SpaceX had a ton of help from NASA.
Also:
> Fusion generates electricity by ramming atoms into each other, releasing energy without emitting significant greenhouse gases or creating large amounts of long-lasting radioactive waste. But despite billions of dollars of investment, scientists and engineers still have not figured out a way to reliably generate more energy with fusion than it takes to create and sustain the reaction. Helion is still working on how to do that with its current prototype, called Polaris, which is housed in Everett, Washington, where it plans to build components for the machine to be built at Malaga, called Orion.
1. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/helion-energy-starts...
And Helion has built upon "a ton" of work from predecessors as well.
The quoted argument is basically "it hasn't happened yet, therefore it can't happen". Why does this argument not also apply to SpaceX, for all the things they've been the first to do?
I get that skepticism is warranted, but please don't cross the line into blatant technical nihilism.
Skepticism is more than warranted. I would be skeptical that they could put out a working reactor in 3 years even if they had already established the technical and commercial feasibility in a lab setting!
I’m curious if you’d make a bet on this and how much you’d wager?