afgasgbui

6 ms·

1.
by afgasgbui 5y ago
Yup! The Saturn V cost $5k per kg to LEO. Best case, SpaceX has a ~2x savings over the tech we had in the 1960s . The Soyuz 2.1a is competitively priced and it's still launching, though we can't really compare since we only know
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by afgasgbui 5y ago
The latter, of course. Launch prices have been fairly consistent for about 50 years. Promising a sudden 20x cost reduction over SpaceX's already exaggerated figures without any real innovation is ludicrous.
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by afgasgbui 5y ago
>So far I've seen them achieve everything they set out to achieve. They built competitive rockets. That's a big deal and I don't wish to diminish that. They promised magic 99% cost savings and are nowhere close.
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by afgasgbui 5y ago
I used to be confused by SpaceX marketing. Why do they talk about 90%+ cost reduction per KG to LEO? Maybe the general public will fall for it, but the general public doesn't often launch satellites. The actual experts will just laugh
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by afgasgbui 5y ago
I guarantee you the tank is yuge compared to what you'd find in a normal car. All airplanes have big tanks.
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by afgasgbui 5y ago
Commercial aircraft are the safest mode of transportation. Small aircraft, on the other hand, are deathtraps.
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by afgasgbui 5y ago
The world records for efficiency are here: https://www.fai.org/records?f%5B0%5D=field_type_of_record%3A... The world record for the 1000-1750kg weight class is about 16 miles per gallon. That is burning jet fuel rather th
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by afgasgbui 5y ago
This very topic has, unsurprisingly, been the subject of debate for a long time. You might want to read this: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/repugnant-conclusion >no societal problems are solved by adding more T
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by afgasgbui 5y ago
I was talking about fuel consumption. Most small aircraft run on normal gasoline, but they usually get the equivalent of 10-15 mpg. The Cessna 172, for instance, gets the equivalent of 13 miles per gallon. This vehicle will be worse than th
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by afgasgbui 5y ago
>It is considered a potential solution to the strain on existing transport infrastructures. I'm pretty sure the solution to traffic is not more cars. Getting a pilot's license costs some $20,000. Fuel costs for small aircraft a
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by afgasgbui 5y ago
A lot of people, even around here, are bored of obviously money-losing startups and cryptocurrencies. What is there to say?
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by afgasgbui 5y ago
Terrible article. It's been decades since anyone has taken Malthusianism -- the naïve version discussed in this article -- seriously. It was never the scientific consensus that we would see mass starvation from overpopulation. "