The Cutting Edge of Space Travel
- Thread starter Shadow Reaper
- Start date
Truly, the most ambitious plan in human history. All sensible people should be shocked and hopeful. This is amazing.
Elon is great at talking, and some (but by far from all) have done what they have said.
That said, he has also promised other things and have yet to deliver them.
It’s easy to promise, it’s easy to say “yeah, this is our plan”. Any backer of SC has seen CR make these promises over and over again.
Just remember that Mr. Musk has a tendency to overpromise and under deliver.
He is also a person in need of serious PR repair.
Had he been the CEO of a company with a board not stuffed with chronys and yes men, he would have been fired months ago. He has personally damaged the Tesla name, possibly beyond repair, and seriously antagonized one of his primary customer demographics.
At this point, anything he says will be treated with suspicion until he can rebuild (if possible) the reputation he has squandered,
That said, he has also promised other things and have yet to deliver them.
It’s easy to promise, it’s easy to say “yeah, this is our plan”. Any backer of SC has seen CR make these promises over and over again.
Just remember that Mr. Musk has a tendency to overpromise and under deliver.
He is also a person in need of serious PR repair.
Had he been the CEO of a company with a board not stuffed with chronys and yes men, he would have been fired months ago. He has personally damaged the Tesla name, possibly beyond repair, and seriously antagonized one of his primary customer demographics.
At this point, anything he says will be treated with suspicion until he can rebuild (if possible) the reputation he has squandered,
Actually, I think the opposite is true. He was a hero of the left, single handedly bringing us into the age of electric cars despite all of the established car companies had tried and failed. This endeared him to the climate catastrophe crowd, and slightly alienated him to the right, who is more unsure of the climate claims.
Now things are reversed. The right loves Musk, not just for his bulletproof trucks, global internet, humanoid robots, and photovoltaics on every roof, but for rockets. The right loves the rockets. SpaceX has succeeded at 494 commercial launches with a single failure: a 99.39% success rate. No nation compares. We should all find this shocking.
Sooner or later the left will be forced to distance themselves from the extremists burning cars and shooting up dealerships. When they sober up they’ll again realize Musk is their best champion to date. Certainly he is the greatest champion of free speech in our lifetime. That’s a liberal value.
I’ve followed Musk closely since about 2005? Was before he won his first contract with NASA in 2008, and all the nay-sayers at NASASpaceflight.com were still betting against him. For years I defended his vision and have kept tabs even after his successes. I do not however recall him overpromising and under delivering. What specifically were you thinking of?
Now things are reversed. The right loves Musk, not just for his bulletproof trucks, global internet, humanoid robots, and photovoltaics on every roof, but for rockets. The right loves the rockets. SpaceX has succeeded at 494 commercial launches with a single failure: a 99.39% success rate. No nation compares. We should all find this shocking.
Sooner or later the left will be forced to distance themselves from the extremists burning cars and shooting up dealerships. When they sober up they’ll again realize Musk is their best champion to date. Certainly he is the greatest champion of free speech in our lifetime. That’s a liberal value.
I’ve followed Musk closely since about 2005? Was before he won his first contract with NASA in 2008, and all the nay-sayers at NASASpaceflight.com were still betting against him. For years I defended his vision and have kept tabs even after his successes. I do not however recall him overpromising and under delivering. What specifically were you thinking of?
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His current claim is there us a 50/50 chance SpaceX will be able to send robots to Mars in Nov/Dec 2026. If he misses that juncture the next window is Jan/Feb 2029. If he hits that window the hope is to send people in 2029. If they miss then they’ll send robots in 2029.
He has not been very revealing about what would be on a first launch for the robots. My guess is mostly photovoltaics to charge the robots. My hope, though it is tiny; is they will send a Small Modular Reactor to provide power for all the construction between 2026 and 2029. SMRs are typically between 30-300 MW. That would replace a gigantic solar array. Keep in mind Mars gets much less sunlight than we get. I think it’s about 1/4. So photovoltaics don’t go very far and the wind would load solar panels up with dirt.
Also, it’s good to note he built the Boring company so there would be a way to tunnel and escape the higher radiation count on Mars. I’ve no idea if there’s an early plan to tunnel with the Optimus robots, but this is likely. Both of the Boring Company rock breakers (82T and 90T) are light enough to be landed on Mars by a Starship.
He has not been very revealing about what would be on a first launch for the robots. My guess is mostly photovoltaics to charge the robots. My hope, though it is tiny; is they will send a Small Modular Reactor to provide power for all the construction between 2026 and 2029. SMRs are typically between 30-300 MW. That would replace a gigantic solar array. Keep in mind Mars gets much less sunlight than we get. I think it’s about 1/4. So photovoltaics don’t go very far and the wind would load solar panels up with dirt.
Also, it’s good to note he built the Boring company so there would be a way to tunnel and escape the higher radiation count on Mars. I’ve no idea if there’s an early plan to tunnel with the Optimus robots, but this is likely. Both of the Boring Company rock breakers (82T and 90T) are light enough to be landed on Mars by a Starship.
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