I actually like it when SpaceX has accidents because these enable them to discover problems fast and without human deaths. Contrast this with Boeing, where so many have died in operational incidents.
Comparison class: the annual International Rocket Engineering Competition https://www.soundingrocket.org/what-is-irec.html. Lots of them exploded this year -- as usual. Students learned, as usual, aided by a team of experts who analyzed their hardware prior to test and participated in the post-kaboom analyses with them. It's a huge volunteer effort.
I actually like it when SpaceX has accidents because these enable them to discover problems fast and without human deaths. Contrast this with Boeing, where so many have died in operational incidents.
Comparison class: the annual International Rocket Engineering Competition https://www.soundingrocket.org/what-is-irec.html. Lots of them exploded this year -- as usual. Students learned, as usual, aided by a team of experts who analyzed their hardware prior to test and participated in the post-kaboom analyses with them. It's a huge volunteer effort.
Rocketry is hard. I wish them luck.
Peter what are the assumptions behind your suggestion of just 2-3 refuelling flights
I went through the calculations here: https://planetocracy.substack.com/p/steps-towards-mars