Tag: elon musk

Question: Why Does Elon Musk keep doing things like the Cybertruck?

A: Because people keep putting down cash for them.

When Tesla unveiled its new pickup truck last Wednesday, many critics blasted it as ugly and impractical. But despite these criticisms, more than 200,000 people have put down a $100 deposit to reserve a spot in line for the new vehicle, Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced on Sunday.

All-electric designs have helped every Tesla vehicle stand out from its competition, but Tesla’s Cybertruck is unconventional even by Tesla’s standards. Other pickup trucks are boxy, with a square cabin in the front and a flatbed in the back. The Cybertruck has a triangular design that looks a bit like the DeLorean in Back to the Future.

Continue reading Question: Why Does Elon Musk keep doing things like the Cybertruck?

So, how much *should* you sell out for, when it’s Elon Musk?

Background: Elon Musk’s building a spaceport out there in Texas for his Mars rocket — and God DAMN but that’s just an observation that’s chock-full of crystallized awesome — and the retirement community next door is possibly not entirely enthralled with having regular bouts of Rocket Summer. So Musk’s offering three times the appraised value of their houses to buy them out. No fuss, no muss, he’ll even throw in VIP passes to see the rockets go up.

Continue reading So, how much *should* you sell out for, when it’s Elon Musk?

Falcon Heavy rocket brought back with *more* of its pieces.

Nice:

SpaceX founder and chief executive Elon Musk said Thursday that the company’s recovery fleet in the Atlantic Ocean recovered the two halves of the Falcon Heavy’s payload shroud after the heavy-lifter’s second launch from the Kennedy Space Center. Musk said the company plans to reuse the fairing for the first time later this year.

As Fark Geek noted: recovering the rockets themselves for reuse? Whatever, man. That’s old news at this point. But retrieving and reusing a component that makes up 10% of the launch cost? Yeah, that’s noteworthy. As was the originally rocket recovery, of course, but one gets jaded so quickly, these days.

Underground LA ‘Loop,’ or final touches on supervillain scheme?

You make the call:

Continue reading Underground LA ‘Loop,’ or final touches on supervillain scheme?

SpaceX announces passenger for 2023 moon orbital mission.

Whatever it takes, man.

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk announced Monday night that entrepreneur Yusaku Maezawa would be the first private person to fly solo around the moon aboard the company’s Big Falcon Rocket (BFR) launch vehicle. Maezawa, a 42-year-old from Japan, is a billionaire who founded Zozotown, an online retail shop. The excited future space traveler exclaimed at the event, “I choose to go to the moon.”

Continue reading SpaceX announces passenger for 2023 moon orbital mission.

I have a confession to make about Elon Musk’s SpaceX launches.

Every time he does one and it makes the news it always seems like it’s coming out of a technothriller.  For example:

Back in 2014, The Wall Street Journal reported that the founder of SpaceX and Tesla was figuring out how to launch small satellites into space to create a high-speed network with the capability of reaching everyone on the planet.  This week, SpaceX will take a significant step forward in their mission to turn that dream into a reality. The company will be launching two test satellites on February 21, after initial plans to begin on February 17 were delayed to “perform final checkouts of upgraded fairing.”

Continue reading I have a confession to make about Elon Musk’s SpaceX launches.

SpaceX Falcon Heavy test flight today.

Via Geeks Are Sexy, here’s the live feed:

3:10 Eastern Time, which means… not at 3:10 Eastern Time, sorry.  Expect a delay on this launch, because there’s always going to be a delay.  Heck, it might not even launch today.  But if it does, Elon Musk is going try to send a Tesla to Mars.

OK. I’m not particularly enamored of our current self-appointed tech barons.  But I have to give him style points for using a car with ‘Space Oddity’ playing as ballast payload.

Tweet of the Day, “SpaceX The FLAMETHROWER!” edition

Is it really happening? Really and for true?

Maybe. Apparently, flamethrowers were available for pre-order (behind a password).  And as many people are bemusedly finding out right now: you can buy flamethrowers in the USA! As in, legally.  You don’t see them very often, because not very many of my countrymen are damned fools who would seriously consider picking one up, just for the heck of it*. And some locales do ban them. But you can buy flamethrowers. Legally. Continue reading Tweet of the Day, “SpaceX The FLAMETHROWER!” edition

Quote of the Day, It Certainly Beats Spending It On Hookers And Cocaine edition.

Allahpundit has a definite point about the Reusable Rocket Race going on right now:

Gotta say, in the long list of ways, salutary and otherwise, in which spectacularly rich people have attempted to one-up each other historically, a race between [Elon] Musk, [Jeff] Bezos and whoever else to normalize space travel must rank pretty high.

For one thing, we’re going to get something useful out of this grudge match. Possibly several useful things, since Musk and Bezos are working on similar but not identical concepts. Also: they’re giving the money to a class of people (aerospace engineers) whom I like*. So, you know, win-win and we should all egg on Bezos and Musk to keep upstaging each other.

Moe Lane

*No, my wife isn’t in on this particular contest. But she could be, so I suppose full disclosure, and all that.