Nightside

Mars Scorecard Humans: 0 Robots: +1 Martians: ???

Why peanuts? (I do have some, don't worry)

It my DIY version of this:

Double streaming https://www.nasa.gov/nasalive backed with:

The closest I've ever come to being squished was a time I stopped for a long yellow light, just before it turned red. A fast semi with trailer had to swerve around my right going at least 40 mph. I think in terms of risk mitigation strategy for an AI, simpler will be better. As in: IF roadway is blocked THEN stop quickly. Even with fast reactions, fancy maneuvers are probably going to get you in a more complicated situation.

Do we know how much that mass simulator weighs?

Yep. But do we expect the CoM to really be that high? What is the expected dry mass and payload these days?

This is a good point. A wider stance certainly gives a better margin of error on horizontal movement that would cause tipping. It would be interesting to know how high the center of mass is at landing. That said, they seem to have mastered cancelling their horizontal velocity (as long as they can also cancel their vertical velocity). If they cannot cancel their vertical velocity then nothing else matters!

Did JB lose a lot of weight since we last saw him? And blonde highlights? He looks like he's getting ready for a vacation.

Civil engineer. Just found out I passed my PE exam today!

Yes, the progress of the rocket is a clear example of the advantages. Ultimately the floor is part of the stand and they built them both. It's not a simple design challenge, in that terrain, it should probable be built on piles. But a stand should be way easier to build than a rocket! Any Texas oil refinery would have structures with similar requirements. So yeah. If the rocket is a failure because the stand failed, I say that makes them look dumb. BUT, that doesn't matter as long as they don't mind looking dumb. (Elon's twitter output clearly shows he doesn't mind looking dumb.)

Not exactly. But it seems to me that if you can build an orbital rocket, you should be able to design a stand for it that doesn't break. Super fast development has much higher risk of failure. If you are willing to accept the risk, you can go really fast, but you might make some dumb mistakes along the way.

Th failed stand seems like a dumb mistake. Then you realize this is the same way they are designing the rocket.

Bonus points for the stiletto. It gives the project it a sexy rocky horror/70s Buck Rogers vibe, rather than the squarish 30s/40s Buck Rogers . How wide are the feet?

...then you will need some very large worms.