Maybe not consciously. But if you regularly use the internet, there's a 100% chance you regularly use something that's at least partially hosted on Amazon Web Services.

That's the biggest underlying issue with Amazon: they've got their fingers in every pie they can find. And they get tax breaks and government handouts to do it.

bold statement. I guarantee you have used Amazon, just not willingly or knowingly.

I really wish there were decent alternatives. It's one of the few places left with decent return polices, since it's nearly impossible to go to a store and try on affordable clothes or other things that need to be interacted with before deciding to keep. The only stores these days seem to be expensive stuff or they're small and only sell the most expensive stuff the store offers, the websites have the less expensive stuff, but return policies suck or you have to keep going to the store to return stuff (if you're lucky enough to have one local with all of the malls and shopping centers basically barren) rather than just trying on a bunch in a changing room and putting it back on the hanger. Same for many other products. I'd be lost without Amazon, but I wasn't lost before Amazon, just that they and Walmart, etc., destroyed everything else.

That launch pad damage is going to be a massive setback for them. I wouldn’t be surprised if it is down for a year plus. That was their only New Glenn launchpad so it’s not like they have other options. So we are really down to a SpaceX Starship for Artemis 3 if they can get remotely close to being ready at some point. Yesterday I would have told you that Blue Origin was our only hope at staying close to the new timelines. At this point, I will be shocked if we land on the moon before 2032 at the absolute earliest.

Good sabotage looks like an accident.

I mean. It's high level engineers working on these things. They would know how to make it look like an accident.

AI rabbit or filter?

Frankly, it would be more likely to be the Chinese, who have their own manned moon landing planned. We're in a new space race, and most people don't realize it. With this explosion, were in distant second place.

believe me, I am all for public space. The problem is Congress fucking sucks. And also NASA can't afford as much as said private corporations

But how are we gonna make any money on that? What about all the red tape??

hashtag think of the billionaires

NASA just made a rocket - the Space Launch System. It was ridiculously more expensive than SpaceX's rocket. And the Space Shuttle before that was also very expensive and suboptimal.

I am not a private sector fundamentalist (fuck privatized healthcare), but rocket launches is one area where the private sector has proven better than the public sector.

My sweet summer child, where do you think NASA actually gets its rockets from? You think they build them themselves? You think there were federal employees bending metal and turning wrenches at the space shuttle factory?

The difference is design and oversight. With a NASA vehicle, the government is in charge of the design process and construction, although these tasks are mostly done by outside companies on government contracts. With a company like SpaceX or Blue Origin, the design and testing and operation is done by the company who then sells launch contracts to NASA.

If you think the government can do better, I encourage you to take a look at SLS.

https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/12/six-years-after-orions-first-spaceflight-america-still-waits-for-an-encore/ This is a few years old but it's very relevant. As of 2020, NASA had spent more on the Orion vehicle and one flight than SpaceX had spent cumulatively on all space activities combined (including falcon, dragon, Merlin, starlink, and the beginnings of starship)

We have that already: NASA's Space Launch System.

It's ... debatable whether it gives better results than commercial contracts.

I like Administration for National Aeronautics Launches myself if we’re doing a naming competition.

Grabs more attention

I hope so! But also it's going to need testing and that might take ages. Also New Glenn is competing with Starship / Falcon Heavy iirc so different class

Considering how Bezos manage to get tax cuts, I'd say the US citizens are paying for this.