--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The space shuttle was often used as an…" description: "\"The space shuttle was often used as an example of why you shouldn't even attempt to make something reusable. But one failed experiment does not invalid..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/920/elon-musk-1138_bulbs_the-space-shuttle-was-often-used-as-an-e_1717100.jpg" --- # The space shuttle was often used as an example of why you… ![“The space shuttle was often used as an example of why you shouldn't even attempt to make something reusable. But one failed experiment does not invalidate the greater goal. If that was the case, we'd never have had the light bulb.” quote by Elon Musk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/920/elon-musk-1138_bulbs_the-space-shuttle-was-often-used-as-an-e_1717100.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/920/elon-musk-1138_bulbs_the-space-shuttle-was-often-used-as-an-e_1717100.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/920/elon-musk-1138_bulbs_the-space-shuttle-was-often-used-as-an-e_1717100.jpg) > “The space shuttle was often used as an example of why you shouldn't even attempt to make something reusable. But one failed experiment does not invalidate the greater goal. If that was the case, we'd never have had the light bulb.” [Elon Musk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elon-musk/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A single failure does not disprove a broader, worthwhile pursuit; progress tolerates setbacks while aiming for long‑term goals. **In simple terms:** One failure isn’t proof the whole idea is bad. Key Takeaway Persist despite setbacks. Themes innovation resilience risk technology Mood determined optimistic realistic Type motivational strategic When to use this quote - product development - space missions - entrepreneurial ventures Key Concepts systems engineering long‑term vision learning from failure Questions to Reflect On - How can you separate a setback from the overall mission? - What safeguards help keep a project on track after a failure? A Different Perspective Failure can be costly and demotivating if not framed correctly. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bulbs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bulbs/) [Experiment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/experiment/) [Experiments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/experiments/) [Goal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/goal/) [Goals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/goals/) [Light](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/light/) [Light bulb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/light-bulb/) [Space](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/space/) [Space shuttle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/space-shuttle/) ## Related quotes > [Fall forward. Here's what I mean: Reggie Jackson struck out 2,600 times in his career - the most in the history of baseball. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denzel-washington/fall-forward-here-s-what-i-mean-reggie-jackson-struck-out-2-600-times/) [Denzel Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denzel-washington/) > [A failed experiment can be more important than a trivial design](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/verner-panton/a-failed-experiment-can-be-more-important-than-a-trivial-design/) [Verner Panton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/verner-panton/) > [It is only those who hope to transform human beings who end up by burning them, like the waste product of a failed experiment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/it-is-only-those-who-hope-to-transform-human-beings-who-end-up-by/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [“How different this was, she thought, from the way Ethan had been with her. Ethan had said exactly what he felt; he hadn't tried…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meg-wolitzer/how-different-this-was-she-thought-from-the-way-ethan-had-been-with/) [Meg Wolitzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meg-wolitzer/) > [In the spirit of science, there really is no such thing as a 'failed experiment.' Any test that yields valid data is a valid…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-savage/in-the-spirit-of-science-there-really-is-no-such-thing-as-a-failed/) [Adam Savage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-savage/) > [TV holds a close second to cars for destroying our society. It's a failed experiment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-merchant/tv-holds-a-close-second-to-cars-for-destroying-our-society-it-s-a/) [Natalie Merchant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-merchant/) > [You're going to die soon enough anyway; even if it's a hundred years from now, that's still the blink of a cosmic eye. In…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-bering/you-re-going-to-die-soon-enough-anyway-even-if-it-s-a-hundred-years/) [Jesse Bering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-bering/) > [There is no such thing as a failed experiment, only experiments with unexpected outcomes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-buckminster-fuller/there-is-no-such-thing-as-a-failed-experiment-only-experiments-with/) [R. Buckminster Fuller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-buckminster-fuller/) > [The euro is... a failed currency, a wrong currency, a failed experiment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matteo-salvini/the-euro-is-a-failed-currency-a-wrong-currency-a-failed-experiment/) [Matteo Salvini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matteo-salvini/) > [Every failed experiment is one step closer to success.