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posted by martyb on Friday March 09 2018, @03:55PM   Printer-friendly
from the pork-is-expensive dept.

Trump on Falcon Heavy: "I'm so used to hearing different numbers with NASA"

During a cabinet meeting on Thursday inside the White House, President Donald Trump called attention to several model rockets on the table before him. They included an Atlas V, a Falcon 9, a Space Launch System, and more. The president seemed enthused to see the launch vehicles. "Before me are some rocket ships," the president said. "You haven't seen that for this country in a long time."

Then, in remarks probably best characterized as spur of the moment, the president proceeded to absolutely demolish the government's own effort to build rockets by noting the recent launch of the Falcon Heavy rocket. He cited the cost as $80 million. (The list price on SpaceX's website is $90 million.)

"I noticed the prices of the last one they say cost $80 million," Trump said. "If the government did it, the same thing would have cost probably 40 or 50 times that amount of money. I mean literally. When I heard $80 million, I'm so used to hearing different numbers with NASA.''

NASA has not, in fact, set a price for flying the SLS rocket. But Ars has previously estimated that, including the billions of dollars in development cost, the per-flight fees for the SLS rocket will probably be close to $3 billion. Indeed, the development costs of SLS and its ground systems between now and its first flight could purchase 86 launches of the privately developed Falcon Heavy rocket. So President Trump's estimate of NASA's costs compared to private industry does not appear to be wildly off the mark.

[*] SLS: Space Launch System

Related: Maiden Flight of the Space Launch System Delayed to 2019
WFIRST Space Observatory Could be Scaled Back Due to Costs
Safety Panel Raises Concerns Over SpaceX and Boeing Commercial Crew Plans
After the Falcon Heavy Launch, Time to Defund the Space Launch System?
Trump Administration Budget Proposal Would Cancel WFIRST
Leaning Tower of NASA
NASA Moving to Scale Back the Space Technology Mission Directorate


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  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by DannyB on Friday March 09 2018, @06:35PM (4 children)

    by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Friday March 09 2018, @06:35PM (#650143) Journal

    How to do Haiku
    I'm trying to remember
    I came up with these

    The sad orange clown
    Its vomit stream on Twitter
    Can not tell the truth

    Little idle hands
    The Devil's Twitter play thing
    Tiny little hands

    Press Secretary
    Evade Lie Stall and Distract
    Must not tell the truth

    Dotard Trump the clown
    An executive order
    Feeble minded one

    I swear I will tell
    Lies, made up lies, only lies
    Fact checked by Fox News

    --
    If a lazy person with no education can cross the border and take your job, we need to upgrade your job skills.
    Starting Score:    1  point
    Moderation   +1  
       Insightful=1, Total=1
    Extra 'Insightful' Modifier   0  
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  

    Total Score:   3  
  • (Score: 1) by khallow on Friday March 09 2018, @10:25PM (3 children)

    by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Friday March 09 2018, @10:25PM (#650268) Journal
    No Haiku so sweet
    Like galactic victory
    Trump! Trump! Trump! Trump! Trump!
    • (Score: 3, Insightful) by aristarchus on Saturday March 10 2018, @08:53AM (1 child)

      by aristarchus (2645) on Saturday March 10 2018, @08:53AM (#650459) Journal

      If you are going to do Haiku, you go to the master, Matsuo Bashô (松尾芭蕉) [carlsensei.com]

      古池
      蛙飛び込む
      水の音

      Furu ike ya
      kawazu tobikomu
      mizu no oto

      SoylentNews version:

      An ancient pond,
      khallow jumps in.
      The sound of water.

      *the sound of water here can be construed as the basis for climate change denial, but then we are still faced with the fact that khallow is a frog in this haiku, which means, according to Kermit, that "Time's fun when you're having flies."

    • (Score: 3, Funny) by DannyB on Saturday March 10 2018, @05:47PM

      by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Saturday March 10 2018, @05:47PM (#650569) Journal

      Trump Trump Trump Trump Trump
      Guns Guns Guns Guns Guns Guns Guns
      Grab 'em by the part

      --
      If a lazy person with no education can cross the border and take your job, we need to upgrade your job skills.