I used to follow this quite intensely, and wished space-X the best. But with the owners antics, I just can't get myself to care that much. At the very least, that is sad for all the hardworking people at space-X.
I don't care about the owner too much. He's merely an owner, and apparently not even an expert in the field as to command the direction in crazy ways. As long as Mr Musk continues bringing in money, and allowing the engineers do the right thing, I'm okay with that.
Too bad he's also taking away money from tens of millions of poor americans. I don't even understand. He could have just ... not done that, wouldn't have cost him one cent.
Your spacex contracts thing is bullshit too, but first the more important stuff. I think you'll agree many of these affect poor americans greatly, as well as poor people worldwide. A partial list of what Musk did with DOGE:
* Mass layoffs across the government. Especially education is badly affected.
* USAID shutdowns
* DOE downsizing (ie. killing education)
* Sabotaging student loans (purposefully cutting the infrastructure and personnel for getting a student loan)
* Killing off local Social Security access by closing offices
The list goes on. Next time Elon Musk says he needs engineers, I hope someone has the courage to ask him why he seriously and purposefully damaged education for Americans.
As for the spacex contracts: a cheaper price only helps if it actually leads to less spending. Since the US cannot risk spacex being the only access to space, it cannot cut funding to ULA contracts. Therefore spacex is more expensive, despite the cheaper sticker price.
Think of it this way. Let's say there's 2 cars. One is 40,000 USD (thanks to Musk and Trump's tariffs). One is 20,000 USD. But due to law you can only buy the 20,000 USD car if you ALSO buy the 40,000 USD car, there's no other way. So the real price is:
* the "cheaper" car: 60,000 USD total price
* the "expensive" car: 40,000 USD total price
See the problem here? Spacex is not actually cheaper. Only by not counting a bunch of costs because they come out of a different budget is spacex cheaper. A fact ("deception" I would say) that keeps repeating in mr. Musk's businesses. The sticker price on Tesler cars, for example, has similar problems: EXPENSIVE mandatory maintenance means the price of Musk's electric cars is far more than the competition, despite the sticker price sometimes being cheaper. Of course, now even the sticker price is far from the best.
Don't discount all of the great engineers at SpaceX just because of their boss, they are still pushing the limits of rocket science every day! And who knows, maybe they're just like us, and they think their boss is a jerk just like any other company employee.
Suppose you have a liberal mindset and work there, you must bend the knee and practice anticipatory obedience, or why else would you tell the world that the rocket will be ”dropping into the Gulf of America?“
I’m a liberal and I have absolutely zero opinion about what we call various bodies of water. The hands wringing over such inconsequential monikers makes me embarrassed sometimes to be part of this party.
That's very healthy, but in this case it feels more like building things for people you disagree with, and who ultimately don't want you to disagree with them.
While I agree with your general point, as an outsider what struck me the most about Trump ordering the renaming of the Gulf of Mexico as the "Gulf of America" was the pettieness of it, and as such I don't really care.
I mean, I live in Germany now, and the German name for Germany isn't Germany (except when it is because Denglish is surprisingly also used in political posters), and likewise has a different name in French (Allemagne), Dutch (Duitsland), Danish (Tyskland), Polish (Niemcy), and Czech (Německo).
Or how the body of water separating Great Britain from mainland Europe is "The English Channel" or "La Manche" (literally "the sleeve", but also name of a department of Normandy).
Seems to me that having your name localised into other languages shows a degree of respect (or at least familiarity). Pity also the French, Franzozerinen; the Anglais, Grossbritannierinen; or the Dutch.
Exonyms definitely aren't always positive — Niemcy and Německo are both from Proto-Slavic "němъ": unclear/incomprehensible speaker; muttering; mute/unable to speak.
I sort of follow and as a liberal I struggle to find much to get worked up over. Things I see: the number of friends who now own electric cars (all Teslas) well ten years ago truly scoffed at the idea. Tesla sold 1/2 million cars THIS LAST QUARTER. Their highest ever. That’s 1/2 million gas engines not sold. I attribute all of that to one person. Full stop. Anything else is delusional.
I saw fellow liberals protesting the Tesla cafe in Los Angeles. They’re actively discouraging people from buying electric. Global warming is the more important threat to our species and these fellow liberals are ACTIVELY DISCOURAGING people from buying and owning electric cars. Truly the mind boggles.
To the posters who say: Ah why should anyone care that you don't care... and actually going to call the post "narcissist"... what the heck, aren't you pointing the gun in the wrong direction? :P
I agree with the sentiment that this is sad. I was very excited for space, space space! And new cool technology and the options it'll bring. It's like we could follow the Apollo project again, but for a new generation, after decades of not-a-lot happening.
So I am sure there are hundreds of millions which are now caught between starry-eyed fascination with the technology and the progress of technology and extending humanity's reach with these biggest and most powerful, while also incredible sensitive and complex machines ever built...
But seeing the main guy unravel into a spit sputtering raving lunatic on social media, going deep into the nastiest rabbit holes available, and showing no concern for the wellbeing and welfare of those requiring protection...
Turns the whole endeavour on its head. Now it looks like the selfish race to capture space for the 1%, to monopolize access and use it as a political tool to further only the very selfish agenda of some detached madmen who don't care about the political "temperature" on earth and the damage they are doing.
So, millions of people turn their heads in sadness, and I completely understand and share that sentiment. It's a shame. It's breaking hearts.
@Elon open your eyes! Enough is enough! :)
Empathy is not weakness.
We'll have you back on the woke team the moment you're ready! :)
What used to be a very exciting pioneering space company is now a cash cow that directly funds and enables whimsies of an unhinged billionaire that keeps doing shit aimed at destabilizing lives of many, including mine. And I am not even in the US!
I think the sentiment is more widespread than you think. SpaceX has always succeeded despite Elon’s clown work. I for one would be absolutely humiliated to work for someone like him.
That's a shame. Following Starship's development process has been amazing, talking as someone who is interested but not intensely so. Raptor engine, booster catching, ship maneuvering, heatsink development, launch infrastructure. All is very exciting. It's was a big disappointment when they encountered setback earlier this year, and I was very happy when they got back on track with the latest flight.
You are entitled to your opinions, I happen to be more or less on the same side as yours. If antics is what make you enrage, though, it isn't hard to find people that you agree with ideologically having the same behavior, and I doubt you find them as distasteful.
Politics changes but technological advances are permanent that have long term impacts.