244 years ago, 56 patriots gathered in Philadelphia and signed the Declaration of Independence.
They enshrined a divine truth that changed the world forever when they said: “All Men Are Created Equal!”
There’s no investment where money works as hard as it does in a tech startup.
Driven founders, leveraged with code, capital, media, and intellect, sweating every dollar spent.
An enlightened society would educate investors, not restrict them.
But we need a heat shield that can handle Mars atmospheric entry conditions with a heavy payload, so the ballistic coefficient will necessarily be high. Steel is unfortunately hopeless.
No one has ever made a truly reusable orbital heat shield, so this is an extremely tough problem. [As you know] The Shuttle’s shields required extensive rework between flights.
It will take many more design iterations for SpaceX to make the shield work well. We had to build the entire supply chain from glass and alumina to finished tiles, which is why the SpaceX heat shield factory at the Cape is shockingly enormous.