everything government touches is a train wreck. Politicians won't fund it because every single state is broke. Stossel is right, private sector does everything better. Prime example of waste? Am-Track. Boom.

[@leftright6301]

​@Adam Lee You're right. NASA could do it if they had the money, and like I said, it would cost 10x more because government sucks at everything. As Stossel says, give the private sector the same money as the public sector, and the private sector will always do a better job. Road maintenance cost 3x more. USPS is pretty much bankrupt. State run pensions are about to implode. School districts across America keep spending more with worse results. The list goes on and on.

[@leftright6301]

​@Adam Lee Billions are wasted at the Pentagon and you want to transfer billions to waste at NASA? Yeah, that makes sense. You just don't get that government sucks at everything other than doing one thing...collecting your taxes.

[@northernalberta399]

Liberal government sucks at everything

[@jimmcintyre4390]

If NASA was a corporation it would have folded long ago.

[@howardbaxter2514]

@Guy Panzerboss you do realize that they have been getting a lot done. They are currently working on several projects simultaneously. These projects are the Artemis Program, sending rovers to Mars to collect samples, the James Webb Space Telescope which is supposed to replace the Hubble Space Telescope, and the ISS. Over the next decade, we will see a lot coming out of NASA, SpaceX, Virgin Galactic, etc.

[@Shrouded_reaper]

@@howardbaxter2514 lol I don't even know where to start on your joke of a post.

[@howardbaxter2514]

@@Shrouded_reaper how is it a joke of a post when all I have stated are facts?

[@joeturner8184]

@@howardbaxter2514 Don't pay attention to trolls, man. Anybody who wants to know can look up what NASA has been doing and is doing now on their website.

[@Shrouded_reaper]

@@howardbaxter2514 "getting a lot done", let's break it down. JWST is a gigantic hideously overpriced boondoggle that is a decade overdue and still getting delayed, Artemis is an apollo rehash that isn't going to happen for another four years at minimum and if it does it will be them sending NASA crew on starship to save face. Rovers on Mars are a joke, variations on the same toy cars, billions of dollars sunk and the results gained from half a century of them could be matched in half an hour with a man and a shovel. NASA is a fucking joke, we could have been settling Mars in the 80s.

[@rdhunkins]

I work for a NASA contractor. I wish we could be allowed to do what SpaceX does. Go SpaceX.

[@Blue-hf7xt]

Not going to happen. Why not apply to work at this business?

[@Blue-hf7xt]

John Richardson Did you talk to Congress about it?

[@Blue-hf7xt]

John Richardson Did you have an expense account. Buy the computer at Best Buy. There is always ways around things. If you are not part of the solution You are part of the problem, Mr, Legea.

[@An_Equal]

@@Blue-hf7xt that's not fair. How he is part of the problem if he never started the problem. Blaming people for other problems doesn't help morale or motivate anyone to change.

[@Blue-hf7xt]

John Richardson I asked you... do you have an expense account? Every citizen has senators and representatives phone numbers.

[@teebrown27]

I need a “love” button. The like button is not strong enough for this video!

[@testicularoxide5055]

Amen!!👍🇺🇸💜

[@flat3450]

you need a new brain if you trust charlatans like this

[@dranelemakol]

@@flat3450 are you a nasa bot

[@TheRadioAteMyTV]

You are clearly not aware of how Musk truly runs his companies through enormous tax payer funded government contracts. Hardly any of his actions take place without enormous tax payer funding under pinning all of it. Look up his record on the WSJ, you will see he is a master government (as in tax payer funded) manipulator. He became one of the richest me in the world not from his native Africa, but from American tax payers lining his pockets. The record is there for all to see, if they want to take the effort.

[@flat3450]

@@dranelemakol we do not know each other but I am your brother and it is my duty to warn you not to believe in nonsense no one has ever been in space nor will be.✌

[@pallidbustofpallas4679]

I think when kids graduate from college they should have to watch at least 48 hours of John Stossel videos. Think of it as a detox program.

[@delakayi6286]

I certainly I agree.

[@stupididiot2199]

TheFranksConqueredEurope yeah and that’s part of why I identify as a third part supporter. I can’t stand the radical left, I am unable to support the far right, so I’m a slightly right leaning 3rd party supporter.

[@pallidbustofpallas4679]

​@TheFranksConqueredEurope You need 4 years at university to get a healthy perspective after watching a 5 minute KZbin video from John Stossel? He must have made some very compelling arguments.

[@pallidbustofpallas4679]

@@stupididiot2199 Both parties have gone too far to the extremes, I agree we need to get back to the center. What 3rd party are you supporting?

[@pallidbustofpallas4679]

@TheFranksConqueredEurope Thanks for the advice, is there any particular major that you would recommend? You know, to give me a more well rounded political view?

[@n9wox]

79 dislikes by ex-NASA administrators.

[@kingofthorns203]

And the astronaut actors from old X-Files episodes.

[@JacobSBierman]

"Cause thats the way its always been done" is the answer those give that cannot engineer a better alternative.

[@TXKafir]

That, or they're funded by taxpayers and have no incentive to build something cheaper and better.

[@banegas0411]

@@TXKafir spaceX has been doing a good job at reducing the cost of rockets and launching them

[@edwarren5402]

Voters have that problem too lol

[@keithscott1957]

Quite right! I've always felt that flying machines, including spacecraft, should be powered by propellors with piston engines. Don't gainsay the old ways.

[@nicolestimothy9921]

Let the race begins. Finally something that I'm look forward to see.

