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Is this a common belief? That he is taking "risks" others don't have the courage to? This is a new one to me and interesting cultural development for sure. E

Is this a common belief? That he is taking "risks" others don't have the courage to? This is a new one to me and interesting cultural development for sure. Edit: Just kind of seems in contradiction to the previous stories of him where it focused on his intelligence/de facto technocratic authority to save the world. It wasn't so much his courage, but his moral rectitude combined with capital resources -- "he is going to save the world! Take us to mars!"

bombcar 5y ago
His two main companies have apparently taken risks that established companies in those areas were not willing to do. Could Boeing built a self-landing reusable rocket? Almost certainly. Would they have been willing to, considering it almost certainly involves failing in explosive ways multiple times? That may be a risk they aren't willing to take.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- cma 5y ago
  > Could Boeing built a self-landing reusable rocket? Almost certainly. McDonnell Douglas is part of Boeing and (before they were part of Boeing) did the DC-X prototype. One failure ended the program, but it was transfered from McDonnell to NASA at that point I think and funding was shifted towards the reusable VentureStar. But it did demonstrate reuse and went through a partial failure of a hydrogen explosion and recovery: https://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_McDonnell_Douglas_DC-X_launches https://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_McDonnell_Douglas_DC-...
  - cma 5y ago
    s/at that point/before that point
  - bombcar 5y ago
    Yeah, basically exactly what I would expect - they're perfectly capable technology-wise, but they're not capable bureaucratically. Which, if Musk has value, is where it comes in.
1123581321 5y ago
I would say it’s common. Both SpaceX and Tesla almost ran out of money with Musk maximally invested. Both moments were widely reported 5-10 years ago when they happened.

bombcar 5y ago

His two main companies have apparently taken risks that established companies in those areas were not willing to do. Could Boeing built a self-landing reusable rocket? Almost certainly. Would they have been willing to, considering it almost certainly involves failing in explosive ways multiple times? That may be a risk they aren't willing to take.

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
cma 5y ago
> Could Boeing built a self-landing reusable rocket? Almost certainly. McDonnell Douglas is part of Boeing and (before they were part of Boeing) did the DC-X prototype. One failure ended the program, but it was transfered from McDonnell to NASA at that point I think and funding was shifted towards the reusable VentureStar. But it did demonstrate reuse and went through a partial failure of a hydrogen explosion and recovery: https://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_McDonnell_Douglas_DC-X_launches https://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_McDonnell_Douglas_DC-...
- cma 5y ago
  s/at that point/before that point
- bombcar 5y ago
  Yeah, basically exactly what I would expect - they're perfectly capable technology-wise, but they're not capable bureaucratically. Which, if Musk has value, is where it comes in.

1123581321 5y ago

I would say it’s common. Both SpaceX and Tesla almost ran out of money with Musk maximally invested. Both moments were widely reported 5-10 years ago when they happened.