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Brian Swartz · 09-24-2023, 08:15 AM

Re: outsourcing probes, I don't think that's a good idea. Quality control may or may not be an issue, but I do think that's still important with unmanned probes. The associated PR if a mission fails, launching the probe in the first place is a big deal and far worse than the monetary cost.

- Probes aren't actually that expensive compared to the big picture; even a more expensive one like Perseverance cost less than 10% of NASA's annual budget, which is a half a percent or less of the total federal budget. In the grand scheme of things we are spending very very little on these. Still better to get them cheaper obviously, but basically these aren't amounts that matter much.

- Outsourcing the production also means giving away the technology we are developing and using. No thanks.

I'm all in favor of doing joint endeavors with other countries, and hopefully eventually just doing all of humanity's space endeavors under one unified effort. But just having them build stuff for us to do it cheaper? Nah.

09-24-2023, 08:15 AM	#310
Brian Swartz Grizzled Veteran Join Date: May 2006	Re: outsourcing probes, I don't think that's a good idea. Quality control may or may not be an issue, but I do think that's still important with unmanned probes. The associated PR if a mission fails, launching the probe in the first place is a big deal and far worse than the monetary cost. - Probes aren't actually that expensive compared to the big picture; even a more expensive one like Perseverance cost less than 10% of NASA's annual budget, which is a half a percent or less of the total federal budget. In the grand scheme of things we are spending very very little on these. Still better to get them cheaper obviously, but basically these aren't amounts that matter much. - Outsourcing the production also means giving away the technology we are developing and using. No thanks. I'm all in favor of doing joint endeavors with other countries, and hopefully eventually just doing all of humanity's space endeavors under one unified effort. But just having them build stuff for us to do it cheaper? Nah. Last edited by Brian Swartz : 09-24-2023 at 08:16 AM.