[@ashtonsenko536]

Nicoles Timothy the race began 5 years ago

[@gussinger6939]

That's race-ist

[@nicolestimothy9921]

@@ashtonsenko536 interesting, thanks for the information.

[@WG-tt6hk]

"Of what use is a baby?" Great answer ! Old Ben was a fu*king genius !

[@idrissberchil25]

Always has been

[@arlanandrews9822]

But IIRC, Maxwell said that, not Franklin

[@TheGuitologist]

Thank you for this excellent video, John.

[@robscanlon6568]

without government who will build the roads.... i mean spaceships.

[@lights473]

Why wouldnt the private sector build roads?

[@lights473]

Why wouldnt the private sector build spaceships?

[@sidwhiting665]

@@lights473 , I think Rob was making a joke. We need a private entrepreneur to create a sarcasm font on social media platforms. (*grins)

[@carlsjr7975]

Let's just ignore who paid musk...

[@briank5877]

Have you driven on toll roads? The ones I have driven on are way better maintained. No pot holes anywhere compared to public roads. It took the government 2 years to redo a half mile stretch of local road by me. You drive buy it and nobody was ever working on it, should have taken less than 6 months.

[@MartinTheCoug]

I think the message of this video is: "Break the government's old rules!"

[@superfly19751]

Or that Obama didn’t know what the hell he was talking about. He was fed with bs from his ppl instead.

[@delic_psycha3711]

I grew up on the space coast with my Dad working at NASA, and seeing the bureaucracy involved firsthand, you see that people have no incentive to work hard or innovate. All the subcontractors want is to pull out the budget as far as they can stretch it. However, with SpaceX now, and Trump pushing for 2024 mission to the moon, people are scrambling to catch up to win those HLS contracts and my sub-contractor company has been pushing us a lot harder. Finally it's good to see the pressure being put on the space industry, without Musk we'd be years behind.

[@webdca123]

It sucks I can’t like this video more than once!

[@lionki7264]

Astronauts: space exploration cant be privatised Elon Musk: Hold my beer

[@throatwobblermangrove8510]

Elon Musk: Hold my joint

[@omlo9093]

Outer Worlds corporatocracy time!

[@johnnyyuma9326]

Fake X

[@codename617]

Mr. Musk, I'm already holding five. In each hand!

[@JohnDoe-yj5ng]

Elon actually tweeted "Hold my beer"

[@ProfDragonite]

When my smartphone is more advanced than the systems on our spacecraft, something is wrong.

[@TheFoolintherainn]

after 9/11, old Apple computers and Macs were in demand... Folks were digging them out of their basements and attics... Because those are the systems that protect our grid, water supplies... Americans think we're extremely advanced in this country... We're not Hold onto old Macs, old computer systems... Those parts are still in demand. By govt.

[@lolwtnick4362]

planned obsoletion is advanced?

[@TheFoolintherainn]

@@TheGreatGadfly oh I'm not digging out old computers for the govt. I get my news from financial journals... This came up years ago and you're correct - I have worked lived in socialist countries - when I got the donations to build a bakery in Peru for the indigenous people, I had to pay off a whole bunch of people to get them to leave it alone... Between the Catholic Church wanting to take it and the socialist government? I found a gay nephew of a senator who is willing to take it on. cuz you can't build anything down there without either white people, American college students who go overseas to drink pretending they're doing volunteer work, the Catholic church or the socialist government from taking it over... And I specified, indigenous folks we're going to own it -one man and one woman would get a voucher to get an associates degree in business to run it. Or they weren't going to get that bakery! Boy did they hate me!

[@rudder727]

That's true. The computers on the shuttle were obsolete before the first one even launched. But as you saw there is so much red tape and a convoluted process to upgrade computers aboard the space shuttle... everyone just said screw it and left them in.

[@milobem4458]

The computers on space station are obsolete on purpose. Modern electronics is very vulnerable to space rays. Your smartphone wouldn't survive years in space. It's a different story for ships that go up and down in short period of time. They are regularly maintained and broken chips can be replaced.

[@jrherita]

I worked at Lockheed and remember when Constellation was under threat of being cancelled by Congress. A local Space VP pulled a very large group of us in a room and told us that Musk would never succeed. I wanted to say something but knew it wouldn't have mattered. I'm sure I wasn't the only one in the room thinking "we're old culture". This video is 100% spot on!

[@thebigdog2295]

This technology has been suppressed for decades. What other technology is being suppressed?

[@jamesklark6562]

Sticky hand toys.

[@densek510]

rogozin (ros cosmos exec) : - americans should launch from a trampoline if they wouldn't use 1961 rocket Musk: - the trampoline is working!

[@leapdrive]

The Russian looked like egg was splattered on his face when Musk said that.

[@rwesenberg]

Exactly. Succeed, complete the contract, and lose the revenue line. Fail and the revenue line gets even larger. So, what are you going to do?

[@ultrasuperkiller]

Most things are correct however the space shuttle solid rocket boosters WERE reused. They saved the boosters by using parachutes to land them carefully in the sea. The only ones not recovered where 2 pairs, one that had a parachute failure and one pair lost to the challenger accident. So the boosters were in fact reusable, however your argument still stands about the incredible cost and inefficiency of the whole thing, but it’s important to be correct

[@skystryker2300]

There's actually some controversy to the SRB's about calling them 'reusable'. They were actually more like 'refurbishable'. After each use they got shipped back to Utah (a lengthy expensive trip), where they were stripped down and remade to be used again. The process for that has been said to be as expensive and resource consuming as just building new ones.

