Cutting straight to the point, I’m somewhat burnt out right now – namely, with regards to SpaceX, space subjects in general, and a few other things. Reading comment after comment on the SpaceX front has certainly been a chore, having to see them mentioned in every single space related subject ever is itself quite annoying, and all in all, the space and rocketry community just isn’t what it should be – too political, too hostile, and just too negative. Even the way SpaceX fans are positive and supportive of their chosen company, it’s incredibly negative to other launch providers and space agencies.
I feel it’s bringing out the worst in me, as well. Contrary to popular opinion, I’m not an inherently negative person – critical, yes, but never just intentionally hostile. With the way things are going now, space wise, I just can’t enjoy it.
I know in a way I’m not helping with my “Cult of SpaceX” articles, but I feel these are viewpoints that need to be expressed – that someone has to stand up and say what needs to be said. Still, I get tired of the time it takes to actually articulate the thoughts, only to have more things come up and be in what seems like a never ending article chain to try to address every bit of news or every counterpoint brought up. It gets old, and isn’t what I want to do on this site. Not as much as I have been recently.
I’ve got more to say about SpaceX but I’ll hold off on it for now. I’ll perhaps take a week or 2 away (beyond covering a pair of upcoming launches) and try to gather my thoughts and get back to enjoying what I can.
It isn’t just SpaceX though, not by a long shot. Any kind of space discussion is getting pretty bad now: Political strife, even about events from 50 years ago, is still common. I can’t enjoy a discussion about some 1960’s rocket or some random strange probe without there being a chance someone, somewhere, will start some drama in it. Some groups are good about getting rid of troublemakers but others, well, they seem to be run by them. It’s a damned shame, as I would think those interested in space and rocketry would be the more civil types, but clearly that’s not the case, especially if you’re talking about the Space Shuttle – don’t get me started on how many people start some anti-Obama rant blaming him for the end of the Shuttle program (protip: it was actually Bush who ended it) or some other random rant starts up.
There are other things, sure, unrelated to space which have been more trouble than they are worth, but I think for a while I might do well to focus on things that I enjoy, and cause me as little stress as possible.
For now, that’s that. We’ll see how I feel in a couple of weeks. I guess all I can say right now is, the internet just isn’t fun, as silly as that sounds.