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denzel-washington/every-failed-experiment-is-one-step-closer-to-success/) [Denzel Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denzel-washington/) > [The bottom line is that the euro is a failed experiment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-singer/the-bottom-line-is-that-the-euro-is-a-failed-experiment/) [Paul Singer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-singer/) > [You are a side effect," Van Houten continued, "of an evolutionary process that cares little for individual lives. You are a failed experiment in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/you-are-a-side-effect-van-houten-continued-of-an-evolutionary-process/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [One failed experiment is one step closer to Success](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denzel-washington/one-failed-experiment-is-one-step-closer-to-success/) [Denzel Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denzel-washington/) > [Nothing in life is worthwhile unless you take risks. Fall forward. Every failed experiment is one step closer to success.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denzel-washington/nothing-in-life-is-worthwhile-unless-you-take-risks-fall-forward/) [Denzel Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denzel-washington/) > [“You are a side effect of an evolutionary process that cares little for individual lives. You are a failed experiment in mutation.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/you-are-a-side-effect-of-an-evolutionary-process-that-cares-little/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) ## More by Elon Musk > [Nobody wants to buy a $60,000 electric Civic. But people will pay $90,000 for an electric sports car.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elon-musk/nobody-wants-to-buy-a-60-000-electric-civic-but-people-will-pay-90/) [Elon Musk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elon-musk/) > [I think we should be very careful about artificial intelligence. If I had to guess at what our biggest existential threat is, it's probably…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elon-musk/i-think-we-should-be-very-careful-about-artificial-intelligence-if-i/) [Elon Musk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elon-musk/) > [Most people can learn a lot more than they think they can. They sell themselves short without trying.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elon-musk/most-people-can-learn-a-lot-more-than-they-think-they-can-they-sell/) [Elon Musk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elon-musk/) > [Some companies out there quote a start of production that is substantially in advance of when customers get their cars.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elon-musk/some-companies-out-there-quote-a-start-of-production-that-is/) [Elon Musk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elon-musk/) > [A company is a group organized to create a product or service, and it is only as good as its people and how excited…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elon-musk/a-company-is-a-group-organized-to-create-a-product-or-service-and-it/) [Elon Musk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elon-musk/) > [I'm glad to see that BMW is bringing an electric car to market. That's cool.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elon-musk/i-m-glad-to-see-that-bmw-is-bringing-an-electric-car-to-market-that-s/) [Elon Musk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elon-musk/) > [When we got Tesla going at the very beginning, if you asked me what I thought the odds of success were, I would have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elon-musk/when-we-got-tesla-going-at-the-very-beginning-if-you-asked-me-what-i/) [Elon Musk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elon-musk/) > [If we drive down the cost of transportation in space, we can do great things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elon-musk/if-we-drive-down-the-cost-of-transportation-in-space-we-can-do-great/) [Elon Musk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elon-musk/) > [In order for us to have a future that's exciting and inspiring, it has to be one where we're a space-bearing civilization.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elon-musk/in-order-for-us-to-have-a-future-that-s-exciting-and-inspiring-it-has/) [Elon Musk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elon-musk/) > [The lessons of history would suggest that civilisations move in cycles. You can track that back quite far - the Babylonians, the Sumerians, followed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elon-musk/the-lessons-of-history-would-suggest-that-civilisations-move-in/) [Elon Musk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elon-musk/) > [The value of beauty and inspiration is very much underrated, no question. But I want to be clear: I'm not trying to be anyone's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elon-musk/the-value-of-beauty-and-inspiration-is-very-much-underrated-no/) [Elon Musk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elon-musk/) > [If something's important enough, you should try. Even if - the probable outcome is failure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elon-musk/if-something-s-important-enough-you-should-try-even-if-the-probable/) [Elon Musk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elon-musk/) > [You should be innovating so fast that you're invalidating your prior patents](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elon-musk/you-should-be-innovating-so-fast-that-you-re-invalidating-your-prior/) [Elon Musk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elon-musk/) > [I could either watch it happen or be a part of it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elon-musk/i-could-either-watch-it-happen-or-be-a-part-of-it/) [Elon Musk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elon-musk/) > [I'm anti-tax, but I'm pro-carbon tax.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elon-musk/i-m-anti-tax-but-i-m-pro-carbon-tax/) [Elon Musk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elon-musk/) [Explore all 284 Elon Musk quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elon-musk/) ## More Bulbs quotes > [Greece is a sort of American vassal; the Netherlands is the country of American bases that grow like tulip bulbs; Cuba is the main…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/greece-is-a-sort-of-american-vassal-the-netherlands-is-the-country-of/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [My parents are actors as well, so I grew up around that world. It was always a very romantic, mythical world. They did a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phoebe-fox/my-parents-are-actors-as-well-so-i-grew-up-around-that-world-it-was/) [Phoebe Fox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phoebe-fox/) > [We can never be like lillies in the garden unless we have spent time as bulbs in the dark, totally ignored.