[@the-simon-show]

This is why entrepreneurs exist - government can’t do everything

[@DMAGAEscober]

Government Regulations: Im about to end this entrepreneur's career.

[@scottslotterbeck3796]

Can't do anything well, except maybe the military and IRS.

[@zarach9459]

@@scottslotterbeck3796 Both things are a disaster, if that is the best that the government can do, we must be grateful that it is not in charge of the distribution of air for breathing.

[@howmuchbeforechamp]

Anything Government cant do anything

[@Andy-wk7ub]

Correction: Government can’t do anything.

[@mortarbackmusic8511]

Elon Musk should be an inspiration to anybody. His eagerness to explore and improve humanity needs to be shared by everyone.

[@TheFoolintherainn]

Luckily we have a president who thinks along those lines... It's up to us voters to keep it going

[@drunkenhobo8020]

@@TheFoolintherainn Well I suppose they both go on deranged Twitter rants. That's one thing they have in common.

[@TheFoolintherainn]

@@drunkenhobo8020 well I'll say this... My father was a serious genius-level person - and I'm nowhere near his intelligence, but of the eight kids and my mother, I understood him the most... To others he was deranged, but to me - he was genius! he was also genius to Bell and Howell, Kodak, Polaroid... and names of companies that produce medical equipment, MRI machines... Because he fixed their inventions better than they could. you know the Polaroid Sun camera? It was the first camera to run off the solar panel... People thought it was crazy - my dad invented that solar mechanism for Polaroid Don't expect to understand people at that level fully... Just kind of sit back absorb them and take it in... don't micromanage what they do or over-analyze what they say at the moment - sit back and wait for the big picture to form They speak another language, they come from a whole nother reality that we don't understand... And look at the great things they've done. I've coached top athletes, they can rant all they want as long as they can back it up. Peace.

[@chaosgyro]

This is the internet John. You should know, by now, that you're not allowed to make sense!

[@42luke93]

Wait the Pentagon Still Used Floppy disks? When did they stop?

[@normkirkland1999]

Not just any floppy disk -- the much, much older 8-inch ones. They were introduced in 1972.

[@Mr3DLC]

@@normkirkland1999 ok but when did they stop?

[@normkirkland1999]

@@Mr3DLC I believe it was around June of 2019. They decommissioned the 1970s-era nuclear command and control system that relied on eight-inch floppy disks.

[@Mr3DLC]

@@normkirkland1999 that is kinda scary It almost makes you fear y2k all over again:(

[@whaatt6791]

That shot with the booster landing next to each other looks like a sci fi movie no matter how many times I've seen it

[@deganpattison2149]

My 2 favourite things, John Stossel and SpaceX

[@gapfenix]

More than likely NASA was spending the money paying its own bureaucracy. I wish Musk good purposes in his enterprises.

[@TheRadioAteMyTV]

@@RobertJackson-sl1mk Watch their videos on youtube, they are all leftist politics now and barely any science.

[@TheRadioAteMyTV]

Musk is no angel of capitalism. He couldn't put his fingers deeper into government contracts than he already has and he became one of the richest men in the world not from free capital, but instead off US tax payer dollars.

[@olechristianhenne6583]

@@RobertJackson-sl1mk since the end of days cold war NASA become nothing more then fascism with good manners Just look at their people with Wrath and pride mostley ignornce facts is these idiots trash on elon musk when he send ah electric car on space so badly that hollyweird tom hanks has to suport donald trump for alien dinosaurs with red capes

[@Whisper0ak]

@@RobertJackson-sl1mk NASA does a lot of great science all the time. This video drags NASA through the mud. Yes NASA is a bloated bureaucracy but they do get things done... slowly. NASA has least a dozens major projects going on at any given time and they are constantly making new scientific discoveries. SpaceX Crew Dragon only happened due to due financial assistance from NASA's Commercial Crew Program. I do wish NASA could work faster / cheaper. Money has corrupted US congress and it is congress who ultimately steers and shapes NASA.

[@zkeletonz001]

@@TheRadioAteMyTV Yeah, that's what capitalists do.

[@10o.-.-_-.-o010]

"Launch prices are crashing" Someone should have rethought that line.

[@roncur]

😂

[@michaellie5904]

I agreed 😂

[@Demonfireangel]

I used to work at a defense government contractor that builds military vessels for the government. The company wanted us to charge as many man-hours as possible, even if we weren't being productive during those hours. More man-hours charged = more money from government = higher profit for the company. Guess who pays for their profit? You do.

[@halfnelson6115]

I watched the Crew Dragon launch with my father and he actually got chocked up. American capitalism at its finest!

[@AniishAu]

I'm pretty sure you mean choked up. Nasa got chocked up about 20 years ago.

[@wheresmycar9559]

The commerical crew program was funded primarily by NASA. The launch was paid for by NASA. The falcon 9 rocket received a hundred million contract to be developed.

[@Recovering_Californian]

I love how SpaceX is a private company (not publicly traded). Please please Mr. Musk keep it that way.

[@PaulLemars01]

One of my favourite Musk quotes "when we get to Mars, we get the rest of the Solar System for free." Think about that, I have no particular interest in a Mars colony but having the ability to freely roam around the Solar System and hopefully build long term interplanetary habitats is where our future is. Of course that requires space mining and manufacture......

[@JLS_999]

There's Cancer in this comment section's replies... Just read the comments and not their replies.

[@davespringer777]

I'm just going to post up in here so nobody will see me.

