Sorry, I wasn’t exactly bee-ing nice last night.

SLS takes off from Earth, but that doesn’t mean successor Hydrogen rockets will, and that doesn’t mean that the Hydrogen has to come from Earth once space infrastructure is in place.

By tackling challenges with hydrogen storage and transport, SLS is an investment in our future and in other parts of the green hydrogen economy. Hydrogen is very small and leaks. This is one of the biggest technical challenges wherever hydrogen is used. NASA overcomes technical and engineering challenges on large scales. Investment in hydrogen rockets is investment in green energy for the future.

Major benefits of NASA and space travel come from challenging ourselves to do things the “right” and “hard” way. Tackling these hard challenges provides technology that improves life and jumpstarts the economy across many sectors.

Going cheap-and-dirty and cutting corners is potentially dangerous for those using the cheap rockets, uses up underground organic reserves that are vital to ecosystems, and promotes a “throwaway” culture.

I should have challenged myself to reply to you the “right” and “hard” way instead of being dismissive and rude.

You’re not being honest if you argue from the assumption that the green Hydrogen for space flight is coming from Earth. Hydrogen is everywhere in space. Put out a magnetic net and catch it from the solar wind. Methane only exists as part of a biosphere on Earth, and that’s likely the case for other planets as well. Carbon is a much more precious resource, wherever we may mine it from.

A rocket being made by Boeing, but owned by the people is very different from a rocket being made and owned by SpaceX.

Go suck Elon’s dick elsewhere.

The good news about SLS is that it’s not burning fracked natural gas like Elon’s rockets… it’s burning Hydrogen that was produced from fracked natural gas. It’s not green now, but it has the potential to be in the future. Cryogenic H2 requires some expense compared to cheap-and-dirty methylox.

The other advantage of SLS is that these rockets are owned by the people, not private companies. If we want an equitable future in space, we need NASA rockets. Right now the SLS is that rocket.

It’s the new space race. Japan, Russia, Israel, and India were racing to be country 4 on the moon after USSR, USA, and China. India won the number 4 slot, and now the other three are shooting for 5. With SLS and Artemis paving the way for a lunar colony, everyone wants to be able to participate.