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Yeah, maybe too high "controversial" score if that's a thing here. Musk related stories tend to attract crazy people raging about fabricated "hate" and downvoti

Yeah, maybe too high "controversial" score if that's a thing here. Musk related stories tend to attract crazy people raging about fabricated "hate" and downvoting "anti-Musk" wherever Reddit-style voting system exists. But it's insane that Starship experimental launches were once more popular than how Apple M3 is right now as recent as few months ago, and now it's less popular than Nissan R35 GT-R being discontinued or even "Automatically tagging politician when they use their phone on the livestreams" article. Even if it had been actually manipulated, there should be a lot more comments here through search and inflows from other social media, if there _were_ public interest for it. It's the biggest flying object on Earth, in a while and for a while. And it's getting just 30 or so comments. It's insane.

alextingle 2y ago
Well, this one was much like the last one, and less interesting than the one before that. I'm pretty sure that if/when they manage a test that demonstrates a significant step forwards, then the interest will return.
tim333 2y ago
I, and probably other people, are less enthusiastic about Musk projects since his recent antics. Also it's a bit similar to the last flight. (Re the antics see for example a Tesla story - 537 comments https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43170090 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43170090 and personally I'm not keen on his Ukraine stuff eg https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2025/2/21/musk-vows-to-fix-x-after-polls-show-high-support-for-ukraines-zelenskyy https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2025/2/21/musk-vows-to-fix...)
- pcardoso 2y ago
  I feel the same. I love space and used to love what SpaceX is doing but Musk made it a lot less appealing. Will still read about it but watching a live stream for hours? Forget about it. I also like EVs and I have been close to getting a Tesla for a number of times but didn't yet, and at this rate, probably won't get one at all. In my view, Musk turned quickly from a goofy geeky optimist to down-right repugnant. Not interested in any of his business.
senordevnyc 2y ago
Might get downvoted for saying this, but I've gone from being a Musk admirer a decade ago to now genuinely hoping that Starship fails. SpaceX is an incredible company in many ways, but I don't think anything they're doing is worth making Musk more powerful than he already is. If his downfall means we also have to give up SpaceX and Tesla and whatever else, so be it. We'll live.
- roeles 2y ago
  Think about the consequences for companies that rely on the now reduced cost per KG to orbit. Should SpaceX disappear, other companies will also perish.
  - pcardoso 2y ago
    In the short term yes, but I think other companies/countries would get there eventually. Not that landing rockets is easy, but proving it could be done was the hardest part.
  - numpad0 2y ago
    Isn't Falcon 9 public pricing slightly more expensive than JAXA/MHI H-IIA? SpaceX doesn't disclose true cost, but they're not even 2x cheaper than some competition. They're within same ballpark at government scale. Of course, SS/SH is supposed to change the equation completely, but as it stands...
  - senordevnyc 2y ago
    So be it.
- skissane 2y ago
  > but I don't think anything they're doing is worth making Musk more powerful than he already is A lot of Musk's "power" is simply the fact that Trump listens to him. Trump may at some point decide to stop listening. And even if he doesn't, in four more years Trump won't be President any more (ignoring any possible attempt at a third term, which frankly I think is very unlikely). Even assuming a Republican wins again in 2028 (far from guaranteed), will that Republican (whoever they may be) listen to Musk anywhere near as much as Trump does? Power is fleeting. Take away Trump, and what power does Musk have? Okay, he's a centibillionaire and CEO of a couple of major companies... how is that hugely different from what Zuckerberg or Bezos have? And he owns a social media network... Zuckerberg does too – and Zuckerberg's network has 10 times the user base, 60 times the revenue... SpaceX gives Musk a lot of influence over the US space program - but that isn't readily transferrable to other domains. The kind of power he recently seems to have been wielding over unrelated parts of the US government has nothing to do with SpaceX, it is all about his personal friendship with the President and his donations to the President – which in principle any other centibillionaire could have done – it is just they weren't trying, or not as hard, or maybe they were but didn't have the same luck

alextingle 2y ago

Well, this one was much like the last one, and less interesting than the one before that. I'm pretty sure that if/when they manage a test that demonstrates a significant step forwards, then the interest will return.

tim333 2y ago

I, and probably other people, are less enthusiastic about Musk projects since his recent antics. Also it's a bit similar to the last flight. (Re the antics see for example a Tesla story - 537 comments https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43170090 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43170090 and personally I'm not keen on his Ukraine stuff eg https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2025/2/21/musk-vows-to-fix-x-after-polls-show-high-support-for-ukraines-zelenskyy https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2025/2/21/musk-vows-to-fix...)

pcardoso 2y ago
I feel the same. I love space and used to love what SpaceX is doing but Musk made it a lot less appealing. Will still read about it but watching a live stream for hours? Forget about it. I also like EVs and I have been close to getting a Tesla for a number of times but didn't yet, and at this rate, probably won't get one at all. In my view, Musk turned quickly from a goofy geeky optimist to down-right repugnant. Not interested in any of his business.

senordevnyc 2y ago

Might get downvoted for saying this, but I've gone from being a Musk admirer a decade ago to now genuinely hoping that Starship fails. SpaceX is an incredible company in many ways, but I don't think anything they're doing is worth making Musk more powerful than he already is. If his downfall means we also have to give up SpaceX and Tesla and whatever else, so be it. We'll live.

roeles 2y ago
Think about the consequences for companies that rely on the now reduced cost per KG to orbit. Should SpaceX disappear, other companies will also perish.
- pcardoso 2y ago
  In the short term yes, but I think other companies/countries would get there eventually. Not that landing rockets is easy, but proving it could be done was the hardest part.
- numpad0 2y ago
  Isn't Falcon 9 public pricing slightly more expensive than JAXA/MHI H-IIA? SpaceX doesn't disclose true cost, but they're not even 2x cheaper than some competition. They're within same ballpark at government scale. Of course, SS/SH is supposed to change the equation completely, but as it stands...
- senordevnyc 2y ago
  So be it.
skissane 2y ago
> but I don't think anything they're doing is worth making Musk more powerful than he already is A lot of Musk's "power" is simply the fact that Trump listens to him. Trump may at some point decide to stop listening. And even if he doesn't, in four more years Trump won't be President any more (ignoring any possible attempt at a third term, which frankly I think is very unlikely). Even assuming a Republican wins again in 2028 (far from guaranteed), will that Republican (whoever they may be) listen to Musk anywhere near as much as Trump does? Power is fleeting. Take away Trump, and what power does Musk have? Okay, he's a centibillionaire and CEO of a couple of major companies... how is that hugely different from what Zuckerberg or Bezos have? And he owns a social media network... Zuckerberg does too – and Zuckerberg's network has 10 times the user base, 60 times the revenue... SpaceX gives Musk a lot of influence over the US space program - but that isn't readily transferrable to other domains. The kind of power he recently seems to have been wielding over unrelated parts of the US government has nothing to do with SpaceX, it is all about his personal friendship with the President and his donations to the President – which in principle any other centibillionaire could have done – it is just they weren't trying, or not as hard, or maybe they were but didn't have the same luck