[@dango6266]

*insert comment that disagrees with you.*

[@pallidbustofpallas4679]

@@paulwilson7989 I wasn't supposed to see this but I'm glad I did. LOL

[@awesomedavid2012]

Hey at least these replies are okay

[@cloudybee3653]

I just want to look at some jokes instead everyone's fighting each other

[@Skorch88]

Title should be Space X does what Government Can't

[@Skorch88]

@Fuck Google they gave them money only after a successful launch. Gov "giving" them money isn't accurate. The government is a customer and an investors.

[@adrianbundy3249]

@Fuck Google You mean, like an investment capitalist? The government spends a huge amount of money paying for EU and other sorts of launches, with no delivery vehicles of their own, and even if they did not want to retire their own launchers in the 90s, would cost a crap ton. Then this upstart comes around, with ideas that seem to work to really make it better to save your money... And what, you expect them not to get that government money, when the government is the consumer of wanting to buy that product? Holy shit, you really do not understand why 'Space-X taking government grants' does no injustice to capitalism WHATSOEVER. Replace grant, with capital investment from interested investors, and it would be like literally ANY OTHER FUCKING FIELD of capitalist powerhouses.

[@JBmakesGames]

The government should only take care of two things: Safety and justice. The rest should be left to the free market

[@samuelebincoletto637]

Wise words, man.

[@selohcin]

I like that idea, but I must add one more: education. Even though government schools often aren't very good, imagine what would happen without them! The majority of children would never get even an elementary school education! We'd go back to the Middle Ages.

[@Xerxes847]

They don't even do a good job on those things.

[@JBmakesGames]

@@selohcin Education can be left to the free market as well without leaving poor people behind by providing vouchers to every parent. Just like Milton Friedman proposed with the education vouchers. Sweden uses a similar voucher system and it is very successful. With that system you guarantee education for all and also incentivise competition between schools (some sort of a free market without leaving any kid behind).. This is for kids of course, higher education should not apply for the voucher system.

[@tjkasgl]

@@samuelebincoletto637 the government has created something worse than the dark ages in our inner cities using welfare and regulations to enslaved and oppress. Federal education is complicit in this as well. Charter schools bring some competition and comparison into the public sector, showing the low and middle class just how the government's run schools are designed to dumb down their children. Whatever we allow the government to control will eventually become a weapon to used against us

[@michaela.2847]

I get emotional every time I watch a launch. Amazing human achievement right before our eyes!

[@15Redstones]

A few small corrections: -Space-rating equipment is important for mission critical applications. Radiation present in space can mess with electronics and if that causes mission failure it's better to develop more resistent electronics. However, for less important tasks that can fail without causing loss of crew, it's simpler to use normal hardware with backups and redundancy. SpaceX does space rate a few things but mostly it's multiple redundant non space rated systems. -NASA did reuse the Shuttle boosters that fell into the ocean. However, because of damage caused by seawater and because they flew the same design for 30 years with little improvement, the cost of preparing the boosters for another flight was almost as high as making new ones. SpaceX's first reused boosters also took a lot of work, but they made lots of small modifications to the Falcon 9 after that to reduce maintenance between flights. -Virgin Galactic is not competing with SpaceX. They're doing suborbital flights, SpaceX is doing orbital. Virgin Orbit does orbital but in a different size class than SpaceX. BO competes with VG in the suborbital market but has yet to put anything into orbit. Rocketlab is aiming to compete with SpaceX with their Neutron rocket.

[@daskampffredchen9242]

Reduce NASA to a research only agency and let companies compete for the rockets

[@bbkr7910]

No, just get rid of it

[@ehbr6679]

@seasch71 They currently are. SLS under construction at this moment in preparation for a moon mission. They'll get it done...eventually.

[@guyfromdubai]

@seasch71 " But up to now, the privat market didn't work" Space X has been doing this for years now. "because politicians and companies made deals to harm the taxpayer" What deals/companies specifically? "I don't trust Musk as he is fucking crazy" What makes you think that?

[@willblack7353]

Yeah, have government funding for the science that isn't profitable, then use commercial launch services to get it done. Also I should note that SpaceX wouldn't exist today without NASA funding.

[@JoshF710]

What about the mars rover thats getting launched next week. They do launch stuff it just takes them a while😅

[@stevewinn6393]

The railroad system show us this sort of government waste vs private funding back in the late 1800

[@crosshair2961]

In germany it was the privetisation that made railroads worse, because the DB AG (Deutsche Bahn AG - Public Company but goverment owns 100% of the stock) only had to pay for upkeep so they are waiting until parts of the rail Infrastructur is beyond repair and then build new infrastuctur wich then the goverment pays 100% of. They also scraped crucial parts of the rail Infrastructur because ist costs upkeep. Some things should be under goverment control or at least under heavy supervisition and regulation by goverment (like germanys healtcare system).

[@jtkm]

@@crosshair2961 idk, DB seems very good, but you must consider competitors like FlixTrain are relatively new and infantile in their importance, and DB does operate pretty much like a monopoly, so that doesn't help. But regardless, I think DB has done better after privatization, I mean the quality of private rail is superb compared to state-owned monopolies. Take a quick look and tell me which is better, Amtrak & Via Rail, or JR East & GWR.

[@matrixman8582]

@@crosshair2961 The govt still pays for the new infrastructure. That still isn't fully lazzeiz faire

[@daskampffredchen9242]

@@crosshair2961 Deutsche Bahn is the only Company allowed to put down new tracks and every other company has to get permission to use their tracks. Its pretty much a government agency

[@neesnueht]

I love SpaceX and also Tesla. One man. Elon Musk CEO of both companies. I’m so excited to the future!

