SpaceX (general discussion)

kitnut617, since I've never watched Top Gear, I'll have to take your word for that particular comparison being uncalled for...:)
 
martinbayer said:
I fully recognize and acknowledge that Musk is a brilliant, driven visionary who is revolutionizing the aerospace industry (and potentially others, like automotive, as well, though the jury is still out on that - by the way I *wholeheartedly* share his utter disdain for publicly traded companies), but at the same time that doesn't mean that I feel compelled to turn a blind eye to his personality deficiencies, which are well documented. Exceedingly few people fall at either extreme end of the spectrum between saints and villains when it comes to treating fellow human beings, but based on his track record (once again, I highly recommend reading his biography by Ashlee Vance) he seems to fairly consistently behave like a jerk in his personal, professional and business relationships. And anyone who professes to believe that they live in a computer simulation might benefit from seeking professional help anyway...
Click to expand...

I'm on the second read of the Musk biography authored by Vance.

As to your pointing out Musk's 'personality deficiencies': God bless the weird and often wonderful abnormal brain wiring of those people in history that made a difference to the good side of the ledger.

Boss men fire people, part of the job description; horny meat-eaters go through wives and lovers like popcorn; inventors often will challenge and even violate the 'laws of God!'; Investors plow through start-ups and discard them when utility is either not demonstrated or the ideas explored found non-productive.

Big dogs eat small dogs. This particular big dog will get us to Mars, will change the face of terrestrial transport, and improve the human condition. I forgive him his (many?) flaws.

Not bad work for an African-American. Move over, Edison.

David
fan-boy without portfolio
 
It would seem we have reached an impasse - to me being brilliant and successful simply does *not* excuse being a jerk. Apparently a fundamental difference of opinion.
 
Last edited:
martinbayer said:
And anyone who professes to believe that they live in a computer simulation might benefit from seeking professional help anyway...
Click to expand...

"might". Lots of people think we might live in a simulation, including a lot of scientists. Should they seek professional help as well? How is the idea of a simulation crazier than the notion of the entire universe spontaneously exploding from a single infinitesimal point?
 
I do indeed think that many might benefit from doing so. The simple reason why the idea of a simulation is crazier than the notion of the entire universe spontaneously exploding from a single infinitesimal point is that this here being a simulation *presupposes* a highly advanced civilization that itself lives in a universe spontaneously exploding from a single infinitesimal point and then promptly felt compelled to start a simulation thereof. Or alternatively, *that* civilization itself lives in yet another simulation, and so on, and so forth - well, you get the point. Occam's razor still works nicely, thank you...
 
Last edited:
Can we please come back to the topic, which is Space X and not a psychological analysis of its founder?
 
Elon tweeted that the test was aborted due to a higher than expected chamber pressure, arising due to colder-than-expected fuel. The SpaceX livestream ended ~5 minutes after the abort, saying that they were done streaming for the day, but following the abort they decided not to de-tank and instead recycled, fueled back up and were very, very close to an ignition at about 9:30-10:00PM (they even had a SpaceX camera drone orbiting for an anticipated launch) but didn't go through with it (might have been some strange readings in a sensor or some ambiguity to the hopper's readiness), and so it was scrubbed at about 10:30PM (their launch window closed at 11:00PM).

The chances of the hop happening within the next 24 hours are looking pretty high at this point.
 
martinbayer said:
I fully recognize and acknowledge that Musk is a brilliant, driven visionary who is revolutionizing the aerospace industry (and potentially others, like automotive, as well, though the jury is still out on that - by the way I *wholeheartedly* share his utter disdain for publicly traded companies), but at the same time that doesn't mean that I feel compelled to turn a blind eye to his personality deficiencies, which are well documented. Exceedingly few people fall at either extreme end of the spectrum between saints and villains when it comes to treating fellow human beings, but based on his track record (once again, I highly recommend reading his biography by Ashlee Vance) he seems to fairly consistently behave like a jerk in his personal, professional and business relationships. And anyone who professes to believe that they live in a computer simulation might benefit from seeking professional help anyway...
Click to expand...

