Jeff Thornburg

It's so beautiful.

That's excellent.

So, yes, I think the need is definitely there.

And your face didn't melt when you reopened the arc.

But when I was in the Air Force specifically, the issue, one of the biggest issues is that

Nobody has that foresight to know all of the ways that technology will be applied.

Right.

Nobody has that.

Right.

So that's why it's so important to keep the government involved in pushing that boundary.

And I think that's where the government should be spending their money.

Unfortunately, those government budgets are shrinking because...

I think some people think, well, private industry is just going to do it, so why do we have to fund it anymore?

But what they don't understand is VCs and private industry are chasing value creation and stock price and profit, and that may not be in the same wheelhouse as the technologies we need to actually get humans to Mars, to get humans to the moon, and to explore the solar system.

I worked as an engineering manager and director on liquid rocket engine technology development.

Did a lot of turbo pump development for liquid rocket engines while I was there.

Getting weight out of the system.

Every ounce matters.

And...

Combining components, bringing in technologies like additive manufacturing to reduce part count and figure out how to qualify systems to do that.