Here's a pleasant Christmas thought-- why are rocket launches like holidays-- infrequent, big productions that tend to always be the same?  A New York Times op-ed, Faster, NASA, Faster, puts forth an idea that, really, resurfaces at least once every few years.  It's a good idea.  It says, hey, let's do more launches with higher risk.

 In Silicon Valley we have a saying: launch early, launch often. It’s an acknowledgment that successful, innovative companies are the ones that rapidly try new ideas, see what works, improve their products and repeat. Businesses that launch frequently are also able to take advantage of economies of scale to make launchings faster and easier. In many ways, the key to innovation is speed of execution.

Courtesy of /. discussion, we get three valid points of view on the launch often viewpoint:

1) We need more launches to inspire people,
2) We need more launches to get the cost per pound down,
3) We already have frequent commercial launches-- we need vision, not more launches.

I think we need all three.  More launches to get more interesting innovation going.  More launches to reduce costs.  And a strong vision to make it worthwhile.  Perhaps that vision could be... let's do lots more launches?

Happy holidays,
Alex, the Daytime Astronomer

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Read about my own private space venture in The Satellite Diaries