41–50 of 102 posts
Can this eventually carry people into orbit, I wonder?
Yes. https://twitter.com/spacexer/status/55291286919454720 > Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy are designed to meet all published NASA standards to carry crew. (disclaimer: you must weigh less than 53 metric tons)
This is extremely cool but I have one question about the website design; what's with using Flash for the headings (I only noticed because I have click-to-flash turned on)?
The build rocket ships, who cares about their website?
Elon Musk seems to be someone who really knows how to do cool things with the spoils of a successful software company. Are there any other good examples of people like this that have taken one big win and parlayed it into investing in seriously futuristic technology?
Richard Branson is a good example of an "adventure capitalist". Here is his Wikipedia profile: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Branson Here is the Wikipedia page for his space tourism company: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virgin_Galactic Also worthy of a mention is Mark Shuttleworth, who was the world's second space tourist (and also the founder of the Ubuntu Foundation): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Shuttl…
There's only one thing I don't like about this, and that's the name. Falcon Heavy? Doesn't sound cool. SpaceX has done an excellent job of coming up with cool-sounding names for everything they do, second only to US muscle car manufacturers of the 1960s. Falcon! Merlin! Draco! They even skipped straight from Falcon 1 to Falcon 9 because the numbers in between just don't sound nearly as cool. But "heavy"? Sure, it's d…
"Rocket name"-heavy is standard aerospace nomenclature for uprated rockets, derived from such launch systems being described as "heavy lift" rockets. Since there is no such thing as a casual buyer of a 80 million dollar rocket, how cool the name is doesn't matter at all. It also puzzles me why they're "announcing" this, since a heavy lift version of the Falcon 9 has been planned since day one.
You'd think so, and yet SpaceX has always done such a good job of making things sound cool.
As Doc Brown says, if you're going to build a time machine out of a car you might as well give it some style. And if you're going to build a huge fricking rocket that goes to space you might as well give it a cool name.
Elon Musk seems to be someone who really knows how to do cool things with the spoils of a successful software company. Are there any other good examples of people like this that have taken one big win and parlayed it into investing in seriously futuristic technology?
Richard Branson is a good example of an "adventure capitalist". Here is his Wikipedia profile: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Branson Here is the Wikipedia page for his space tourism company: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virgin_Galactic Also worthy of a mention is Mark Shuttleworth, who was the world's second space tourist (and also the founder of the Ubuntu Foundation): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Shuttl…
Elon Musk seems to be someone who really knows how to do cool things with the spoils of a successful software company. Are there any other good examples of people like this that have taken one big win and parlayed it into investing in seriously futuristic technology?
Richard Branson is a good example of an "adventure capitalist". Here is his Wikipedia profile: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Branson Here is the Wikipedia page for his space tourism company: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virgin_Galactic Also worthy of a mention is Mark Shuttleworth, who was the world's second space tourist (and also the founder of the Ubuntu Foundation): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Shuttl…
Wow, I like how candid they are about the pricing. It feels like they are targeting consumers more than governments -- most 'expensive,' enterprise targeted products are of the 'call us and ask for pricing' variety.
My thoughts exactly. Space X can quote a price on their website, but if I want to know what "Infrastructure Monitoring Tool XYZ" costs, I have to call and talk to some retired used car salesman. I now have hope for our future.
This has proven to be a mistake for two main reasons: Firstly, everyone expects huge discounts (since all their other enterprise contracts give them big discounts off of the list price). Trying to explain that we're already the cheapest option they're looking at does help. They all want more off. Secondly I think we're losing opportunities because we aren't making people call us. Those phone calls are missed opportunities for us to really pitch our advantages for their specific situation and needs better than our website ever could.
There's only one thing I don't like about this, and that's the name. Falcon Heavy? Doesn't sound cool. SpaceX has done an excellent job of coming up with cool-sounding names for everything they do, second only to US muscle car manufacturers of the 1960s. Falcon! Merlin! Draco! They even skipped straight from Falcon 1 to Falcon 9 because the numbers in between just don't sound nearly as cool. But "heavy"? Sure, it's d…