The SLS rocket is the worst thing to happen to NASA–but maybe also the best?

It strikes me as a microcosm of the political dysfunction in the rest of the system.

Republicans keep lumbering along because the Democrats turn a lot of people off. One way they do that is spending a lot of money without regard for results and having a big party to celebrate -- like simply spending the money is a victory.

Even the Green Party is shocked at what it costs to build a bus stop and when the bus is 45 minutes late chronically nobody at the bus company sees it as a problem. Everybody else just gets in their car and does things to pour sand in the gears like vote Republican. Some people will accuse them of racism and there is some of that going on, but the attitude that you can spend money on things endlessly and never care about results seriously damages the legitimacy of government and is one reason we can't have nice things.

I wonder if modern government space launch vehicles ultimately represent the pinnacle of gamification of government contracting moreso than technological achievement. You could definitely argue that the Apollo missions interacted with newborn mega corporations which have matured now. Not just their products have matured like rockets and guidance systems, but the ability to play the contracting game and get wildly exponential big bucks and still convince everyone the budget is still too small.