If you read my articles related to SpaceX at all, you will notice a common theme with them – excitement for launches, a feeling of happiness with success, but all the while, at least since September of 2016, a level of snark, of subtle disdain can be read in the posts. To be fair some elements of it are exaggerated to actually carry over more obviously in the articles, and it isn’t completely heartfelt, but done simply to be noticed. Either way, these subtle jabs come as a reaction to the discovery that some fans of SpaceX get extremely angry if you say anything even remotely critical of the company.
I look at what SpaceX plans, and does, with a level of criticism to simply balance things out – to address concerns that people might not think about, that are perfectly valid thoughts and nothing more. I make no assertion things will fail, only that something might go wrong, and wonder how that would be addressed or better could be prevented ahead of time. It’s simple critical thinking.
Remember, this is a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket failing on the pad, during fueling.
For fans of SpaceX though, such comments are pure anathema. If you dare make any comment that is even remotely critical, to any degree, even in conversations that don’t directly relate to SpaceX, such as discussion about the Apollo Program and the Saturn V rocket, and you make a casual mention of SpaceX and their designs, I can almost guarantee the SpaceX fan who reads your comment will respond usually with quite a bit of hostility, as if you insulted their mother, rather than just made a comment about a concern with something regarding a rocket and spacecraft production company! It’s truly what someone could call, in some cases, a “Cult of SpaceX.” where Elon Musk and his company are infallible, and any who say anything even remotely critical must be spoken up against in mass. It’s insanity.
Oh yes, there’s an article coming on this, in detail, sometime this week.
That’s the fanbase though – SpaceX themselves, aside from the extreme ambition they have, are alright, save for those absolutely terrible hosted webcasts, but that’s another story for another time.
Indeed, I have many articles coming that will cover the “Cult of SpaceX” (the feverish, obsessed aspect of the fanbase) as well as the company itself and what claims are made about them regarding how special and unique they are.
I am a massive fan of space travel and rocketry – I’ve been “into” it since before I can remember, and while I’m far from an expert, I know enough about the history of it to know what happens when “go fever” hits – I know enough to know what happens when things are too complex what can go wrong, and I know enough about probability to know that eventually the law of averages will catch up, and something will go wrong, as it has before. SpaceX isn’t perfect.
I’ll end this, though, with the typical disclaimed: I do not *dislike* SpaceX by default, but I am not fond of how some in the fanbase act regarding them, nor am I fond of how the science-illiterate media treats them. It is possible to criticize ideas, implementations of ideas, and people’s reactions to things (in this case, SpaceX) without those criticisms being any kind of attack against fans themselves or an automatic assertion that something shouldn’t be tried or will fail by default.
This shouldn’t need explaining but as you will see in upcoming articles, it truly is a thing that needs to be addressed, and that’s just sad.
Anyway, I might as well shed off some of the hate I will probably recieve for this article by throwing out some articles from people who have much more direct opinions:
http://leftshark.blogspot.com/2015/12/the-cult-of-spacex-and-elon-musk.html (yes, I realize this blog is rather comedic, downright stupid. Still, it raises some valid points.)