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Making Humans a Multiplanetary Species [video]

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Re: Making Humans a Multiplanetary Species [video]

#31

In this case, it's pretty clearly not just a rocket. Both Bezos and Musk admit that this is their fantasy from when they were boys. We're never going to live on mars, this is entirely about mythological projection. The phallus is central to the purpose of this endeavor.

No? If it becomes affordable enough, why can't we do it?

And why are you being a armchair psycho-analyst? Have you examined/talked to them personally?

Re: Making Humans a Multiplanetary Species [video]

#32

In this case, it's pretty clearly not just a rocket. Both Bezos and Musk admit that this is their fantasy from when they were boys. We're never going to live on mars, this is entirely about mythological projection. The phallus is central to the purpose of this endeavor.

Yes. We should all just go back to working on SaaS products and optimizing ad impressions.

Re: Making Humans a Multiplanetary Species [video]

#33

The phallic imagery is so overpowering. I also like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtBy_ppG4hY In case it's not clear, I hate this "multiplanetary species" garbage.

Your comments reveal a lot more about you than they do about Elon Musk

Re: Making Humans a Multiplanetary Species [video]

#34
post #6

This is so pleasant to see after being bombarded with US presidential politics. Science, hope and progress!

What about going to a different planet makes you think we won't just be taking those same problems with us? The earth isn't the problem - The problem is the human brain. We aren't genetically capable of processing the world we have built. Expect there to be Trump IV vs Clinton IV 2117 hosted live on Mars if we haven't made significant improvements in human engineering.

Maybe I'm misunderstanding but you seem to be saying "Let's not be excited about colonizing another planet-- life will be just as depressing there."

Re: Making Humans a Multiplanetary Species [video]

#35
post #4

"Livestream starting soon". Does anyone know what time they're starting? (And please use a numeric timezone, I'm not a walking timezone database.)

"Waiting for everyone to reach their seats and get settled. Starting in 5 to 10." Elon said that about ~3 minutes ago on twitter.

[deleted]

Re: Making Humans a Multiplanetary Species [video]

#36

It looks from the videos that the boosters return to land using strictly thrust from the rocket. Can someone explain why it's done that way and a parachute isn't used for at least part of the descent? Seems like an awful waste of fuel.

The answer is the same as why the Falcon 9 uses propulsive landing. Parachutes are heavy, and generally require a water landing which seriously damages the booster (not to mention requires a recovery operation). The vast majority of the weight in these spacecraft is fuel, so when it's time for it to return to the pad it requires a comparatively small amount of fuel (as most of the weight has been burnt up). The fuel itself is also a tiny percentage of the total cost of the craft, at interplanetary scale $10k for a little extra fuel is nothing.

Re: Making Humans a Multiplanetary Species [video]

#37

The phallic imagery is so overpowering. I also like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtBy_ppG4hY In case it's not clear, I hate this "multiplanetary species" garbage.

What's your point?

I wrote a long essay about this that I have yet to publish, but my basic point is this:

1. Mars is a fucking desert. There is no air, water or life.

2. Venus is covered in CO2 clouds and sulfuric acid rain. Metal melts on its surface.

We are not going to live in space. To even WANT to live in space is an absurd fantasy that is in violent conflict with the reality of space as an airless, inhospitable, largely resourceless wasteland that requires enormous effort to travel through and survive in.

Why, then, does Musk insist we need to live in space? I think this is simply an update of our previous desire for an afterlife or a heaven. Since we are no longer willing to fantasize and organize around the Kingdom of Heaven, we've turned space into the Kingdom of Heaven, despite the fact that it has very few actual heavenly qualities.

Re: Making Humans a Multiplanetary Species [video]

#40

It looks from the videos that the boosters return to land using strictly thrust from the rocket. Can someone explain why it's done that way and a parachute isn't used for at least part of the descent? Seems like an awful waste of fuel.

> SpaceX experimented with using parachutes in the past (mainly for their Falcon 1 vehicles), but parachutes are poorly suited to this application, as extreme speeds and loads cause them to shred. Parachutes large enough to recover the stage are also quite heavy, a weight which could be used for fuel for a propulsive landing and for primary mission assurance. Parachutes also cannot be steered.

> Essentially, this becomes a problem of people overestimating the amount of fuel required to bring the stage back, underestimating the weight of the parachute system (which would be in the hundreds of kilograms at least), and underestimating the fragility and controllability of a parachute system.

https://www.reddit.com/r/spacex/wiki/faq/reusability

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