[@TeachAManToAngle]

Stossel- please never stop. Society needs you!

[@josephfelderhoff1965]

To be fair, it's not just Musk, all the engineers at spaceX are essential

[@strategygaming5830]

But who gathered the engineers and pointed them in the right direction and pay them well for it. Also Elon Musk was the head engineer because no one else qualified would work with him to take the role.

[@DutchTDK]

People ridiculing libertarians: "Oooh I'm a libertarian and I only want recreational ICBM's" Libertarian: "Well I'd prefer an orbital flight but suborbital is certainly a lot cheaper"

[@hemprope4326]

People want to control eachother.

[@dumebiokosa3138]

I like libertarians on economic issues but I find them naive on social, political and cultural issues

[@blamb42]

I just love how Elon lands his rockets on their base like the old sci-fi cartoons. I never thought that I would see that in real life.

[@MyWatchIsEnded]

This video almost brought a year to my eye. I never thought I would see actual innovation and a real progression of society in my lifetime. Now were talking about taking "flights" in outer space anywhere around the globe in an hour. I just took my first flight in my life yesterday from Dallas to Georgia and it took almost twice as long as space flight. I hope to be involved in this new future we're building!

[@55stanmc]

So, the pronoun thing wasn’t a big enough deal for you??? Lol FJB

[@MyWatchIsEnded]

@@55stanmc I don't know exactly what you mean by the, "pronoun thing", but my guess is you're referring to wokeness. I'm not a fan of that. I have OCD and my intrusive thoughts at the time were based on my having to fly and be stuck in a tub high in the sky solely in the hands of other people, who I don't trust, so my comment isn't actually how I feel. Funny enough I've never been the kind of person who believes in humanity becoming 'perfect' through innovation and pushing the boundaries. Two years later I'm looking back at this comment and wondering why I would say that except for the reason that I needed to trust the technology and people or I would, "lose control", over my environment.

[@55stanmc]

@@MyWatchIsEnded My comment was actually intended as a compliment. So few are thinking above and beyond the societal issues the last few years have heaped upon us. I was thinking it was nice to see someone excited about bigger things……

[@Jaxvidstar]

This is why I love SpaceX and lost my interest in NASA.

[@trixiemcfly8584]

It's almost like when you remove the government from the equation things work more efficiently. The government should lead the military, not much else.

[@maccon1]

Trixie McFly ........If it’s for public good it should be run by the people. Corporatists defund social programs to prop up the need for privatization. This is just another Koch Brothers hit piece. Public schools and clean water does not make a society socialism

[@Dennis0824]

Even the military should be contracted out. The only thing the government should do is foreign relations and ensuring that the market remains free.

[@geniegogo]

other guy: I'll need 36 billion and 12 years to make this rocket Musk: I can do it with less than 1 billion in half that time

[@defencebangladesh4068]

Thank You SpaceX for sending our first satellite... greetings from Bangladesh 🇧🇩 It was on Falcon 9 Block 5 first flight too.

[@dand33911]

Friendly reminder NASA receives 62 million dollars a day, to not go back to the moon for the last 50 years

[@Eledaraumar]

Because that basement was probably destroyed in a fire or something. They can't go back. jk jk

[@dand33911]

@@Eledaraumar " we had the technology, but we destroyed it. And it would be a painful process to reproduce" I just want to know where 20 cents a day, from every single American, for the last 50 years, has gone.. 🤔

[@LukaTomato]

Dan D that money has gone into companies like SpaceX lol

[@howardbaxter2514]

And instead work on other projects that will advance science and send us to Mars. Also, NASA is currently working on the Artemis Program, and are planning to send astronauts to the moon by 2024. Bear in mind, this project is also going to try and establish a moon base. You may not realize this, but NASA has been doing a lot. They are scheduled to launch the James Webb Space Telescope either late next year or early 2022, have just launched a rover and a drone to Mars to both collect samples and test flying small drones in the thin Martian atmosphere, and are still working with the International Space Station.

[@dand33911]

@@howardbaxter2514 You don't go on vacation, if you've got more debt than what you earn in 10 years.. Everyone complains about nation building around the world while America's crumbling, ooh shiny Planet, spend a billion dollars for pictures. America has ADHD.

[@scubasteve6139]

Wait John you’re telling me government programs overspend and that free market economy is a good thing? But that goes against everything I’ve learned in 2020

[@maccon1]

Scuba Steve ........If it’s for public good it should be run by the people. Corporatists defund social programs to prop up the need for privatization. This is just another Koch Brothers hit piece. Public schools and clean water does not make a society socialism

[@scubasteve6139]

maccon1 no but a ever increasing welfare state and flooding in of illegals that they want working class America to buy their healthcare and give them food stamps that is socialist. And I strongly feel all education should be free market that’s why these kids coming out of public school are indoctrinated or left behind. I’m fine with money that’s going to public school to instead follow the child to a school with best results!

[@josegrafals3808]

The sad thing is that we do have the technology to travel to the stars and they are still sitting on it. Just imagine if we used our potential for a better future instead of profit!

[@josegrafals3808]

@kim chi No doubt.

[@aa-to6ws]

Space X's biggest advantage: Failure. They're willing to fail to achieve their goals, and innovate at a higher rate.

[@sergegutierrez3019]

Without a doubt, Elon Musk is the most important person alive right now

[@TXKafir]

In five hundred years, they'll be tearing down his statues.

[@Nate-bn5kk]

Imagine what it would be like living at the same time of Einstein or Newton, elon musk is just like those people and we are living in real time with a word changing genius.

