Elon Musk's Falcon rocket

my_grandadʹs_bike

Anyone else sceptical?

prhymeate

One step at a time. That launch and landing yesterday was one of the coolest things I've ever seen!

my_grandadʹs_bike

Prhymeate wrote:

One step at a time. That launch and landing yesterday was one of the coolest things I've ever seen!

Which is precisely my problem, especially the landings. Will have to admit in true internet forum style I've only seen five minutes on the news this morning and not read any background to his project but he seems to be achieving things for £90,000,000 that NASA, China and Russia have failed to do with billions.

And the astronaut driving one of his cars in space shouts publicity stunt to me.

Posted in the hope that people more informed can enlighten me.

cooldad

Enlighten you on what?

That you're an idiot?

lostboysaint

It's so much easier with CGI. None of this "movie stage" nonsense required

surrey_commuter

my grandad's bike wrote:

Prhymeate wrote:

One step at a time. That launch and landing yesterday was one of the coolest things I've ever seen!

Which is precisely my problem, especially the landings. Will have to admit in true internet forum style I've only seen five minutes on the news this morning and not read any background to his project but he seems to be achieving things for £90,000,000 that NASA, China and Russia have failed to do with billions.

And the astronaut driving one of his cars in space shouts publicity stunt to me.

Posted in the hope that people more informed can enlighten me.

Good point - but in fairness he was only faking a rocket launch. NASA had to fake an entire moon landing, that will obviously cost a lot more

my_grandadʹs_bike

cooldad wrote:

Enlighten you on what?

That you're an idiot?

Rather be an idiot than just plain rude

cooldad

Obviously.

laurentian

So, the suggestion is that the whole thing's a fake?? Really?

cooldad

But ok, to answer your post. It didn't cost $90 million. That's' the projected cost of a single launch. It has cost billions to get to this point.

The rocket took off and landed from Cape Canaveral. There were actual spectators watching.

They wanted to test with a payload. They could have used random rocks. That was Musk's personal Tesla, an old one.

So instead they had a bit of fun. From the references to Heavy Metal, the "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy", (Don't Panic), a copy of Isaac Asimov's "Foundation" in the glovebox, to David Bowie on the speaker vibration system (which would revert to being a sound system in the presence of air).The suit for the dummy was the design they plan to use for their passenger trips when they start.

And he got a bit of awesome 'free' advertising for Tesla.

Legend.

haydenm

I'm torn, I think it was faked but then I want them to prove the Earth is flat.

my_grandadʹs_bike

cooldad wrote:

But ok, to answer your post. It didn't cost $90 million. That's' the projected cost of a single launch. It has cost billions to get to this point.

The rocket took off and landed from Cape Canaveral. There were actual spectators watching.

They wanted to test with a payload. They could have used random rocks. That was Musk's personal Tesla, an old one.

So instead they had a bit of fun. From the references to Heavy Metal, the "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy", (Don't Panic), a copy of Isaac Asimov's "Foundation" in the glovebox, to David Bowie on the speaker vibration system (which would revert to being a sound system in the presence of air).The suit for the dummy was the design they plan to use for their passenger trips when they start.

And he got a bit of awesome 'free' advertising for Tesla.

Legend.

Thank you - quite easy wasn't it to express an alternative/more informed view.

cooldad

Or you could have done a bit of research before making an uninformed, stupid statement.

mamba80

i totally fail to see the adv of space exploration, we landed on the moon almost 50 years ago, yet despite technology having moved on since then (somewhat!) we are no more nearer putting people on Mars than jumping over the moon......

its not the same as Columbus sailing to the Americas, same planet same atmosphere & similar eco systems, we know of no planets that can support life as we know it.

If he just wants to pump a load more carbon into the atmosphere in order to run a cruise company/advertise cars, then the guy is an idiot.

Global warming / climate change are very real threats to mans survival.... Musk might be better off keeping his feet on the ground and looking to solve real world problems closer to earth.

Matthewfalle

It's real and it's freakin' cool. It's why space stuff is soooooooo cool and I'm obsessed with it.

my_grandadʹs_bike

cooldad wrote:

Or you could have done a bit of research before making an uninformed, stupid statement.

if you read my second post you'd see that I fully admitted I had only caught a few minutes clip of it on the news this morning as was somewhat lazily putting it out there for others to fill the gaps for me. You carry on being a smart arse as it obviously suits you and your superior intellect.

cooldad

mamba80 wrote:

i totally fail to see the adv of space exploration, we landed on the moon almost 50 years ago, yet despite technology having moved on since then (somewhat!) we are no more nearer putting people on Mars than jumping over the moon......

its not the same as Columbus sailing to the Americas, same planet same atmosphere & similar eco systems, we know of no planets that can support life as we know it.

