I had a long post planned here, but didn’t feel it was quite right, so I’ll try to keep this as short as possible. No, I won’t have the usual in depth explanations of what I mean here – I’ve done enough of that, and and won’t waste my time explaining it further. People choose not to listen, so the hell with it.
Late last year I wrote about the fact I was cutting back on writing about space related subjects, and I mentioned general burnout as the cause. While that’s true, it’s not the only reason.
The other main factor is that, honestly, space has been generally ruined for me by people. Namely the fans of one particular launch services company and those who are now suddenly interested in the otherwise nerdy scene that is space and rocketry. They are terrible. I’ve touched on this before, but I felt it all worth repeating and expanding upon here, at least in short form.
I’ve never had as many arguments as I have with them. I’ve never seen so many constantly childish “X is better” kinds of comments than I have with them — being posted on other companies social media pages constantly, as if that somehow proves something. I’ve never seen the point missed so much, with people caring more about a rocket landing itself than they do the payload actually being delivered safely to orbit. People who believe that a cost savings that’s yet to be shown to even be real is somehow the be-all-end-all to a discussion.
The media too seems to focus more on the hype and flash as opposed to the science and reality of things. This is typical, sure, but dangerous for something like space — it attracts the wrong kinds of people, and it shows.
Honorifics and titles being given that are undeserved or don’t make sense when you look at the vehicle –“World first reusable class rocket” for example, when only half the thing is reusable, all while ignoring the Space Shuttle — or obsessions with buzz terms “Historic Launch Complex 39A,” as if every other launch pad at KSC and CCAFS isn’t historic in its own right.
Then comes the focus on some illusion that private industry will somehow do better than NASA could, and that they are the “future” of humans in space. Ignoring companies all, in the end, only care about profits and that NASA is first and foremost about the science. Fans today also seem obsessed with some national aspect of space, such as launching from U.S. soil which while something we do need to get back to isn’t as major as people seem to make it out to be – it’s inevitable we’d get back to things again. This all while simultaneously ignoring the fact that private industries aren’t tied to a nation explicitly, so they aren’t really “us” doing it anymore – not like how NASA was as a part of the United States Government and thus part of the country as much as any one person is — something I do take pride in.
No, they only care about flash, the “ooh wow” factor, ignoring practicality or even success of the mission, demanding their company of choice somehow dominate while simultaneously saying “competition is good.”
It’s all a goddamned mess that I could spend hours writing about. I grow tired of it, honestly, and it’s reached a point where even watching a video on a launch or reading an entry on Facebook or Twitter regarding such is such an anxiety trigger in me, due to past encounters with the hostility, elitism, and tribalism of the group in question, that I can’t even really enjoy the subject anymore.
Something I’ve loved my entire life was ruined by people who really don’t care getting into it and acting like idiots about it. Think about that. Even just a few years ago this wasn’t the case – things weren’t that hostile, conversations were deep and intelligent, and people cared about science, exploration, and the end goal alongside practicality and reality. Now, all they care about is whoever can promise the most, regardless of how often the plans change or how little the promises are kept, no, their chosen team is the best and if you think differently you’re wrong because they say so.
Childishness, pure and simple, mixed with elitism and tribalism in their purest forms. I fucking hate it. I really can’t enjoy the scene anymore, it’s become so, well, toxic. That’s the only word I can use to describe it all. That seems to happen when things shift from being niches to something that “everyone” likes and as we all know might makes right to most people, regardless of other context or facts.
That being said, more to come, as always. It feels good to finally get this out.