[@reversegearz]

Free open market always give superior results. But musk done even better. He even send Mickey mouse on his rocket engine last year!

[@TheFoolintherainn]

He sent a Tesla into space also... He has the first car in space

[@maccon1]

Gear Reverse .........If it’s for public good it should be run by the people. Corporatists defund social programs to prop up the need for privatization. This is just another Koch Brothers hit piece.

[@LikeATreeOnAMountain]

@@maccon1 "Corporatists"?!? Stop using words you don't understand. Go look up the word corporatism in a dictionary, you'll find that ever version of corporatism is pro unions and pro government involvement in big business. Stop thinking that just because you watch KZbin you're informed.

[@maccon1]

jack bauer .....I said “for the good of the public”. Companies can build cars, the people should own the roads

[@maccon1]

LikeATreeOnAMountain ...for real journalists exposing the corruption in our government I’d ask you to check out the following KZbin contributors.... Kim Iverson, Jimmy Dore, Ron Pauls liberty report, Ben Swann, Humanist, Secular talk, Ron Placone, RT, Rational National, The Real News Network , We are Change, Redacted, Graham Elwood, Status Coup, MCSC, Damage Report, Primo Nutmeg, Majority Report, Michael Brooks, Richard Wolff, Noam Chomsky, Rebel

[@TheRisky9]

If Steve Jobs had to explain a smart phone in order to get permission to invent it, there wouldn't be a smart phone.

[@harukasatou1359]

John Stossel inspired me as a young man to be a libertarian. Now I'm an adult, and libertarianism isn't just part of my mind and personality but it's ingrained in my very body. If I could make anyone my dad, that person would be John Stossel. I could see it now... "Jade Stossel" Though since I can't I'll just have to be "Jade Belvedere" and be the Jade Belvedere that'll inspire future generations to make Libertarianism a part of their lives.

[@msd5808]

Actually they work with the government and receive contracts from NASA.

[@sgtkat69]

Great video John! Still get chills when I see SpaceX booster land. I work in government and am always frustrated at the waste stupidity.

[@257shooter9]

I worked on a Star Wars project back in the mid eighties. We had a problem with the alignment of the main optical system. I was asked to check it out. While I was looking at the problem my managers were hitting up the Air Force for 100K to fix the issue. I found the problem and fixed it. Meanwhile the Air Force approved the expenditure. I was fired from the program for costing the company 100K. I was lucky in that I was moving on to a new project. I moved faster than I had planned.

[@rorscach5105]

Man landed on the moon, biggest achievement in human history yet it has only a picture and a couple seconds video as documentary.

[@DrLynch2009]

Robert A. Heinlein predicted this was gona happend 70 years ago.

[@maxhess3151]

3:20 - Correction: NASA reused these boosters.

[@Emophiliac2]

@Peg Leg The fuel tank wasn't insignificant, though. That was $75 million lost each flight (out of the $450 million cost for a launch). Still, only 17% thrown away.

[@TheBerkut88]

"Go NASA" because NASA funded its development and those are NASA astronauts on board

[@simjans7633]

That's one thing this video gets wrong; NASA and SpaceX are partners, not competitors.

[@aritakalo8011]

​@@simjans7633 Yeah. SpaceX is supplier to NASA. rewording the headline: SpaceX didn't do wan't Government wouldn't. SpaceX does what government wants it and pays it to do as far as crew dragon program is concerned. It was literal contract job. We want you to develop a crew transport capability for us. We will pay you X billion for developing and demonstrating this capability. In practice based on milestones. Each time contractor demonstrated reaching point Y on agreed development progress map towards full capability, certain amount of money would be paid by government. AKA paid per progress done. Only this time the amount to be paid out in total was negotiated fixed before hand. Then after you have demonstrated the capability you were contracted for, we will pay you X million per person transported to where we want them transported, when we want them transported.

[@joeturner8184]

@@subbinbacktoallsubbs5272 They gave SpaceX millions for research and development. SpaceX actually threatened to sue over the original launch platform development grant going to Boeing, so NASA built a new contract for Boeing and turned over the original award to SpaceX.

[@susyveliz]

Good point

[@scottslotterbeck3796]

Where's NASA's spacecraft? Oh, right. They don't have one. Whoopsie!!!

[@user-wp8yx]

He gets his funding and a lot of technology from the government, john. This is what we call a public-private partnership. He can't do it without the public.

[@letterslayer7814]

if only nasa was spacex... imagine where humanity would be by now

[@drunkenhobo8020]

Would never have gone to the Moon because there's no profit in it. Nor any of the solar probes, asteroid detection, GPS, weather detection, earthquake detection and absolutely no other-world exploration like the rovers on Mars or the probe sent to Titan. Yeah, we'd be stuck in the 1950s. Hooray for NASA and ground-breaking Government programmes!

[@OmegaTou]

@@drunkenhobo8020 the only thing governments break are budgets and the banks. Just because YOU are too unimaginative to think of a way to profit from going to the moon doesn't mean others cannot.

[@drunkenhobo8020]

@@OmegaTou So you can't think of one either, can you?

[@OmegaTou]

@@drunkenhobo8020 Use remote probes to mine ice on the moon to re-fuel satellites and to fuel missions leaving earth orbit. After an initial massive capital investment your costs would be much lower to get a large load of fuel from the surface of the moon than from the surface of the earth. The solar system's first interplanetary gas station.

