5 ms·

Why should the lives of people living in the area be risked for some future of humanity philosophy? I'm sure the average person on earth doesn't care about the

by Jonnax 6y ago

Why should the lives of people living in the area be risked for some future of humanity philosophy? I'm sure the average person on earth doesn't care about the future of humanity after an extinction event.

blkhawk 6y ago
AFAIK there are only 3 houses still owned by private citizens in Boca Chika village. And those living there were/are evacuated for tests. So nobody was at risk at any point during the test.
m4rtink 6y ago
You mean the surrounding brackish swamp or the declining village that Space X long bought out (mostly from friendly space flight fans who settled there after SpaceX started up to watch launches). Not to mention the whole test flight being setup so that even if everything went wrong no one could have possibly been hurt (eq. just enough fuel to reach inside the exclusion zone, self destruct system, etc.).
cbozeman 6y ago
Have you never seen Star Trek in all your life? The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.
dredds 6y ago
I don't think there's a recorded case of people going about their daily lives and getting struck dead by rocket or satellite debris. Eventually there'll be a first, but how many rockets are launched every year? Getting wiped out by people jet-setting around the planet on holiday is more likely. Planet-level extinction movies are a popular genre, so yes, we do care.
- ygra 6y ago
  Oh, it has happened. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelsat_708 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelsat_708 Things are a lot easier to make safe when launching towards water, but some countries don't have that luxury.
- bewaretheirs 6y ago
  Possibly https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelsat_708 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelsat_708 Long March 3B launched from Xichang, China on 1996-02-15, immediately veered off course and crashed into a village near the launch site. Official death toll is 6 dead, 57 injured, though some eyewitnesses present at the launch believe the death toll must have been much higher.

by Jonnax 6y ago

blkhawk 6y ago

AFAIK there are only 3 houses still owned by private citizens in Boca Chika village. And those living there were/are evacuated for tests. So nobody was at risk at any point during the test.

m4rtink 6y ago

You mean the surrounding brackish swamp or the declining village that Space X long bought out (mostly from friendly space flight fans who settled there after SpaceX started up to watch launches). Not to mention the whole test flight being setup so that even if everything went wrong no one could have possibly been hurt (eq. just enough fuel to reach inside the exclusion zone, self destruct system, etc.).

cbozeman 6y ago

Have you never seen Star Trek in all your life? The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.

dredds 6y ago

I don't think there's a recorded case of people going about their daily lives and getting struck dead by rocket or satellite debris. Eventually there'll be a first, but how many rockets are launched every year? Getting wiped out by people jet-setting around the planet on holiday is more likely. Planet-level extinction movies are a popular genre, so yes, we do care.

ygra 6y ago
Oh, it has happened. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelsat_708 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelsat_708 Things are a lot easier to make safe when launching towards water, but some countries don't have that luxury.
bewaretheirs 6y ago
Possibly https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelsat_708 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelsat_708 Long March 3B launched from Xichang, China on 1996-02-15, immediately veered off course and crashed into a village near the launch site. Official death toll is 6 dead, 57 injured, though some eyewitnesses present at the launch believe the death toll must have been much higher.