totm nov 2023 SpaceX Discussion Thread

[mikegarrison]

It's very hard to avoid extremely tricky political questions with this one, but I'm wondering if on Sept 1 it just became harder for SpaceX to recruit or retain women employees (or even men who are partnered with women).

Of course, SpaceX does have non-Texas locations. I would guess that actually most of their employment is outside of Texas.

 

(Note: I'm thinking we can keep within the forum rules by just discussing the possible effects on SpaceX, rather than the controversial new Texas law itself.)

Edited September 8, 2021 by mikegarrison

[tater]

 

[JoeSchmuckatelli]

1 hour ago, tater said:

 

Zoom in to the bottom of the picture - and tell me that's not R2-D2 hanging out with the crane!

 

[StrandedonEarth]

18 minutes ago, JoeSchmuckatelli said:

Zoom in to the bottom of the picture - and tell me that's not R2-D2 hanging out with the crane!

 

Lol, the back of that cement mixer’s cab does look like Artoo, but the paint job on those drums is more R5-D4. 

That said, those cement drums need an Artoo paint job. I always get a kick out of seeing kids on bikes (usually doubling behind parents) with Artoo helmets. 

[Lewie]

3 hours ago, mikegarrison said:

It's very hard to avoid extremely tricky political questions with this one, but I'm wondering if on Sept 1 it just became harder for SpaceX to recruit or retain women employees (or even men who are partnered with women).

Of course, SpaceX does have non-Texas locations. I would guess that actually most of their employment is outside of Texas.

 

(Note: I'm thinking we can keep within the forum rules by just discussing the possible effects on SpaceX, rather than the controversial new Texas law itself.)

I’d say it probably would come down to where they’re from....

Cali? Not a chance! 

But I don’t see WHY they would have trouble recruiting/retaining female employees. I would hope that Spacex’s vision....to make humankind a multi-planetary species would be more important then the new law. When you think about the reasons why an employee would leave vs. the vision of Spacex it’s kinda ironic.

Also, a quick note on the treatment of SpaceX employees (specifically the Starbase employees) When I visited Starbase, there was an entire grass lot (well manicured, not a bunch of crabgrass) filled with Air Stream campers. Now, those Air Streams are pretty nice, so I’d say it’s safe to say Spacex does care about their employee’s welfare.

another note-

The inspiration4 Netflix documentary has been great so far! It really goes in-depth with HOW and WHY each of the crew members was chosen and the impact it’ll have on spaceflight. I have a friend who is a childhood cancer survivor and another friend who lost her older brother to childhood cancer...I cannot tell you how much this mission means to both of them. 

(I think we’re doing good with talking ‘bout the effects on Spacex vs. the law itself)

2 hours ago, tater said:

 

Is there anybody making wall paper out of these? It’s gorgeous!

You hear about the massive size of SS/SH...you see the videos...but when you see it IRL...

The sheer size of SH isn’t captured in photos! When I saw BN3 (F) it’s just....WOW!! Spacex built a SKYSCRAPER! That can fly!!!! And they’re gonna catch it!!

somebody pinch me, I still can’t believe any of this....

Edited September 9, 2021 by Lewie

[mikegarrison]

42 minutes ago, Lewie said:

But I don’t see WHY they would have trouble recruiting/retaining female employees.

I've talked to other people looking to hire people to professional positions in Texas, and they are concerned. It's too early to know for sure how much of an impact it is, but your best employment candidates usually have choices.

[sh1pman]

6 minutes ago, mikegarrison said:

I've talked to other people looking to hire people to professional positions in Texas, and they are concerned. It's too early to know for sure how much of an impact it is, but your best employment candidates usually have choices.

In case of SpaceX it’s probably fine. How many hundreds of applications do they get for a single job offering? Obviously, we can’t know, but being the coolest space company means that they also have a lot of choices. 

[RCgothic]

Engineering is already a field that is heavily male dominated. Anything that makes it preferable for women to work in a different state is not fine, and I'm sure SpaceX agrees. There will be women at SpaceX Starbase considering their positions, and there are enough women working there that there a decent chance some will go who wouldn't have had to otherwise.

And indeed, male employees may wish to live in a state more sympathetic to their partners as well, so it may not be just women considering their positions/applications.

I can't see any company that wants to employ world-class talent being happy about this tbh 

Edited September 9, 2021 by RCgothic

[Beccab]

The Wide Bay continues growing (upper right)

[JoeSchmuckatelli]

What are the white cars with black roofs?

(upper left) - there's a whole bunch of them. 

 

 

 

[RCgothic]

Probably panoramic sunroofs rather than actually being black.

