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Elon/SpaceX is amazing

Noname115

By Noname115
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Spaceception

Spaceception

Posted
Posted
9 hours ago, KerbMav said:

Did I miss the moment when the radiation issue was overcome?

He mentioned in passing about there being a solar storm shelter.

The ship could also be angled so that the engines face the sun, and the crewed section face away.

And the drinking/waste water  (separated of course) could wrap around the inner walls of the ship to protect against cosmic rays. 

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Gaarst

Gaarst

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Posted (edited)
17 hours ago, Noname115 said:

 

Can we talk about how amazing this is, and how Elon is single handedly going to push humanity into a new era?

Yeah, because Musk is going to engineer, build and fly this rocket all by himself...

You guys all need to chill with Musk and SpaceX. SpaceX lowered prices of rockets, and that's it. Reusabililty? I don't see anyone else doing it, and until proven otherwise it is not profitable. Changing the market? The old companies are still here with their old expandable rockets and doing fine. SpaceX is cheaper than other LSPs but they are less reliable and have great difficulties holding a schedule, if they didn't have these issues they'd be the first LSP be a wide margin.

I haven't watched the video, but I'm guessing it's about getting to Mars in ten years with a new rocket smaller than the ITS? (Because the ITS has always been a joke, I'm 100% sure no one at SpaceX ever seriously imagined the thing flying in less than 50 years, its just PR) 1) They are going to be late. 2) Until they start building it, humanity is not going anywhere. 3) Making a new video doesn't magically solve all the issues with going to Mars (health mostly). 4) Musk's funny conception of maths aside, there's still no economic interest for going to Mars and it's still going to be very very expensive.

Let SpaceX launch their Falcon Heavy, let them demonstrate the benefits of reusability, let them master manned spaceflight in LEO... before we start making crazy plans to Mars or whatever. 

Edited by Gaarst
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qzgy

qzgy

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10 minutes ago, Gaarst said:

-snip-

This. Exactly this.

To your points about guessing about the video, the one linked is about a new transport system basically based around an ICBM with people as a  payload. And Elon's projected mars date isn't 10, but 7. FOR A MANNED MARS MISSION. (oh, and unmanned in 2022.) Heck, the moon took 10 years or so. Ok from scratch, but the moon is much closer and they were using expendable rockets, and only a Flag planting/short scientific expedition mission. Elon wants the entire thing to be reusable, and make a colony.

Sounds great, but likely not happening till much later or unless R&D really step up.

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NSEP

NSEP

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Posted

Don't be too optimistic about it. I really want the BFR to fly one day in my lifetime. But this is spaceflight, the ultimate waiting game. You could almost expect every crazy project to get delayed out if existence and enter the cancellation barrier, but who knows maybe it does not get cancelled or delayed. 

1 hour ago, Gaarst said:

Let SpaceX launch their Falcon Heavy, let them demonstrate the benefits of reusability, let them master manned spaceflight in LEO... before we start making crazy plans to Mars or whatever. 

The BFR (new name of the ITS) is not just Mars, Mars, Mars and Mars, keep that in mind.

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Bill Phil

Bill Phil

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23 hours ago, Noname115 said:

 

Can we talk about how amazing this is, and how Elon is single handedly going to push humanity into a new era?

It's hard to do something single-handedly, especially considering that SpaceX is estimated to have six thousand employees...

And that's ignoring the NASA employees who are doing work with SpaceX. I actually know some guys at NASA who are doing work with SpaceX. This is so far from single-handed, that literally thousands of people are involved.

Now, all that is not to say that this isn't cool. It's cool, alright. And if they can do it, then by all means, they should do it. It could reduce the price tag associated with launches, potentially leading to some really neat stuff. And that is awesome. But, let's not worship the man, okay? He's cool, and I respect him, but he isn't going out there and building rockets all by himself. And once other companies get in on it... well, the next decades will be quite interesting. Sure, SpaceX is on top now, but that can change easily.

And, also, this isn't a new era. Yet. This is just an extension of what was already happening. Let the Space Age Proper begin!

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Bill Phil

Bill Phil

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3 hours ago, Noname115 said:

Oh you know what I meant. :/

People are taking my words a little too literally.

Apparently, no, I don't know what you meant.

Remember, it's almost impossible to ascertain intent when you read something on the internet. Skirting around this communicative barrier is a skill in its own right. 

Again, I'd like to reiterate that this stuff is still pretty cool, albeit somewhat more science fiction than nonfiction, at least for now. The 2020s and 30s will be interesting, indeed.

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p1t1o

p1t1o

Posted
Posted (edited)
On 9/30/2017 at 12:20 AM, Noname115 said:

Can we talk about how amazing this is, and how Elon is single handedly going to push humanity into a new era?

Sheesh, Cool your jets man!

 

I like Elon, I like a lot of what he does. I also dont like a lot of what he does.

He's not a scientist remember, hes a techy guy for sure, but he's not a rocket scientist or an engineer.

I dont like the way every little daydream he has gets a nice CGI mockup and is the NextBigThingTM for 6 months.

I mean honestly, there aint no country on Earth that is going to start regularly firing large, sub-orbital, ballistic rockets at major cities as a means of public transport, not for a long, long time, if ever.

And dont even get me started (again) on Moon/Mars bases, Elon is obsessed with the idea, asking very easily answered questions like "Why havnt we got a Moon base yet?"

Its because not hardly enough people want or need one, Elon.

Its because romantic dreams of living in  a jetsons-style dome on the moon - the only current reason to build a moonbase - has yet to make even a penny towards the huge cost of doing it.

And I think many of Elon's idea suffer from this "Its romantic and therefore important" delusion.

Yes, its great that he's thinking ahead and pushing boundaries, I have a lot of respect for him for that - even more so for actually achieving concrete results - but he's not the first, or last, nor is he single-handedly "pushing humanity into a new era" - we are already on the way there whether we like it or not, for better or worse.

 

He is capable, intelligent, Im glad he's around and operating, he has good ideas and even better marketing, but he's not Techno-Jesus. He's Android Steve Jobs. 

Edited by p1t1o
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