OPINION:
Peter Weyrich’s commentary blasting the credibility of SpaceX and Elon Musk (“Government must come clean about SpaceX,” Web, Jan. 18), is a piece worthy of being published in The New York Times or The Washington Post.
It is so full of accusations and so devoid of facts that I find it incredible The Washington Times allowed it to be printed. The only saving grace is that your paper did run it on the commentary page — those other two papers would probably have had it on the front page and called it news.
Disparaging the credibility of SpaceX without facts serves no public purpose. The Pentagon refusing to answer a question about a secret payload (referred to as Zuma or Project Zuma) is not a fact of any wrongdoing by SpaceX, just a Pentagon keeping a secret payload secret.
The reference to the number of successful missions by United Launch Alliance (ULA) does not constitute a fact having anything to do with SpaceX, just a good record for ULA. Mr. Weyrich wanting SpaceX to explain what happened to the Zuma payload is like wanting any civilian company to explain any U.S. government secret project, legally it just isn’t going to happen.
SpaceX has developed a new technology and protocol of retrieving first stage rocket systems and has been very public about its successes and failures. If they were authorized to talk about this payload, they probably would. They are actually doing what is rare in this day and age, keeping out of a discussion in which they are not authorized to take part.
James Kout
Bowie, MD
Please read our comment policy before commenting.