[Beccab]

4 minutes ago, JoeSchmuckatelli said:

What are the white cars with black roofs?

(upper left) - there's a whole bunch of them. 

 

 

 

Definitely some kind of Teslas, perhaps proprietary of SpaceX to shuttle people around thus the identical colouring

Edited September 9, 2021 by Beccab

[JoeSchmuckatelli]

21 minutes ago, Beccab said:

Definitely some kind of Teslas, perhaps proprietary of SpaceX to shuttle people around thus the identical colouring

Yeah - they don't look like any I've seen.  Odd shape... But so likely to be a Tesla

 

 

 

Edited September 9, 2021 by JoeSchmuckatelli

[GuessingEveryDay]

Everyone gangsta until it turns out those are the Model 2s, (I'm not sure what they'll call the new one from China yet...)

[tater]

They're just regular Teslas.

That's the building whre the charging stations are

 

[JoeSchmuckatelli]

58 minutes ago, RCgothic said:

Probably panoramic sunroofs rather than actually being black.

Panoramic sunroof in South Texas is a bad idea. 

 

 

1 minute ago, tater said:

They're just regular Teslas

First time I've seen the top down on them. 

 

No likey 

[tater]

They're pretty cool inside—but yeah, here in NM a sunroof = heat. Course a decent % of the top of my Rover is sunroof. <shrug>

The Teslas can be set to keep the internal temp whatever you like, though. I suppose if work had a parking space that was also a charger, you set the inside to room temp.

Alternately, you tell it to make sure it's 70 in there by the time you get off work.

Yeah, my friend at MCC just replied that he sets his to be comfortable when he gets to it in the afternoon there in Houston.

(also apparently Russian EVA in ~30 min)

[JoeSchmuckatelli]

7 minutes ago, tater said:

Teslas can be set to keep the internal temp whatever you like

That's a nice feature. 

When I lived in Phoenix I drove a 1975 Chevy Blazer with 2-65 AC.  One hot day, the water inside my canteen got hot enough to burn me.  Since then I've been cautious about the solar oven thing - but I guess technology has solved the problem. 

[Listy]

16 hours ago, mikegarrison said:

It's very hard to avoid extremely tricky political questions with this one, but I'm wondering if on Sept 1 it just became harder for SpaceX to recruit or retain women employees (or even men who are partnered with women).

Of course, SpaceX does have non-Texas locations. I would guess that actually most of their employment is outside of Texas.

 

(Note: I'm thinking we can keep within the forum rules by just discussing the possible effects on SpaceX, rather than the controversial new Texas law itself.)

Employees don't even have to leave en masse for problems to occur.  The potential risk of Kompramat provided by said 'law' must have foreign intelligence services licking their lips in anticipation. (And maybe some domestic competitors too). It goes without saying that it's not just SpaceX that's at risk - any tech company or defence contractor in the state is potentially exposed.

 

[mikegarrison]

1 hour ago, Listy said:

Employees don't even have to leave en masse for problems to occur.  The potential risk of Kompramat provided by said 'law' must have foreign intelligence services licking their lips in anticipation. (And maybe some domestic competitors too). It goes without saying that it's not just SpaceX that's at risk - any tech company or defence contractor in the state is potentially exposed.

I didn't even think of the blackmail implications.

Edited September 9, 2021 by mikegarrison

[tater]

 

 

[JoeSchmuckatelli]

3 minutes ago, tater said:

 

 

There has to be some kind of adhesive... Fairly certain the vibration of the engines is a wee-bit stronger than that guy's hand-hammering.

[Beccab]

2 minutes ago, JoeSchmuckatelli said:

There has to be some kind of adhesive... Fairly certain the vibration of the engines is a wee-bit stronger than that guy's hand-hammering.

Tiles use a three point attachment systems, plus for very irregularly shaped tiles where that isn't possible like in the nosecone they use what I think is the same adhesive of the Shuttle

They're covering the COPVs for some reason, any guesses?

Edited September 9, 2021 by Beccab

[tater]

Some of the regular hexagons seem to be placed without the pins. That said, the TPS blanket is fluffy, so the pins are not always visible—in the vid above the tile is going over white blanket, so there must be pins since tiles that are glued on would need to be glued to the metal, not the TPS batting.

[Elthy]

58 minutes ago, tater said:

 

 

That movement seems awefull, even if you dont mind the hight that would make some people seasick. That job is certainly not for the faint of heart.

53 minutes ago, Beccab said:

They're covering the COPVs for some reason, any guesses?

Maybe thermals? They are black and could get extremly hot in the sun, maybe to much change in pressure.