Given how Americans tend to self-sort into political castes, I suspect that the majority of SpaceX employees are now ideologically aligned with their CEO. Working there would be too risky for them otherwise.
You got me figured out completely. I hate Elon so much I have watched every launch stream since 2010, own stock in his companies, buy his car with $10k beta software, and voted as a shareholder to give him the biggest pay package in human history.
I hate him so much I'll even agree with his quote from this year saying that “Starship Version 3, I think this design can be fully reusable.”
Don't sweat it. Lots of Starship fans (myself included) are overly sensitive because there is so much bad-faith criticism out there.
Still, I think you're discounting the accomplishment here. Boosters have reflown after a catch, so re-usable engines is already demonstrated. And heat shield reuse is going to be iterative: the first few will require lots of work, but they will keep improving until the tiles last for many missions.
But you can't iterate if you don't get the ship back in one piece. That's what makes this accomplishment important.
Reducing their work to the (self-serving) political alignments of the CEO is a big part of the optics issue.
I hate him so much I'll even agree with his quote from this year saying that “Starship Version 3, I think this design can be fully reusable.”
Still, I think you're discounting the accomplishment here. Boosters have reflown after a catch, so re-usable engines is already demonstrated. And heat shield reuse is going to be iterative: the first few will require lots of work, but they will keep improving until the tiles last for many missions.
But you can't iterate if you don't get the ship back in one piece. That's what makes this accomplishment important.
Calling it a fully reusable vehicle is just fantasty.