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This is multigenerational national infrastructure. Imagine a volatile nerd like Musk funding Goldstone or CERN. He'll get into a pissing match with someone who

This is multigenerational national infrastructure. Imagine a volatile nerd like Musk funding Goldstone or CERN. He'll get into a pissing match with someone who knows what he is talking about damn quick (remember the Thai U-boat story) and then refuse to pay further.

mikepurvis 6y ago
Absolutely. If anything, this is the kind of thing which absolutely justifies having a nice, stable, bipartisan revenue stream directly from the tax base (along with, you know, stuff like transportation infrastructure, healthcare, education, etc). These shouldn't be the kinds of things which have to go begging for scraps from the tables of billionaires.
CamperBob2 6y ago
He'll get into a pissing match with someone who knows what he is talking about damn quick You're being grossly uncharitable considering what he's already been able to accomplish at SpaceX. The thing about Musk is that when even 5% of his hype comes to fruition, substantial positive change follows. Can you say the same about your employer, or about yourself? Yes, in many respects he behaves like a stereotypical rich eccentric whackjob, somebody who will probably end up in Howard Hughes's old hotel suite surrounded by bottles of his own urine. It sucks that any defense of Musk inevitably has to be framed with a disclaimer like that. But like Hughes, he gets important shit done when nobody else is even willing to try, and he isn't afraid to place long bets on long shots.
- JetSpiegel 6y ago
  > You're being grossly uncharitable considering what he's already been able to accomplish at SpaceX. What, creating a rocket less powerful than Saturn V? That was over 60 years ago.
  - CamperBob2 6y ago
    Lots of Saturn Vs landing on boats on your planet? But yeah, agreed with your larger point, the lack of progress has been nothing short of pathetic. Until recently.
perilunar 6y ago
SpaceX was founded 18 years ago, so it's almost a 'generation' old already. Not bad for a 'volatile nerd'. I'm betting it will be around longer than the Arecibo Observatory (the main telescope anyway).

mikepurvis 6y ago

Absolutely. If anything, this is the kind of thing which absolutely justifies having a nice, stable, bipartisan revenue stream directly from the tax base (along with, you know, stuff like transportation infrastructure, healthcare, education, etc). These shouldn't be the kinds of things which have to go begging for scraps from the tables of billionaires.

CamperBob2 6y ago

He'll get into a pissing match with someone who knows what he is talking about damn quick You're being grossly uncharitable considering what he's already been able to accomplish at SpaceX. The thing about Musk is that when even 5% of his hype comes to fruition, substantial positive change follows. Can you say the same about your employer, or about yourself? Yes, in many respects he behaves like a stereotypical rich eccentric whackjob, somebody who will probably end up in Howard Hughes's old hotel suite surrounded by bottles of his own urine. It sucks that any defense of Musk inevitably has to be framed with a disclaimer like that. But like Hughes, he gets important shit done when nobody else is even willing to try, and he isn't afraid to place long bets on long shots.

JetSpiegel 6y ago
> You're being grossly uncharitable considering what he's already been able to accomplish at SpaceX. What, creating a rocket less powerful than Saturn V? That was over 60 years ago.
- CamperBob2 6y ago
  Lots of Saturn Vs landing on boats on your planet? But yeah, agreed with your larger point, the lack of progress has been nothing short of pathetic. Until recently.

perilunar 6y ago

SpaceX was founded 18 years ago, so it's almost a 'generation' old already. Not bad for a 'volatile nerd'. I'm betting it will be around longer than the Arecibo Observatory (the main telescope anyway).