One of the worst things online are those who engage in armchair psychological analysis of others especially when that person is famous. Which is what you are engaging in here.
 
Flyaway said:
martinbayer said:
I fully recognize and acknowledge that Musk is a brilliant, driven visionary who is revolutionizing the aerospace industry (and potentially others, like automotive, as well, though the jury is still out on that - by the way I *wholeheartedly* share his utter disdain for publicly traded companies), but at the same time that doesn't mean that I feel compelled to turn a blind eye to his personality deficiencies, which are well documented. Exceedingly few people fall at either extreme end of the spectrum between saints and villains when it comes to treating fellow human beings, but based on his track record (once again, I highly recommend reading his biography by Ashlee Vance) he seems to fairly consistently behave like a jerk in his personal, professional and business relationships. And anyone who professes to believe that they live in a computer simulation might benefit from seeking professional help anyway...
Click to expand...

One of the worst things online are those who engage in armchair psychological analysis of others especially when that person is famous. Which is what you are engaging in here.
Click to expand...
I continue to recommend to read his biography, which is based on research and interviews. I reserve and make active use of the right to form and voice my opinion on anybody that openly admits to believing they live in a computer simulation.
 
Last edited:
martinbayer said:
Flyaway said:
martinbayer said:
I fully recognize and acknowledge that Musk is a brilliant, driven visionary who is revolutionizing the aerospace industry (and potentially others, like automotive, as well, though the jury is still out on that - by the way I *wholeheartedly* share his utter disdain for publicly traded companies), but at the same time that doesn't mean that I feel compelled to turn a blind eye to his personality deficiencies, which are well documented. Exceedingly few people fall at either extreme end of the spectrum between saints and villains when it comes to treating fellow human beings, but based on his track record (once again, I highly recommend reading his biography by Ashlee Vance) he seems to fairly consistently behave like a jerk in his personal, professional and business relationships. And anyone who professes to believe that they live in a computer simulation might benefit from seeking professional help anyway...
Click to expand...

One of the worst things online are those who engage in armchair psychological analysis of others especially when that person is famous. Which is what you are engaging in here.
Click to expand...
I continue to recommend to read his biography, which is based on research and interviews. I reserve and make active use of the right to form and voice my opinion on anybody that openly admits to believing they live in a computer simulation.
Click to expand...

And I reserve the right to totally ignore your armchair amateur psychiatrist act.
 
Flyaway said:
And I reserve the right to totally ignore your armchair amateur psychiatrist act.
Click to expand...

Tesla was quite a kook too. By all accounts, Isaac Newton was a nasty piece of work, and he was obsessed with alchemy and numerology, and as Master of the Royal Mint, he was rather too assiduous, and lethal in his pursuit of real and alleged forgers (but he was fond of cats). The relevance of this to his work on calculus and gravity is insignificant. Furthermore, Caravaggio was a murderer, Steve Jobs was a real jerk, Dmitri Shostakovich was a chain-smoker and frequently sarcastic, Werner von Braun has a song by Tom Lehrer and a performance by Peter Sellers to describe his moral ambiguities, Isambard Brunel was photographed wearing muddy trousers. This is all very interesting to biographers - but great or small, these sins are not of interest here, Shirley.
 
Rhinocrates said:
Flyaway said:
And I reserve the right to totally ignore your armchair amateur psychiatrist act.
Click to expand...

Tesla was quite a kook too. By all accounts, Isaac Newton was a nasty piece of work, and he was obsessed with alchemy and numerology, and as Master of the Royal Mint, he was rather too assiduous, and lethal in his pursuit of real and alleged forgers (but he was fond of cats). The relevance of this to his work on calculus and gravity is insignificant. Furthermore, Caravaggio was a murderer, Steve Jobs was a real jerk, Dmitri Shostakovich was a chain-smoker and frequently sarcastic, Werner von Braun has a song by Tom Lehrer and a performance by Peter Sellers to describe his moral ambiguities, Isambard Brunel was photographed wearing muddy trousers. This is all very interesting to biographers - but great or small, these sins are not of interest here, Shirley.
Click to expand...

