Futurology

it's strange it's taken them this long to get to space

It's not too strange considering how little most of society cared about space beyond Earth's orbit. Even the last of the Apollo missions were met with little fanfare outside of the space industry.

The billionaires' dick measuring contest and other countries beyond Russia showing actual progress in their own space programs have finally kicked up enough competition to get some aspects of the Space Race going again, including investments in newer technology.

I've heard for every dollar spent on space it benefits the US eight times over.