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That took long enough. Insane that the gov was entirely silent after this week's starship launch as well... Even though I'm not an elon fan, pretending to not

That took long enough. Insane that the gov was entirely silent after this week's starship launch as well... Even though I'm not an elon fan, pretending to not notice for political reasons (not to mention the insane halving of launches at Vandenberg AFB) is completely insane and damaging to our country.

everybodyknows 2y ago
One way to read the delay was that the technical teams were working against a deadline clock that started as soon as the vehicle landed, to analyze and propose remedies for the thruster failures and helium leaks. And now they've hit that deadline, having found no good fixes.
- verzali 2y ago
  I suspect it's more at a program level. Boeing have lost a lot of money on Starliner, may lose a lot more, and already seem lukewarm on continuing with the project. It's actually NASA that's keener on keeping it running, so that they are not entirely dependent on SpaceX for human spaceflight.
  - justinclift 2y ago
    NASA might need to redo the tender for the 2nd supplier of crewed missions, regardless of the (even further) reputational hit to Boeing.
    - Tuna-Fish 2y ago
      ISS is not going to stay up there for long enough for a new second supplier to make sense.
      - justinclift 2y ago
        That doesn't seem right. It's supposed to be up there through to 2030+, and the point of a 2nd supplier is just to ensure there aren't any blocker level problems if a single supplier has issues.
- elintknower 2y ago
  Yes, because they're an inferior option to supply launch services to the ISS. Stop apologizing for a company that let their standards slip and endangered the lives of multiple astronauts not to mention wasting billions of tax payer dollars.
thot_experiment 2y ago
I wish I had any idea on how to deal with the Elon situation. I genuinely believe SpaceX wouldn't be achieving nearly what it is without him, but he's obviously also going way off the deep end these days and it's uncomfortable to watch one man with that much power getting increasingly unhinged. It's something I constantly wonder about, I strongly believe we should be taxing the absolute shit out of people and working hard to flatten society, but I also worry that we need insane people in power sometimes to get stuff done. Starship (hell, even F9) is an astonishing achievement and there's zero chance that innovation would be possible anywhere except SpaceX or another entity with very strong leadership (Valve or Steve Jobs' Apple if they made rockets)
- Mistletoe 2y ago
  https://www.reuters.com/technology/spacex-employees-denounce-ceo-musk-distraction-letter-2022-06-16/ https://www.reuters.com/technology/spacex-employees-denounce... https://www.businessinsider.com/spacex-employees-elon-musk-focus-twitter-ceo-2023-1 https://www.businessinsider.com/spacex-employees-elon-musk-f... >SpaceX employees say they are relieved Elon Musk is focused on Twitter because there is a calmer work environment at the rocket company He sounds like that kind of boss we have all had where you actively avoid interacting with him because his ideas will be stupid and get your project off track. I think SpaceX succeeds despite having to deal with current Elon.
  - seizethecheese 2y ago
    Having read the Isaacson biography, Elon’s management style is essentially to be hands off then show up in “surges” of extreme work. It makes sense that most people would be happy when surges end. There’s also essentially zero chance his organizations succeed in spite of him. This is just wishful ignorance.
    - larkost 2y ago
      What evidence do you offer that there is no chance of SpaceX succeeding in spite of Elon Musk? I really don't have enough detailed knowledge about his actual contributions to the various companies he runs. But given the sheer number of projects at the companies he runs I don't find it hard to believe that he is largely not responsible for the technical successes. Again, I have no evidence for it, but it would not be hard to believe. Do you have anything other than faith for that statement?
numpad0 2y ago
It's not just "the gov". Elon was a controversial figure just last year, but now the entire Internet is giving Musk-related everything a transparent child treatment. It's almost unsettling how fast the hype is going down.
bufferoverflow 2y ago
Our current administration is damaging to the country. This anti-Musk insanity started pretty early when Biden invited all EV companies to the EV summit, except Tesla. Which, at that time produced more EVs combined than the rest. And now people are wondering why Musk doesn't like current administration. What a mystery.
- treflop 2y ago
  This is some conspiracy BS. Why would Tesla have been invited to a summit that was primarily centered around United Auto Workers? Tesla is non-union. “EV” was only a pretext. The summit didn’t invite any non-US carmakers, who also make EVs. It was an event about UAW. Everyone invited was UAW. The administration even said as much: https://cleantechnica.com/2021/08/05/white-house-answers-why-tesla-wasnt-invited-to-united-auto-workers-ev-event/amp/ https://cleantechnica.com/2021/08/05/white-house-answers-why...
  - skellington 2y ago
    We know that. The problem was the theater. Biden praising GM for "leading" in the EV space when they are so many years behind Tesla. Even now they sell a tiny fraction of the EVs. UAW will be the reason why the big 3 are all bankrupt in 10 years.
  - fallingknife 2y ago
    That excuse was made up after the fact. They didn't even have their message straight. One of the links in the article is about Pete Buttigieg giving a totally different explanation as to why Tesla wasn't invited: https://cleantechnica.com/2021/08/05/u-s-secretary-of-transportation-pete-buttigieg-on-why-tesla-was-excluded-from-white-house-ev-event/ https://cleantechnica.com/2021/08/05/u-s-secretary-of-transp... If it was a UAW event, perhaps he should have called it that and not the "EV Summit". Elon Musk has every right to be annoyed that he was not invited to such an event, although he has taken it 100x too far. But Elon Musk isn't a public official and Biden is the president. He has public duties. He ought to have been smart enough not to snub the richest man in the world, who rightfully should have been invited, over a stupid PR event.
BHSPitMonkey 2y ago
To what end is the government obligated to "notice" Starship? It's not enough that its FAA works with SpaceX to get launches certified (and coordinate air/sea restrictions, etc.), its NASA has already agreed to fund part of Starship's development (and be its first customer with a historic crewed mission) / routinely flies Falcon missions like Europa Clipper this week, and its DOD is a huge customer? I see no reason for a government agency to do media for an event outside one of their missions. Edit: Plus, here is NASA Administrator Bill Nelson publicly congratulating SpaceX after the catch anyway: https://x.com/SenBillNelson/status/1845461454977196294 https://x.com/SenBillNelson/status/1845461454977196294

