Elon Musk and his rocket 🚀

[m3t4tr0n]

Damn you Expat. Your job sounds amazing. I'm very jealous. NASA's explanation for not going back to the moon is lack of financial benefit. Musk has said many times he doesn't need any more financial benefit, so why has he not just copied 1969 and landed? If he could, I can't help thinking he would.

So, when the US decided to stop going to the moon, the whole system dried up. Its not that we don't know how to build a Saturn 5, its that the whole industry/production lines and the industries supporting it, all the companies that made all the components, the machining, the tools, the whole lot was stopped ... they used the rest of the parts they had as best as they could in things like skylab, but after that, production lines stopped, workers were re-assigned ... nobody was paying people to make Saturn 5 components any more and the industries involved moved onto other things. Starting all that up again from scratch would be pointless because, as has been suggested, technology has moved on a lot since then ... simply trying to re-start the saturn 5 industry wouldn't help anyone.

Space-x are trying to develop an entirely new, completely rapidly reusable system to take large amounts of payload into space and onto the moon and mars. Saturn 5 had a massive flaw, it was a single use system. It flew once and thats it. Starship is designed to be completely reuseable time and time again. Everything about it is new and unproven and in very early prototype stages.

 

[m3t4tr0n]

Musk is a complete t1t but I do find the achievements of SpaceX captivating.

Completely and totally this. I constantly have to fight my intense dislike for the billionaire man-baby with my obsessive geek like interest in massive and complex engineering projects, rockets, space and technological leaps. I frequently have to separate the two in my head. If you have any interest in mega engineering at all, watching the development of starship has been pretty amazing.

 

[HarryVegas]

He's an utter t*t. All that cash, countless people on the planet not able to eat and he decides to w**k his billions into a Dr Evil vanity project. It's obscene imo.

 

[m3t4tr0n]

He's an utter t*t. All that cash, countless people on the planet not able to eat and he decides to w**k his billions into a Dr Evil vanity project. It's obscene imo.

I can't disagree in the slightest. I don't think billionaires should even be a thing. If I had my choice, we'd all be working together to improve lives for everyone, obscene capitalism would be consigned to the dustbin, everyone would have food on their table, a roof over their head, education, healthcare and we would be watching humanity work together to achieve amazing things in all areas, including space.

Sadly I don't live in that universe.

 

[Randy]

He's an utter t*t. All that cash, countless people on the planet not able to eat and he decides to w**k his billions into a Dr Evil vanity project. It's obscene imo.

Or...

He's working on making a base on the moon and Mars and then further afield to extend the lifespan of the human race (along with the the financial rewards that go with it)?

The planet will become uninhabitable for humans at some point, the Earth has a lifespan.

Plus isn't it the job of world leaders to make sure it's peoples aren't hungry not a billionaire?

 

[HarryVegas]

Or...

He's working on making a base on the moon and Mars and then further afield to extend the lifespan of the human race (along with the the financial rewards that go with it)?

The planet will become uninhabitable for humans at some point, the Earth has a lifespan.

Plus isn't it the job of world leaders to make sure it's peoples aren't hungry not a billionaire?

A billionaire who has taken full advantage of a system rigged to give him maximum profit. You may be happy with people being obscenely rich while others starve, but I'm not.

 

[ThePrisoner]

Anything over clearing the launch tower was really a success, they surpassed that and even hit max Q on a total prototype that's never flown before. Spacex are following an iterative design process, it's messier, but faster and arguably cheaper. They got a shedload of data and the next one which is already a massive upgrade is ready to go. The only downside of the mission today was how much the damage to the launch site is going to set them back ... They may regret not having a flame diverter and proper water suppression system.

It was obvious that the launch pad was going to be obliterated, even to a casual observer. Why did they not do a proper flame trench and water suppression? Money? Time?

 

[Liamo]

With his billions and modern tech can't even get get into space. Makes you wonder how they managed to land on the moon some 50 years ago...

Not sure what you're talking about. SpaceX launched 61 successful missions into space in 2022, including numerous manned missions, some taking astronauts to the International Space Station.

This was the first test of an entirely new launch vehicle prototype and was not expected to make it much beyond the launch pad in the first place.

 

[Randy]

A billionaire who has taken full advantage of a system rigged to give him maximum profit. You may be happy with people being obscenely rich while others starve, but I'm not.

Is what it is isn't it?

Since the dawn of time there have been those with lots of things, some with some things and some with no things.

Is it as basic as?

Rich man - bad
Poor man - good

 

[m3t4tr0n]

It was obvious that the launch pad was going to be obliterated, even to a casual observer. Why did they not do a proper flame trench and water suppression? Money? Time?

Basically it's related to the iterative design process and philosophy they use. They have a principle that the best part is no part and also they have one eye on the future ... It is, for example, something entirely different to have to build such a thing on mars (not that super heavy will every be required on Mars) .... this whole system is a development process they are learning as they go about what is and what isn't possible. They have said if they're not adding things back in, then they're not deleting enough. It's real first principles stuff on everything.

Still, everyone else said they'd need one .

Hopefully its not going to set them back too far rebuilding stage 0. It's possible its not as bad as it initially seems but we'll find out in due course how much of a mistake that was.

 

[Cambsred]

Basically it's related to the iterative design process and philosophy they use. They have a principle that the best part is no part and also they have one eye on the future ... It is, for example, something entirely different to have to build such a thing on mars (not that super heavy will every be required on Mars) .... this whole system is a development process they are learning as they go about what is and what isn't possible. They have said if they're not adding things back in, then they're not deleting enough. It's real first principles stuff on everything.

Still, everyone else said they'd need one .

Hopefully its not going to set them back too far rebuilding stage 0. It's possible its not as bad as it initially seems but we'll find out in due course how much of a mistake that was.

Its quite a fascinating process and start point. To know you'll probably need something but refusing it as its not been identified in testing.

I wonder how much it has saved and streamlined in other areas. Amazing.