To be fair, it would be foolish to dismiss the technology per se, for this is a mere evolutionary step in rocketry, and rockets are fairly proven as a concept. They did that Moon thing and all, I think. The question is fair bit less dramatic: how practical and effective is this specific development, as of now. Nobody sensible ever completely dismissed the electric cars, and few doubted that they would not exist widely in the future, but it was argued that for most purposes they were seriously impractical, and commercially not at all competitive. And they still very much are both, at least without incentives. Me saying that doesn't say I don't believe in the concept, but that I don't think the current products are there yet. Though their time is coming and fast, just waiting for...something.CAPFlyer wrote:I think it's kinda ironic that here we are, people whom are enamored by airplanes and computers, both technologies which were dismissed as "whims" and "impractical", yet here we are.
I feel the same with Falcon. To really make a big change, it needs something more. To be honest, I see that the private funding model, and non-NASA style R&D may be a bigger contributor if this succeeds than the recovery stunt ever was.
-Esa