this post was submitted on 26 May 2024
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there is an infinite difference between "you can technically do it but you're 99% likely to die" and "you literally cannot even reach the edge of the atmosphere without a vehicle engineered and built by 5000 people"
You’re right that there are many big differences. Launching a rocket into space could be compared with building a major cathedral back in the day. People did both, but not very often, because those projects are very demanding. Ships were also super expensive, but we built those all the time, so obviously the requirements weren’t quite as high.
Also attitudes have shifted quite a lot in the recent centuries, so losing a few sailors isn’t quite the same as losing an astronaut. Nowadays, safety is taken a lot more seriously which makes the project even more expensive.