If he just wants to pump a load more carbon into the atmosphere in order to run a cruise company/advertise cars, then the guy is an idiot.

Global warming / climate change are very real threats to mans survival.... Musk might be better off keeping his feet on the ground and looking to solve real world problems closer to earth.

You mean like developing solar power and storage systems?

https://electrek.co/2018/02/04/tesla-po ... wer-plant/

And the Big Battery that actually worked.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world ... 30986.html

And making the power companies sweat a bit?

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/ ... el-to-heel

bianchimoon

cooldad wrote:

Enlighten you on what?

That you're an idiot?

Gotto second that, If the OP gets his info from internet forums rather than taking the trouble to read, research, learn.. I despair

bianchimoon

my grandad's bike wrote:

cooldad wrote:

Or you could have done a bit of research before making an uninformed, stupid statement.

if you read my second post you'd see that I fully admitted I had only caught a few minutes clip of it on the news this morning as was somewhat lazily putting it out there for others to fill the gaps for me. You carry on being a smart ars* as it obviously suits you and your superior intellect.

Sorry, but there's a world of info at your fingertips, make the most of it. What Musk is doing with Tesla and SpaceX is amazing. To the people that just want to sit on their porches playing the banjo it is waaaay beyond what their thought processes can cope with so pluck away. The money he's made from PayPal is being put to good use, I hope Tesla and SpaceX starts repaying him soon so he can do more amazing things like the massive battery that is powering part of Australia when they have outages. As cooldad said - legend.

mamba80

cooldad wrote:

mamba80 wrote:

i totally fail to see the adv of space exploration, we landed on the moon almost 50 years ago, yet despite technology having moved on since then (somewhat!) we are no more nearer putting people on Mars than jumping over the moon......

its not the same as Columbus sailing to the Americas, same planet same atmosphere & similar eco systems, we know of no planets that can support life as we know it.

If he just wants to pump a load more carbon into the atmosphere in order to run a cruise company/advertise cars, then the guy is an idiot.

Global warming / climate change are very real threats to mans survival.... Musk might be better off keeping his feet on the ground and looking to solve real world problems closer to earth.

You mean like developing solar power and storage systems?

https://electrek.co/2018/02/04/tesla-po ... wer-plant/

And the Big Battery that actually worked.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world ... 30986.html

And making the power companies sweat a bit?

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/ ... el-to-heel

That all seems v good but how much more could he and others do if they concentrated on earth instead of space travel? maybe he could develop a means to remove plastic from the worlds oceans, not too mention stopping 8000 tons of the stuff per day entering the seas?
We have a very good planet right here, lets try and look after it.

bianchimoon

mamba80 wrote:

If he just wants to pump a load more carbon into the atmosphere in order to run a cruise company/advertise cars, then the guy is an idiot.

Your mistaking Musk for Branson, Musk will go down in history, Branson will... well go down

surrey_commuter

mamba80 wrote:

cooldad wrote:

mamba80 wrote:

i totally fail to see the adv of space exploration, we landed on the moon almost 50 years ago, yet despite technology having moved on since then (somewhat!) we are no more nearer putting people on Mars than jumping over the moon......

its not the same as Columbus sailing to the Americas, same planet same atmosphere & similar eco systems, we know of no planets that can support life as we know it.

If he just wants to pump a load more carbon into the atmosphere in order to run a cruise company/advertise cars, then the guy is an idiot.

Global warming / climate change are very real threats to mans survival.... Musk might be better off keeping his feet on the ground and looking to solve real world problems closer to earth.

You mean like developing solar power and storage systems?

https://electrek.co/2018/02/04/tesla-po ... wer-plant/

And the Big Battery that actually worked.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world ... 30986.html

And making the power companies sweat a bit?

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/ ... el-to-heel

That all seems v good but how much more could he and others do if they concentrated on earth instead of space travel? maybe he could develop a means to remove plastic from the worlds oceans, not too mention stopping 8000 tons of the stuff per day entering the seas?
We have a very good planet right here, lets try and look after it.

seems a bit harsh to pick on Musk when he is doing so much more good with his money than most of the other mega wealthy

my_grandadʹs_bike

bianchimoon wrote:

cooldad wrote:

Enlighten you on what?

That you're an idiot?

Gotto second that, If the OP gets his info from internet forums rather than taking the trouble to read, research, learn.. I despair

FFS really? You are somewhat having a go at a good percentage of the people on here then who pop up fairly regularly asking for advice on a whole range of topics about bikes, life, finance etc.

qube

mamba80 wrote:

That all seems v good but how much more could he and others do if they concentrated on earth instead of space travel? maybe he could develop a means to remove plastic from the worlds oceans, not too mention stopping 8000 tons of the stuff per day entering the seas?
We have a very good planet right here, lets try and look after it.

