Welcome to the Futurism Mailbag! Here’s what you, our loyal Futurism readers, have had to say via social media and email.
We’ve had a heck of a week at Futurism. Now it’s time for the Futurism Mailbag. You probably noticed our completely redesigned website, and that’s without mentioning the jam-packed news cycle. Here’s our week in review — and what you, our Futurism readers, have had to say about it via social media and email. >> Also… To submit your own thoughts to the Futurism Mailbag, email us! Some comments are edited for length and clarity. Space journalists started this week with a burning question: Why hadn’t the White House clarified its position on NASA and Space Force? Enter Futurism senior reporter Dan Robitzski, who conducted a hard-hitting interview with the new head of NASA, Steve Jurczyk — and nailed him down on several core issues. One key takeaway: Jurczyk told us that the Artemis program — intended to take American astronauts back to the Moon as soon as 2024 — is almost certainly safe under Biden. Overall, Futurism readers were thrilled: I don’t care about flying cars but I was promised a Moon base by this date when I was ten. -Istvan, Moon Base Enthusiast >> Nota bene: Later in the week, White House confirmed its support for both the Artemis Moon-to-Mars plan and Space Force as a branch of the military. Robitzski also pressed Jurczyk on NASA’s relationship with SpaceX. In response, Jurczyk praised SpaceX’s work on the Commercial Crew Program — but said he was less convinced by Starship, the company’s ultra-ambitious experimental spacecraft that, well, keeps exploding. Specifically, Jurczyk said that he didn’t feel confident in SpaceX’s timeline for the craft. Instead, he took the opportunity to stridently defend the NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS), a super-powerful in-development spacecraft with similar-but-not-identical specs to Starship. Both vehicles are intended to launch crewed missions to the Moon — though SpaceX CEO Elon Musk claims Starship will eventually be able to transport astronauts to Mars as well. Overall, Futurism readers weren’t so sure about Jurczyk’s views on SpaceX: Really? Starship bas been built and tested for about a year and SLS goes back to the Bush administration and is based on tech developed in the 70s. Also the Starship prototypes have air time. We cannot say that for SLS. -Daniel, SLS Defender Many agreed, praising Musk and Starship: Starship will win out in the end, because reusability has to be the future to spaceflight. NASA are just trying to defend their outdated design. -Ade, Reusability Advocate Just for fun, Robitzski also asked Jurczyk whether he had any thoughts about extraterrestrial life.
