But USD 160,000,000 isn't nearly enough to get you into the manned spacecraft club.

Go wrong?

The local economy depends on the cleanup money and the job will be milked for decades

Nothing new. Tech companies were placing newspaper ads with ghost openings as early as the 1970's.

Tech companies were placing newspaper ads for non-existent jobs as early as the 1970's. The responses were used to estimate the recruit pool size and salary range expected, just like now.

I'm not particularly concerned.

That's like just your opinion, man.

Used to grow synthetic quartz crystals, not the crystals themselves.

Google says 2"-4".

How much the sea level has actually risen. No numbers in the article.

Has entered the chat.

I ran a small manufacturing business during the transition from magazine ads to Google Adwords. The transition destroyed or seriously damaged many technical magazines and made it virtually impossible to track leads. Back in the day, magazines had "bingo cards" in the back. Interested customers could circle numbers corresponding to ads in the magazine and drop the card in the mail. The company would receive a monthly report of inquiries and preprinted labels that could be used to mail literature. The customer could also indicate that they would like a telephone call, which would be handled by a salesperson. The whole operation was civilized and personal and the company would not waste much time on frivolous inquiries.

Contrast that with Adwords where you had to dynamically bid on your position on the page, got random click hits that rarely had anything to do with potential closed sales, and cost a fsking fortune. Adwords pretty much destroyed the ability for a small company to maintain a consistent and respectful customer presence.

Things I could give a rat's ass for $200, Alex.

I read it. Twice. Excellent book. I also worked on Pershing P1a missiles in the 70's.

Is the use of this technology in ICBM's and cruise missiles.