NASA opens SpaceX's moon lander contract to rivals over Starship delays

[hunter]

6. More than fifty years ago sending people to the moon was a grand adventure...

... that pushed the limits of our technology.

Now it's just a dangerous stunt.

My grandfather was an engineer for the Apollo Project. Various bits of the metal that took men to the moon and back were his. He was immensely proud of that work -- complex problems solved not with computers but with slide rules, chalk boards, and sketches on paper; drawings made on drafting tables, respecting and working shoulder-to-shoulder with the talented machinist and technicians who fabricated the metal, and an unwavering commitment to quality.

We now know much more about the moon than we did then. Our robots can accomplish more science in space than any human burdened by complex and expensive life support systems can.

What's the point of sending humans too the moon?

I doubt natural born humans will ever have a significant presence in space beyond low earth orbit. We're just too damned fragile and space is too damned dangerous.

Of course people still climb Mount Everest too and many die doing it. I just don't want to encourage them, and I certainly don't want to subsidize them.

No good will come of this.