everybodyknows 2y ago

One way to read the delay was that the technical teams were working against a deadline clock that started as soon as the vehicle landed, to analyze and propose remedies for the thruster failures and helium leaks. And now they've hit that deadline, having found no good fixes.

verzali 2y ago
I suspect it's more at a program level. Boeing have lost a lot of money on Starliner, may lose a lot more, and already seem lukewarm on continuing with the project. It's actually NASA that's keener on keeping it running, so that they are not entirely dependent on SpaceX for human spaceflight.
- justinclift 2y ago
  NASA might need to redo the tender for the 2nd supplier of crewed missions, regardless of the (even further) reputational hit to Boeing.
  - Tuna-Fish 2y ago
    ISS is not going to stay up there for long enough for a new second supplier to make sense.
    - justinclift 2y ago
      That doesn't seem right. It's supposed to be up there through to 2030+, and the point of a 2nd supplier is just to ensure there aren't any blocker level problems if a single supplier has issues.
elintknower 2y ago
Yes, because they're an inferior option to supply launch services to the ISS. Stop apologizing for a company that let their standards slip and endangered the lives of multiple astronauts not to mention wasting billions of tax payer dollars.

thot_experiment 2y ago

I wish I had any idea on how to deal with the Elon situation. I genuinely believe SpaceX wouldn't be achieving nearly what it is without him, but he's obviously also going way off the deep end these days and it's uncomfortable to watch one man with that much power getting increasingly unhinged. It's something I constantly wonder about, I strongly believe we should be taxing the absolute shit out of people and working hard to flatten society, but I also worry that we need insane people in power sometimes to get stuff done. Starship (hell, even F9) is an astonishing achievement and there's zero chance that innovation would be possible anywhere except SpaceX or another entity with very strong leadership (Valve or Steve Jobs' Apple if they made rockets)