Yes, your point is valid and makes good sense. But it is a well worn argument.

We still need to develop this kind of stuff for the advancement of mankind.

We can all see our planet is changing and we are probably not helping the cause but guys like this with the ability to explore space and the technology it brings should really be encouraged.

Matthewfalle

mamba80 wrote:

cooldad wrote:

mamba80 wrote:

i totally fail to see the adv of space exploration, we landed on the moon almost 50 years ago, yet despite technology having moved on since then (somewhat!) we are no more nearer putting people on Mars than jumping over the moon......

its not the same as Columbus sailing to the Americas, same planet same atmosphere & similar eco systems, we know of no planets that can support life as we know it.

If he just wants to pump a load more carbon into the atmosphere in order to run a cruise company/advertise cars, then the guy is an idiot.

Global warming / climate change are very real threats to mans survival.... Musk might be better off keeping his feet on the ground and looking to solve real world problems closer to earth.

You mean like developing solar power and storage systems?

https://electrek.co/2018/02/04/tesla-po ... wer-plant/

And the Big Battery that actually worked.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world ... 30986.html

And making the power companies sweat a bit?

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/ ... el-to-heel

That all seems v good but how much more could he and others do if they concentrated on earth instead of space travel? maybe he could develop a means to remove plastic from the worlds oceans, not too mention stopping 8000 tons of the stuff per day entering the seas?
We have a very good planet right here, lets try and look after it.

Stopping 8000 tonnes of plastic a day entering the sea?

How about you, me, everyone make the bloody effort to reuse, recycle than lobbing it away. It isn't that difficult.

This stuff starts at home - you're just trying to pass the buck there my son.

bianchimoon

my grandad's bike wrote:

bianchimoon wrote:

cooldad wrote:

Enlighten you on what?

That you're an idiot?

Gotto second that, If the OP gets his info from internet forums rather than taking the trouble to read, research, learn.. I despair

FFS really? You are somewhat having a go at a good percentage of the people on here then who pop up fairly regularly asking for advice on a whole range of topics about bikes, life, finance etc.

You didn't ask for advice you said "anyone else skeptical"

mrfpb

mamba80 wrote:

i totally fail to see the adv of space exploration,

Do you ever use a GPS?

bianchimoon

mamba80 wrote:

That all seems v good but how much more could he and others do if they concentrated on earth instead of space travel? maybe he could develop a means to remove plastic from the worlds oceans, not too mention stopping 8000 tons of the stuff per day entering the seas?
We have a very good planet right here, lets try and look after it.

Develop a means to remove plastic? so we can happily throw more stuff away, knowing that someone else will take the trouble to fix it? Earths life is finite, we will one day need to move house

vimfuego

A very impressive publicity stunt definitely, but equally one of the coolest things I've ever seen. The thought of a spaceman in a roadster drifting through space to the sounds of Bowie is cool enough in itself, but the booster landings were just amazing.

Too amazing? look I get where you are coming from & in this day and age what can you trust right? Let's just see how long before Trump either tries to claim credit for it, or brands it fake news. Then we'll know it's on the level.

imposter2.0

my grandad's bike wrote:

And the astronaut driving one of his cars in space shouts publicity stunt to me.

You know it wasn't a real astronaut, right? Just a crash-test dummy in an old space suit.

Of course putting one of his cars in space was a stunt. But he's just successfully launched the biggest load carrying rocket into orbit since Saturn V, so I think he's allowed a bit of 'me' time...

my_grandadʹs_bike

bianchimoon wrote:

my grandad's bike wrote:

cooldad wrote:

Or you could have done a bit of research before making an uninformed, stupid statement.

if you read my second post you'd see that I fully admitted I had only caught a few minutes clip of it on the news this morning as was somewhat lazily putting it out there for others to fill the gaps for me. You carry on being a smart ars* as it obviously suits you and your superior intellect.

Sorry, but there's a world of info at your fingertips, make the most of it. What Musk is doing with Tesla and SpaceX is amazing. To the people that just want to sit on their porches playing the banjo it is waaaay beyond what their thought processes can cope with so pluck away. The money he's made from PayPal is being put to good use, I hope Tesla and SpaceX starts repaying him soon so he can do more amazing things like the massive battery that is powering part of Australia when they have outages. As cooldad said - legend.

So it sounds like its a topic you know a fair bit about then. Why not point us "banjo players" in the right direction then rather than just having a dig.

As it happens I've just read Home Deus by Yuval Noah Harari where he explores the future of humans and their relationship with technology and its possibilities so I'm more than open to what's happening now or in the future technology wise. So whilst I'd normally do my back ground reading on topics, this morning I decided to just put it out there on a forum in the hope their would be people with greater knowledge on this topic who would like to help educate me.

I suppose we can make all the technological advances in the world but people will still be pricks on internet forums.