this post was submitted on 06 Sep 2023
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Space? Europe recently landed on a comet, something no one else has done, something even NASA has never achieved.
Rosetta was the first spacecraft to orbit a comet nucleus, and was the first spacecraft to fly alongside a comet as it headed towards the inner Solar System. It became the first spacecraft to examine at close proximity the activity of a frozen comet as it is warmed by the Sun. Shortly after its arrival at 67P, the Rosetta orbiter dispatched the Philae lander for the first controlled touchdown on a comet nucleus. The robotic lander's instruments obtained the first images from a comet's surface and made the first in situ analysis of its composition.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosetta_(spacecraft)
Furthermore, do you know who makes the machines that TSMC uses to create the chips that power the worlds smartphones and countless other devices? A European company. Yes Taiwan makes the CPUs, but we make the CPU makers.
I am a proud European, but do not kid yourself. The United States are light years ahead in space technology. The Ariane program is a complete clusterfuck as of now.
Is US rocket supremacy why Π‘ΠΎΡΠ· rockets were bringing most of the US stuff into LEO the last 20 years or so?
The Soyuz is not a bad rocket, neither is the Ariane. It is just that technology has advanced quite significantly in the last few years. And rockets are just a (very visible) part of space technology.
Quite a turnaround you made here. From clusterfuck to not bad in 1 comment
Okay lets see. What I meant is: at its time, the Ariane 5 was a great program. Now is a different time. Now we have got SpaceX (and RocketLab etc.) and at the same time the Ariane 6 is already outdated before it is ever launched. At the same time, the Ariane 6 program has run into major delays, so it is not even clear when the first launch will be β probably 2024.
Reusable rocket technology is where it's at if we as Europeans want to stay relevant in the commercial launch sector.
Honestly, I'm totally fine with whoever launching our stuff, because what I actually care about is the science and exploration part, not the rocket itself