It amazes me just how much negativity there is out there these days. There are a large number of "news" reports shitting on this as a failure because they lost one of the rockets and because they missed the Mars orbit they were hoping, which Elon has said from the beginning was a long shot at best. What the fuck is wrong with people?
Jealousy. And people underestimate how important it is for eccentrics to push the boundaries for the rest of us.
Yup. Especially, if you pay even the smallest amount of attention to what he says about why he's doing what he's doing. First off, he couldn't do any of it if he weren't a billionaire. Second of all, he's made it clear, that all these lofty goals are for the long term betterment of mankind. Not a homeless meal for today, but sustainable life for thousands of years. How long have people been trying to make electric cars that the public didn't scoff at that didn't resemble an Ed Begley, Jr. comedy skit? And, then, he builds a badass roadster that people actually want. Have you tried to excited a middle schooler lately? Try to tell them how cool the original moon landing was. Yawn. Now, show them a fucking roadster cruising through space. Which one will excite them about math and science? To all those fuckers posting that shit on twitter: what did you do today to make earth a better place? And, he doesn't sugar coat or hide anything about the failures. Just right out there and owns them as learning experiences. Fuck off.
Agreed. Not to mention the amount of technology that is created from space exploration. The amount of tech that came out of the apollo missions is astounding and is still being used today. Everything from fire protection to shoes changed from those missions. The best example I can think of from Space X/Tesla so far is the battery development in his gigafactories. Once we can store power reliably, it's going to usher in alternative energy and the way we move people in such an amazing way on this planet.
Computers and the programming/code writing of said computers exploded because of space travel as well. It’s technology has been the touchstone of so many conveniences.
I think it's more bitterness and self-loathing... they know they are pieces of shit failures at life that can't raise themselves or others up, so all they have left is to try and pull everyone else down, and minimize their accomplishments.
I guess these tools so easily forget what Musk is doing for Puerto Rico presently . His powerwalls arrived there ten days after he pledged to help. Of course when these people say “homeless” they’re thinking of the bums they step over on the street while holding their nose. And before they go off on billionaire greed, Musk gave away his patents for free. They have NOTHING on him.
Badass video of the booster landings. Make sure to watch it with the sound on. There was a Q&A with Musk afterward where he said something to the effect that the boosters were staggered so that the radar of one wouldn't interfere with the radar of the other. Here's a fun exercise: Take something "easy" like a baseball bat, or a basketball, or a tennis racket, and try to balance it on your finger. You can move your hand and your feet and whatever you want. Chances are, that thing is still gonna fall down pretty fucking fast. Now imagine it moving faster than the speed of sound, but instead of your finger, it has a relatively small grouping of rocket engines to slow it down, then balance it so that it lands perfectly and doesn't explode into a $50 million firework show. Oh, and all this shit is happening outside, with different wind directions and speeds at different altitudes.
That shit just does not get old whatsoever. I’ve probably watched 5 versions of that video and I just can’t believe it. Those sonic booms give you chills.
It’s real Next Level stuff. And basically Musk and co. have eliminated NASA’s two greatest quirks: loss of life and cost. It also contributes far less space junk which is also more important than ever. The Kessler Syndrome is a scary thing if you believe that bullshit about this planet being round, y’know, like a Fucking BALL and shit. Pffft.
I vote we first test run it on pedophiles and the like. Larry Nassar sounds like a great first effort. He can do all the gymnastics he wants en route to missing a mars orbit.
Nowhere near that yet. The only thing that Musk has really brought to the table is huge cost efficiency via reusable rockets. Yeah... "the ONLY thing"... as if that, in and of itself, isn't a huge fucking game-changer. NASA has a stellar (no pun intended) safety record, and SpaceX hasn't done anything with humans yet. To me, the biggest advantage is Elon himself. Just try and imagine a universe in which NASA would do what he just did... never mind in any reasonable time frame. The politics would be stifling. Never mind the budgetary shit. I have zero problem with privatizing the space race... I just wish Besos would catch up.
Not in the same realm of possibility given government regulations but it’d be nice to see him or some other super billionaire focusing on advancing nuclear technologies in the same way.