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oswald-chambers/we-can-never-be-like-lillies-in-the-garden-unless-we-have-spent-time/) [Oswald Chambers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oswald-chambers/) > [A hotel is a place that keeps the manufacturers of 25-watt bulbs in business.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelley-berman/a-hotel-is-a-place-that-keeps-the-manufacturers-of-25-watt-bulbs-in/) [Shelley Berman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelley-berman/) > [Mostly, I straddle reality and the imagination. My reality needs imagination like a bulb needs a socket. My imagination needs reality like a blind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-waits/mostly-i-straddle-reality-and-the-imagination-my-reality-needs/) [Tom Waits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-waits/) > [We live technologically, with man as the master of nature, man as the engineer, and let anyone who raises his voice against it stop…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-frisch/we-live-technologically-with-man-as-the-master-of-nature-man-as-the/) [Max Frisch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-frisch/) > [I long for the bulbs to arrive, for the early autumn chores are melancholy, but the planting of bulbs is the work of hope…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/i-long-for-the-bulbs-to-arrive-for-the-early-autumn-chores-are/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) > [We talked death with burned-up intensity, both of us drawn to it like moths to an electric light bulb. Sucking on it!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/we-talked-death-with-burned-up-intensity-both-of-us-drawn-to-it-like/) [Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/) > [My co-pastor is Randy Frazee. Randy is the brightest bulb in this box. He really has a feeling for what a church needs in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-lucado/my-co-pastor-is-randy-frazee-randy-is-the-brightest-bulb-in-this-box/) [Max Lucado](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-lucado/) > [He spent more time on the road to Damascus than a Syrian camel driver. And we thought nobody could fill John Kerry's flip-flops! ...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-huckabee/he-spent-more-time-on-the-road-to-damascus-than-a-syrian-camel-driver/) [Mike Huckabee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-huckabee/) > [I plant daffodil bulbs about eight inches deep. As I mentioned before, I don't use a ruler. As a married woman, I know perfectly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassandra-danz/i-plant-daffodil-bulbs-about-eight-inches-deep-as-i-mentioned-before/) [Cassandra Danz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassandra-danz/) > [I went to a doctor and told him I felt normal on acid, that I was a light bulb in a world of moths.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-fisher/i-went-to-a-doctor-and-told-him-i-felt-normal-on-acid-that-i-was-a/) [Carrie Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-fisher/) > [People are mostly layers of violence and tenderness wrapped like bulbs, and it is difficult to say what makes them onions or hyacinths.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/people-are-mostly-layers-of-violence-and-tenderness-wrapped-like/) [Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/) > [Groucho Marx, in his later days, gave me the best review I've ever had and probably will ever have. I changed a light bulb…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elliott-gould/groucho-marx-in-his-later-days-gave-me-the-best-review-i-ve-ever-had/) [Elliott Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elliott-gould/) > [How many people does it take to change a searchlight bulb?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-wright/how-many-people-does-it-take-to-change-a-searchlight-bulb/) [Steven Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-wright/) [Browse all 170 Bulbs quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bulbs/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The space shuttle was often used as an example of why you shouldn't even attempt to make something reusable. But one failed experiment does not invalidate the greater goal. If that was the case, we'd never have had the light bulb.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Elon Musk" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elon-musk/the-space-shuttle-was-often-used-as-an-example-of-why-you-shouldn-t/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Bulbs" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elon-musk/the-space-shuttle-was-often-used-as-an-example-of-why-you-shouldn-t/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/920/elon-musk-1138_bulbs_the-space-shuttle-was-often-used-as-an-e_1717100.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/920/elon-musk-1138_bulbs_the-space-shuttle-was-often-used-as-an-e_1717100.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/920/elon-musk-1138_bulbs_the-space-shuttle-was-often-used-as-an-e_1717100.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The space shuttle was often used as an example of why you shouldn't even attempt to make something reusable…” — Elon Musk", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Elon Musk", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elon-musk/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The space shuttle was often used...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elon-musk/the-space-shuttle-was-often-used-as-an-example-of-why-you-shouldn-t/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elon-musk/the-space-shuttle-was-often-used-as-an-example-of-why-you-shouldn-t/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```