Not Because It Is Easy, But Because It Is Hard, opinion, Alan Stern, Space News
“It has been said that a ship is safe in harbor, but a harbor is not where ships belong. If SpaceX doesn’t fully succeed in its first try with Dragon, there will be disappointment, and some may even question NASA’s wisdom in undertaking the COTS program. Others may question the ability of the American aerospace industry to undertake such a complex task as ISS cargo resupply. Still others may once again beat the anti-space commercialization drum.”

Biologist, Explorers Club Fellow, ex-NASA Space Biologist and Payload integrator, Editor of NASAWatch.com and Astrobiology.com, Lapsed climber, Explorer, Synaesthete, Former Challenger Center board member...