Mistletoe 2y ago
https://www.reuters.com/technology/spacex-employees-denounce-ceo-musk-distraction-letter-2022-06-16/ https://www.reuters.com/technology/spacex-employees-denounce... https://www.businessinsider.com/spacex-employees-elon-musk-focus-twitter-ceo-2023-1 https://www.businessinsider.com/spacex-employees-elon-musk-f... >SpaceX employees say they are relieved Elon Musk is focused on Twitter because there is a calmer work environment at the rocket company He sounds like that kind of boss we have all had where you actively avoid interacting with him because his ideas will be stupid and get your project off track. I think SpaceX succeeds despite having to deal with current Elon.
- seizethecheese 2y ago
  Having read the Isaacson biography, Elon’s management style is essentially to be hands off then show up in “surges” of extreme work. It makes sense that most people would be happy when surges end. There’s also essentially zero chance his organizations succeed in spite of him. This is just wishful ignorance.
  - larkost 2y ago
    What evidence do you offer that there is no chance of SpaceX succeeding in spite of Elon Musk? I really don't have enough detailed knowledge about his actual contributions to the various companies he runs. But given the sheer number of projects at the companies he runs I don't find it hard to believe that he is largely not responsible for the technical successes. Again, I have no evidence for it, but it would not be hard to believe. Do you have anything other than faith for that statement?

numpad0 2y ago

It's not just "the gov". Elon was a controversial figure just last year, but now the entire Internet is giving Musk-related everything a transparent child treatment. It's almost unsettling how fast the hype is going down.

bufferoverflow 2y ago

Our current administration is damaging to the country. This anti-Musk insanity started pretty early when Biden invited all EV companies to the EV summit, except Tesla. Which, at that time produced more EVs combined than the rest. And now people are wondering why Musk doesn't like current administration. What a mystery.

treflop 2y ago
This is some conspiracy BS. Why would Tesla have been invited to a summit that was primarily centered around United Auto Workers? Tesla is non-union. “EV” was only a pretext. The summit didn’t invite any non-US carmakers, who also make EVs. It was an event about UAW. Everyone invited was UAW. The administration even said as much: https://cleantechnica.com/2021/08/05/white-house-answers-why-tesla-wasnt-invited-to-united-auto-workers-ev-event/amp/ https://cleantechnica.com/2021/08/05/white-house-answers-why...
- skellington 2y ago
  We know that. The problem was the theater. Biden praising GM for "leading" in the EV space when they are so many years behind Tesla. Even now they sell a tiny fraction of the EVs. UAW will be the reason why the big 3 are all bankrupt in 10 years.
- fallingknife 2y ago
  That excuse was made up after the fact. They didn't even have their message straight. One of the links in the article is about Pete Buttigieg giving a totally different explanation as to why Tesla wasn't invited: https://cleantechnica.com/2021/08/05/u-s-secretary-of-transportation-pete-buttigieg-on-why-tesla-was-excluded-from-white-house-ev-event/ https://cleantechnica.com/2021/08/05/u-s-secretary-of-transp... If it was a UAW event, perhaps he should have called it that and not the "EV Summit". Elon Musk has every right to be annoyed that he was not invited to such an event, although he has taken it 100x too far. But Elon Musk isn't a public official and Biden is the president. He has public duties. He ought to have been smart enough not to snub the richest man in the world, who rightfully should have been invited, over a stupid PR event.

BHSPitMonkey 2y ago

To what end is the government obligated to "notice" Starship? It's not enough that its FAA works with SpaceX to get launches certified (and coordinate air/sea restrictions, etc.), its NASA has already agreed to fund part of Starship's development (and be its first customer with a historic crewed mission) / routinely flies Falcon missions like Europa Clipper this week, and its DOD is a huge customer? I see no reason for a government agency to do media for an event outside one of their missions. Edit: Plus, here is NASA Administrator Bill Nelson publicly congratulating SpaceX after the catch anyway: https://x.com/SenBillNelson/status/1845461454977196294 https://x.com/SenBillNelson/status/1845461454977196294