[@alejandromartinez3475]

Sorry buddy that would be to expensive and risky for any business to invest. The reason that SpaceX exist, or at least its profit do, is because it Carrie's supplies to a research station owned by governments. A lot of the stuff in space would not have been possible if government, that is happy to take a loss for decades with no real hope of make it back, didn't do the initial groundbreaking like satellites and rockets. Why do I say this, it been more than 50 years and private companies are now just being built to do this. Also that profit stream you said companies can do, yeah governments are second guessing spending others money to do that. Real large scale mining in space is probably decades if not a century away partly because we dont really need it till then.

[@stephenkaake7016]

50 years ago the Goal: Put Man on the Moon Today: Put a Man in a Woman's Bathroom

[@tyrel6732]

That was Obama... Your joke is nearly 4 years outdated. Plus you didn't even phrase it right

[@Kevin_747]

@William Kievit Sure. Lets rely on kool aid colored hair libtards to move technology forward.

[@Hallykon]

@William Kievit maybe a decade or two ago, but today its leftist extremists ruining society. progress is only made when people get together in the center.

[@bbkr7910]

@William Kievit don't worry, everyone will eventually know the truth, even if they don't want to. I do however understand why so many turn to atheism seeing as how the Bible thumpers don't even read the book they are thumping.

[@Kevin_747]

@William Kievit Not everybody that is conservative is a religious zealot. You're way off base there William.

[@KennethSee]

It's hard to imagine flying from DFW to Tokyo in an hour. That's the stuff of dreams and sci-fi. Quick efficient travel and an excellent view to boot.

[@xGaLoSx]

Johns voice gives me nostalgia :) Been watching him most of my life!

[@josepharq]

NASA can do what SpaceX does but it doesnt have a leader that could risks it all. Bunch of smart people who just take orders

[@NassimSYD]

Not just leader, a visionary and genius

[@zkeletonz001]

Sure they could do it, but even with the right leader it would cost 3-5 times more and take at least twice as long because of all the gov't bureaucracy.

[@faustin289]

I doubt they are that smart. If they were, they'd have opted for more interesting jobs at SpaceX and other companies in general.

[@scottslotterbeck3796]

Well put.

[@scottslotterbeck3796]

@@faustin289 You forget until 10 years ago, there was not a viable SpaceX.

[@derenbong6060]

well, without NASA's landing on the moon, Musk wouldn't have been inspired

[@TheFoolintherainn]

Hahaha! Elon musk needed NASA to be inspired? So space exploration didn't exist until NASA came along? Hahaha! you know about the pyramids? They've got a pyramid to the sun and to the moon in Mexico... And they weren't built until NASA came along and gave them inspiration to build those pyramids? how old is the zodiac chart of the stars? Ever heard of Galileo? go back to the caveman days... We didn't need NASA to be inspired. We've been trying to get there for thousands of years... Humans great innovation was taken over by human greed. I'm amazed at how many insecure people couldn't possibly give Musk due credit... It seems like there's a bunch of jealous people. but it's okay, because you're the same naysayer that went after Ben Franklin, Edison, Einstein... All those doubters throughout history. - that's where you will go down in history... A naysayer and a doubter while other people innovate Cuz Einstein, Ben Franklin and those inventors...didn't have a bunch of cheerleaders behind them - a bunch of naysayers just like you. Using an Obama phone, with technology You couldn't possibly fathom, to spread your ignorance on how many thousands of years people have been jumping off cliff to try to fly and get to the moon! but they didn't have smartphones back then to take photos to prove it to you on Facebook so it must not exist until you got your Obama phone. and when that was invented... The first thing they thought of? Was social networking... They didn't invent smartphones and computers to innovate and make the world better, they did it simply because we needed Facebook!

[@derenbong6060]

He said it himself, that and Thomas Edison were the inspiring events and person for Elon,

[@derenbong6060]

Peg Leg and lots more, Ford’s production line innovation, the invention of internet by the military, the advancements in microchips spurred by the US govt, I agree govt spending is wasteful, however govt is good at kickstarting a new sector

[@TheFoolintherainn]

@@derenbong6060 you got it. the majority of our modern inventions came out of warfare... Everything from flashlights to mosquito dope came out of WWI And they used the military as their guinea pigs LOL! Harley-Davidson sucked during world war 1 - the military wanted Indian motorcycles who dedicated their entire production to both wars, while Harley-Davidson sold their motorcycles to our enemies... It always makes me laugh to see these military vet Harley boys with American flags on the back of their bikes -thinking they're all American boys! their comrades were gunned down by Nazis and commies riding Harleys LOL! the reason why Harley-Davidson survived? Is because they had to improve - their bikes were breaking down & our soldiers were getting killed because of it. the military wanted the Indian motorcycles... So Harley had to change or go away Then they changed their design, ripped it off from someone else... and sold them to our enemies. I took quite an economic financial slide after I was married... Raising four kids on my own - the courts turned everything I owned over to an alcoholic immigrant who was off having babies with teenage girls... And I'll tell you, necessity is absolutely the mother of invention! My bread would be rising on the stove while I was out in the woods taking down the firewood The things that I had to do to survive?keep those kids going while social workers chased us around trying to shove us off on welfare instead of getting what was mine back? Child support maybe? I remember this huge 3-foot diameter tree I was able to take down... And as I saw that thing fall, I was in awe of myself! Always thanking mother nature with each tree I fell text up a bank foreclosure, between KZbin, My retired mechanics on the internet... I took care of everything. Because it was necessary - no soap operas and bonbons for this chick! You adapt, humans have skills they have no idea are inside them until they are pushed. necessity is absolutely the mother of invention... That's why war time creates the most innovation. We're fighting for our lives. and we're doing the same with this space race - because anybody who's been awake for the past fifty years? Knows damn well that China's got satellites pointing directly at are grids, communications... So we damn well better get someone like Musk up there.

