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I argue that he's literally showing us how high we can go with SpaceX.

by knicholes 2y ago

Henchman21 2y ago
With SpaceX? Or Ketamine??
- ilikehurdles 2y ago
  I think you’re showing us how low someone can go alright.
  - Henchman21 2y ago
    I'm sorry, but calling out someone visible and public substance abuse problem isn't low. As someone who has dealt with addiction and its fallout since I was a very small child, I can emphatically say the man needs help first and foremost. But, as the wealthiest man on the planet he's more likely to just be given what he wants: more self-indulgence. When you surround yourself with yes-men and sycophants, actual help isn't likely. Further, it's entirely right to call this out when his actions impact the rest of the world greatly and the man has obvious problems. To then try and turn it around on me as if I'd done something wrong by pointing out the Emperor has no clothes? Well, I could offer you some choice words, but I'll hold my tongue. However, in my estimation, you could do with some self-reflection and probably a bit less "taste of boot on your tongue".
calmworm 2y ago
In what way though? I’ve yet to see anything that rivals any accomplishments by NASA. Or were you being punny?
- knicholes 2y ago
  No, you're right. NASA has already shown that we can go past our solar system, so... His company has done some really awesome stuff with the ships/rockets, though.
- bloppe 2y ago
  Did you not watch them land the starship? That's easily the biggest space-faring accomplishment since Apollo, and certainly not something NASA could replicate in the foreseeable future. Speaking of the moon, NASA's SLS is projected to cost several orders of magnitude more than a super heavy launch, and is only aiming for the moon as opposed to Mars. If there's one place that Doge could really, actually stop a lot of waste and fraud, it's at NASA. Of course, that would be the conflict of interest par excellence, and face a bunch of opposition from red-state congressmen with huge contracts in their constituencies. Objectively speaking, though, it's a huge waste of taxpayer money.
  - ks2048 2y ago
    > If there's one place that Doge could really, actually stop a lot of waste and fraud, it's at NASA. At 0.3% of the federal budget - if NASA was 100% waste, fixing it wouldn’t make a dent.
  - bumby 2y ago
    NASA/DoD did lay some of the groundwork. DC-X was a vertical landing rocket meant for reuse nearly 35 years ago. Granted SpaceX has done amazing things that are more difficult (DC-X was suborbital), but I tend to think if NASA continued they would have got there. From my perspective, SpaceX’s major benefit is they don’t have to follow the same rules as NASA so they can do things quicker and/or cheaper. The “waste” is really just a different risk tolerance. You could make many of the NASA requirements go away, but nobody wants to be the one who signs up for that when the next disaster happens.
    - platybubsy 2y ago
      The waste does not at all stem only from different risk tolerances. SpaceX launches NASA astronauts which means that they also need to comply to the same standards. Pork barrel projects like SLS is the real reason why everything NASA does is so expensive and late. The statement that NASA would have achieved reuse eventually is weird considering that NASA still exists today, 35 years later, without succeeding.

I argue that he's literally showing us how high we can go with SpaceX.

Henchman21 2y ago

With SpaceX? Or Ketamine??

ilikehurdles 2y ago
I think you’re showing us how low someone can go alright.
- Henchman21 2y ago
  I'm sorry, but calling out someone visible and public substance abuse problem isn't low. As someone who has dealt with addiction and its fallout since I was a very small child, I can emphatically say the man needs help first and foremost. But, as the wealthiest man on the planet he's more likely to just be given what he wants: more self-indulgence. When you surround yourself with yes-men and sycophants, actual help isn't likely. Further, it's entirely right to call this out when his actions impact the rest of the world greatly and the man has obvious problems. To then try and turn it around on me as if I'd done something wrong by pointing out the Emperor has no clothes? Well, I could offer you some choice words, but I'll hold my tongue. However, in my estimation, you could do with some self-reflection and probably a bit less "taste of boot on your tongue".

calmworm 2y ago

In what way though? I’ve yet to see anything that rivals any accomplishments by NASA. Or were you being punny?

knicholes 2y ago
No, you're right. NASA has already shown that we can go past our solar system, so... His company has done some really awesome stuff with the ships/rockets, though.
bloppe 2y ago
Did you not watch them land the starship? That's easily the biggest space-faring accomplishment since Apollo, and certainly not something NASA could replicate in the foreseeable future. Speaking of the moon, NASA's SLS is projected to cost several orders of magnitude more than a super heavy launch, and is only aiming for the moon as opposed to Mars. If there's one place that Doge could really, actually stop a lot of waste and fraud, it's at NASA. Of course, that would be the conflict of interest par excellence, and face a bunch of opposition from red-state congressmen with huge contracts in their constituencies. Objectively speaking, though, it's a huge waste of taxpayer money.
- ks2048 2y ago
  > If there's one place that Doge could really, actually stop a lot of waste and fraud, it's at NASA. At 0.3% of the federal budget - if NASA was 100% waste, fixing it wouldn’t make a dent.
- bumby 2y ago
  NASA/DoD did lay some of the groundwork. DC-X was a vertical landing rocket meant for reuse nearly 35 years ago. Granted SpaceX has done amazing things that are more difficult (DC-X was suborbital), but I tend to think if NASA continued they would have got there. From my perspective, SpaceX’s major benefit is they don’t have to follow the same rules as NASA so they can do things quicker and/or cheaper. The “waste” is really just a different risk tolerance. You could make many of the NASA requirements go away, but nobody wants to be the one who signs up for that when the next disaster happens.
  - platybubsy 2y ago
    The waste does not at all stem only from different risk tolerances. SpaceX launches NASA astronauts which means that they also need to comply to the same standards. Pork barrel projects like SLS is the real reason why everything NASA does is so expensive and late. The statement that NASA would have achieved reuse eventually is weird considering that NASA still exists today, 35 years later, without succeeding.