Comments on: “Creative destruction” in the space industry https://habitablezone.com/2012/04/07/creative-destruction-in-the-space-industry/ Fri, 03 Apr 2026 22:41:18 -0700 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: ER https://habitablezone.com/2012/04/07/creative-destruction-in-the-space-industry/#comment-13412 ER Mon, 09 Apr 2012 16:21:32 +0000 http://habitablezone.com/?p=12532#comment-13412 It's great news that these good men will be able to find employment in their field of interest. It would be a tragedy if this talent pool were lost, or migrated to fields other than astronautics. It's part of the role of government, one which is rarely acknowleged in corporate accounting, to provide training services for the private sector, particularly in high tech. Most airline pilots come from military backgrounds and most nuclear power plant operators started in the Navy's reactor program. But this "hidden subsidy" actually goes a lot deeper. For example, I got my start in photogrammetry, a technique originally developed for wartime reconaissance, and my work in remote sensing relied entirely on data downloaded from government satellites, and subsidized so it was available to industry at the cost of distribution. The private benefits of government R&D extend way past Tang and Teflon. It’s great news that these good men will be able to find employment in their field of interest. It would be a tragedy if this talent pool were lost, or migrated to fields other than astronautics. It’s part of the role of government, one which is rarely acknowleged in corporate accounting, to provide training services for the private sector, particularly in high tech. Most airline pilots come from military backgrounds and most nuclear power plant operators started in the Navy’s reactor program.

But this “hidden subsidy” actually goes a lot deeper. For example, I got my start in photogrammetry, a technique originally developed for wartime reconaissance, and my work in remote sensing relied entirely on data downloaded from government satellites, and subsidized so it was available to industry at the cost of distribution.

The private benefits of government R&D extend way past Tang and Teflon.

]]> By: VelociraptorBlade https://habitablezone.com/2012/04/07/creative-destruction-in-the-space-industry/#comment-13350 VelociraptorBlade Sun, 08 Apr 2012 07:21:18 +0000 http://habitablezone.com/?p=12532#comment-13350 Hey, after the Ares Project, it was only a matter of time. Hey, after the Ares Project, it was only a matter of time.

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