In my view all this sort of stuff should be off topic for discussion on this forum.
 
Rhinocrates said:
Flyaway said:
And I reserve the right to totally ignore your armchair amateur psychiatrist act.
Click to expand...

Tesla was quite a kook too. By all accounts, Isaac Newton was a nasty piece of work, and he was obsessed with alchemy and numerology, and as Master of the Royal Mint, he was rather too assiduous, and lethal in his pursuit of real and alleged forgers (but he was fond of cats). The relevance of this to his work on calculus and gravity is insignificant. Furthermore, Caravaggio was a murderer, Steve Jobs was a real jerk, Dmitri Shostakovich was a chain-smoker and frequently sarcastic, Werner von Braun has a song by Tom Lehrer and a performance by Peter Sellers to describe his moral ambiguities, Isambard Brunel was photographed wearing muddy trousers. This is all very interesting to biographers - but great or small, these sins are not of interest here, Shirley.
Click to expand...

Emmanuel Kant was a real pissant who was very rarely stable... lmao
 
Oh Ray Bradbury, how we miss you... The Martian Chronicles, chapter 1.

ROCKET SUMMER

Chapter One

One minute it was Ohio winter, with doors closed, windows locked, the panes blind with frost, icicles fringing every roof, children skiing on slopes, housewives lumbering like great black bears in their furs along the icy streets.

And then a long wave of warmth crossed the small town. A flooding sea of hot air; it seemed as if someone had left a bakery door open. The heat pulsed among the cottages and bushes and children. The icicles dropped, shattering, to melt. The doors flew open. The windows flew up. The children worked off their wool clothes. The housewives shed their bear disguises. The snow dissolved and showed last summer's ancient green lawns.

Rocket summer. The words passed among the people in the open, airing houses. Rocket summer. The warm desert air changing the frost patterns on the windows, erasing the art work. The skis and sleds suddenly useless. The snow, falling from the cold sky upon the town, turned to a hot rain before it touched the ground.

Rocket summer. People leaned from their dripping porches and watched the reddening sky.

The rocket lay on the launching field, blowing out pink clouds of fire and oven heat. The rocket stood in the cold winter morning, making summer with every breath of its mighty exhausts. The rocket made climates, and summer lay for a brief moment upon the land....
Click to expand...
 
Rhinocrates said:
Tesla was quite a kook too. By all accounts, Isaac Newton was a nasty piece of work,....
Click to expand...

And so on and so forth. Western Civilization, certainly American Civilization, is currently mired in an era when it is fashionable to take a look at Great Works and focus not on the positives, but to *obsess* over the negatives, going so far as to harp on the personal failings of the men, centuries dead, who helped make it happen. I am just old enough to remember when fictionalized biographies of famous people such as the Founding Fathers were virtual hagiographies, turning the likes of Washington and Jefferson into virtual Greek demigods. Now people want to rename everything, paint over all the murals, tear down the statues, dump all of history into the memory hole. This will not end well.

So Musk has quirks. Perhaps he's even a jerk. SO FRIGGEN' WHAT. Stack up his positives (funding Tesla, forming and supporting SpaceX, etc.), then do a rational comparison with his negatives (he's odd, he's weird, he's lacking in social graces, he keeps going on about the patently absurd Hyperloop, etc.). By any rational metric, SpaceX *alone* far outweighs the sum total of his negatives.
 
Last edited:
I am amazed that they are built vertically instead of horizontally and then erected. Of course the inherent savings in structural weight could be the main reason and that would fit perfectly with Elon pushing multiple teams to compete against each other to perfect workmanship.
Sorry if that has been discussed already.
 

Similar threads

Please donate to support the forum.

Back
Top Bottom