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Elon Musk teases Mars breakthroughs as Starship design radically changes [video]
- ryanmercer 8y agoIt'll probably change several more times before something actually gets constructed.
- foxyv 8y agoI hear that SpaceX has some excellent simulations for their rocket design process. These constant changes preceding actual production are probably their engineers refining designs in simulation before putting anything on the pad. Usually you don't see this process at other companies (they do it behind closed doors.) SpaceX does really seem to enjoy hyping up their fans so we get to see a lot of their early iterations. Here's hoping there isn't some huge limitation that is slowing down the "Spaceship" showing up in simulations.
- danielvf 8y agoNo actual data other than "What exactly those breakthroughs could be is entirely unclear."
- mkirklions 8y agoAn Elon company exaggerating their current progress? Say it aint so! I liked Elon about 3 years ago before we found out he was a master Marketer. I feel played.
- mohaine 8y agoYa, it is really sad that nothing positive ever came out of Space X or Tesla. /s
- kposehn 8y ago> I liked Elon about 3 years ago before we found out he was a master Marketer. I feel played. What’s wrong with him being a master marketer?
- Derek_MK 8y agoHe doesn't really do much of the things he markets. He frequently makes a big announcement for something huge in 1-2 years. Then, 1-2 years later, he makes another big announcement to keep the previous announcement out of the news. The most relevant example is actually his recent public statements about a Mars base. He actually stated in 2016 that he would be sending an unmanned rocket to Mars in 2018. 2018 is almost over, so he quietly pushed plans back until about 2023, and started hyping up his Mars base stuff for the far-future.
- hirundo 8y ago''
- nabla9 8y agoAs a Musk hater, let me clarify: * My view about Elon Musk is net positive. He has serious failure modes and his seems like asshole as a person, but he can also do interesting stuff that lives past his companies. * My view about Musk fanboys is completely negative. They fill discussion forums with discussion that is fit only for sports fan or religious people. Only positive thinking or you are a hater. It's actually good that he says that people are going to Mars to work themselves to death and die in accidents etc. Because when others try to say it, Musk fanboys are thinking they can play computer games there and the main issue is boredom.
- Devagamster 8y agoCome now. Let's not draw people with broad strokes regardless of whether they are sports fans, religious people, or fans of Elon Musk. When you make harsh statements about groups that big you're the one that looks bad, not them and your point gets lost.
- nabla9 8y agoI would like to argue that the so called "Musk haters" are not a group made of haters. Wast majority has neutral or analytic approach but labeled as Musk haters. The Musk fanboys on the other hand form more clearly defined segment.
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- Devagamster 8y agoI'm confused by this edit
- dimillian 8y agoA lot of haters here, while Space X is launching rockets on rockets and selling Tesla like hot cakes. If the design changed radically, it did change radically, I guess we'll again be amazed when it'll be revealed. Being good at marketing is essential for keeping people interested in space exploration in those dark times. I'm sometime very tired of the pessimist sentiment here.
- nabla9 8y ago> Being good at marketing is essential This claim is dubious. That you can sell people space exploration by hyping it up. It does not show in money, or people going to STEM field. It probably increases interest for scifi books or videos. > I'm sometime very tired of the pessimist sentiment here. You want to be inspired/entertained as a consumer. People who must be constantly emotionally propped and mentally supported are not the ones who are willing to go and work toward Mars.
- dimillian 8y agoDamn, of course I'm a consumer of space. I would not even be half that interested on how to actually go on Mars if it was not for Space X. You know, research money is not coming from nowhere, you have to actually advertise what you're doing in order to get money. I even bet the the bigger the crowd is, the more money you can raise. You know, if the public opinion is favorable to what you're doing, it get a lot easier to actually do it.
- xrayzerone 8y ago> It does not show in money, or people going to STEM field Anecdotally, I know many a kid who has taken an interest in space and rocketry after watching a SpaceX launch. What empirical data have you to show that there is no correlation between space awareness (whether by Musk or anyone else) and STEM enrollment?
- nabla9 8y ago> Anecdotally, I know many a kid who has taken an interest in space and rocketry I was personally inspired to go to physics partially because of my love of sci-fi and all space related. That's completely orthogonal to the skeptical sentiment or lack of moon landings in my lifetime. Real "space awarenes" comes with facts, not with hype. You can drive only so much motivation from outside.
- eesmith 8y ago"the ad for going to Mars would be like Shackleton’s ad for going to the Antarctic." A widely-spread myth? https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/shackleton-probably-never-took-out-an-ad-seeking-men-for-a-hazardous-journey-5552379/ https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/shackleton-probabl...
- xrayzerone 8y agoThen it will read like the mythical ad. God. The pedantry around here is astounding.
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- scarejunba 8y agoI think it’s intended to be a joking introduction into a side topic rather than a “well, actually”
- eesmith 8y agoI have grown weary of statements based on truthiness. Shackleton's failed expedition goes around in business circles because it was a successful failure. No one died, despite the ship being caught in the ice, the men holed up on Elephant Island, and the incredible voyage of the James Caird to South Georgia and trek across the mountains to the whaling station. The mythical ad builds on pop culture resonances, like the 2003 book "Shackleton's Way: Leadership Lessons from the Great Antarctic Explorer", and "Leading at The Edge: Leadership Lessons from the Extraordinary Saga of Shackleton's Antarctic Expedition", plus scores of other books and movies. Tell me, downvoters, why don't we see 'mythical ads' for real failures, like the Scott's Terra Nova Expedition? Presumably they would have been just as heroic, no? Or, would you interpret that fake ad the same if you replaced Shackleton's name with Scott's?
- dempseye 8y agoIn a similar vein, Mallory's justification for attempting Mount Everest is often repeated. He died in the attempt. We hear about heroic failures too.
- dmix 8y ago> If the rich wanted Mars or lunar bases as “escape hatches”, there are dozens of multibillionaires that could singlehandedly fund Musk’s estimated $2-10B price tag for the completion of the entire BFR development program while still retaining 50-90% of their net worth. This is a bit of a naive view of how wealth and capital expenditure works.
- dempseye 8y agoTell us how. I don't think the guy you are replying to actually thinks that the dozens of multibillionaires out there are holding their billions as cash that they could hand over to Musk tomorrow. Their wealth is held in assets with varying levels of liquidity, and, most notably in the case of stock, trying to convert them to cash would decrease the value of the remainder. But if Bezos wanted to get his hands on 10 billion to fund Musk, why could he not? (Ignoring the fact that he has his own aerospace thing going on.)
- olivermarks 8y agoI'm a big fan of NASA running space programs for the good of the American people and I'm pretty cynical about the relentless Barnum & Bailey marketing from Musk. Teslerati is essentially an oligarch fan site.
- pythonaut_16 8y agoHas NASA developed reusable, landable rockets and then successfully landed 2 of 3 launched as a triple booster heavy rocket package? Out of Musk's companies, SpaceX is the farthest from a hype circus. They are delivering on real science and engineering.
- olivermarks 8y agoI'd like NASA to develop reusable, landable rockets rather than a private company, and to be answerable to the American people.
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- leesec 8y agoWell they don't and they aren't so