[@derenbong6060]

@@TheFoolintherainn Do u have a job?

[@swensation55]

John Stossel's videos should be seen by children of all ages for learning purposes because they do more to teach kids in 5-10 minutes than an entire class period of some dull text book on the same subject!

[@book3100]

Mr. Zubrin! We need a Zubrin crater, or something, on Mars.

[@markcrawford5810]

John Stossel is one of my personal heroes.

[@jalissajones195]

John you forgot to add that there’s limited free market, that’s why Elon Musk is opening up in Austin Texas!!!! California is too restricting, and he’s had enough of their $hiiiiit!!!

[@drewm3996]

It’s gonna stay blue as long as every rebublican that’s not a farmer moves out

[@alexanderbogachev5030]

The fact is that space-x is heavily subsidized by government and we don't know what the price of the launch would be without government support.

[@greenhulk7573]

Stossel is a true journalists. Truly enjoy your reporting material.

[@argus4650]

I can't understand who would dislike this.

[@howardbaxter2514]

Because the video is incredibly disingenuous. SpaceX and NASA aren't competing. They have a partnership.

[@donnajoseph-barford1076]

Brainwashed fools.

[@JesusChrist-xb7jq]

NASA: “It can’t be done”. Elon Musk: “Hold my anti-gravity belt”.

[@YT0091]

I love Stossel's content but there was one misleading part about this video. He implied that the Space Shuttle's rockets were not reusable when he said they were "thrown in to the ocean". Those were the very first reusable part on any space craft. They went in to the ocean via parachute so that they could be collected up by ship, brought back to shore, and refurbished for reuse. SpaceX's system of having them land on the ground is certainly better, but also the result of more modern technology.

[@LukaTomato]

SpaceX is a government contractor, like Boeing, Lockheed, etc. NASA covered a huge portion of the development costs for both the spacecraft and the rocket. They provided the facilities, the astronauts, and advice and guidance throughout the development process. The difference between Crew Dragon and something like the Space Shuttle is that the spacecraft isn't being operated by NASA alone. They still play their part, but the service is being provided by SpaceX. Boeings Starliner works the same way. Like most others, I love what SpaceX is doing. We're heading in the right direction, but treating them as some sort of free-market spaceflight hero at this stage isn't right.

[@jamese9283]

Correct. This video has a lot of errors.

[@madukadilshan2380]

Interrupting the progress for space-age is a crime against humanity.

[@TM4rtin17]

That’s the power of capitalism babbbyyyyyy MURICA

[@maccon1]

Thomas Martin ........If it’s for public good it should be run by the people. Corporatists defund social programs to prop up the need for privatization. This is just another Koch Brothers hit piece. Public schools and clean water does not make a society socialism

[@mackcummy4976]

Canada helped with the moon landing project too. Our scientists were on the project and we made the legs of the lander.

[@vibrolax]

John Stossel is real. 25 years ago he taught my wife and I how to cure our 5 year old of "night terrors" in 3 days. Probably the last useful thing I learned on network TV.

[@richmurdoch8503]

NASA= Never a straight answer.

[@xavierschneider5851]

This video is nonsense. The reason they say "Go NASA, go SpaceX!" is because both organisations work in a symbiotic relationship. Without NASA there would be NO SpaceX. The commercial payload program was created by NASA to reduce the cost of spaceflight (meaning NASA was aware that their costs were too great). SpaceX met those criteria and so NASA awarded them a contract. Musk didn't use his own money to make Falcon 9 or Starship, he used NASA's money (our money). The space innovations we see today are a direct result of innovation by both NASA (organizationally) and SpaceX (technologically). This is how government agencies should function, by empowering private citizens to accomplish great feats.

[@joeturner8184]

NASA is made up of smart guys. They managed to get around the one problem Stossel was right about, congressional pressure to spend money in multiple congressional districts. Outsourcing lets them kick the responsibility for picking locations into the contractor's court. That alone saves a ton of money. Once again, congress costs more than the bureaucracy. Go NASA, Go SpaceX!

[@truck6859]

0:49 - "This is the potential of free enterprise!" EXACTLY ‼🇺🇸

[@PaulBartomioli]

The idea of rockets landing vertically after a mission was the dream of Werner Von Braun, in the 1930s. He brought the idea to the U.S. after WW2.

[@cconroy1677]

Correct, it's ok to be a nazi as long as you're a scientist.

[@PaulBartomioli]

good comment, wonderful addition to the discussion. go get your participation trophy.

[@mdcraig62]

3:30 “NASA drops them in the ocean " where they are recovered and reused. NASA has enough waste, you don't need to add lies or imply waste when there isn't.

[@TacoWrath95]

while true, the rockets from earlier missions were indeed dropped into the ocean and left there. the boosters for the shuttles were reused, but they took months to refurbish for new missions while the Falcon 9's can be made ready again within weeks at a quarter of the cost.

[@LukaTomato]

TacoWrath Falcon 9 takes months as well. It only recently beat the Shuttles turnaround record by a couple of days.

[@jeanp.5929]

All the people in STEM innovating and changing the world, and now the universe, I salute you all. I have tried and I've found out I am not a STEM person. Hopefully one day, I will be in a position to support future STEM majors.

[@DeathEnducer]

Very articulate, in a condensed format with, and direct citation! This is good journalism :)

[@danielpalmer8324]

Ya bro just subed shining light on this definitely needs to be done not enough people know about this. Hope your channel grows!👍