Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Elon Musk: "I would like to die on Mars"

businessweek.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

71–80 of 145 posts

Re: Elon Musk: "I would like to die on Mars"

#71

Post by waterlesscloud »

jpxxx wrote: post #68
iandanforth wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you ready the Red / Green / Blue mars trilogy? It might change your mind. Also, not that it's possible, but why would you want to increase martian gravity? 1/3G would be awesome for sport.

I loved those books to death, but the parent is right. Mars is a rustier version of the moon with slightly better scenery. Imagine a life where you as a native Martian never get to go outside, never get to feel fresh air, never get to meet a stranger, never get to storm off, never get the chance to live truly alone, never get to punch a wall, and never get a chance to see another world. No streams, no swimming, no oc…

Sign me up. It's Mars.

I think the disconnect here is that there are in fact people who have considered such things and still want to go. It's the pioneer spirit. Hardship is part of the appeal.

Re: Elon Musk: "I would like to die on Mars"

#72

Post by stcredzero »

waterlesscloud wrote: post #25
shawnee_ wrote: post #15

On the assumption that people will be living on earth for some time, Musk is cooking up plans for something he calls the Hyperloop. He won’t share specifics but says it’s some sort of tube capable of taking someone from downtown San Francisco to Los Angeles in 30 minutes. He calls it a “fifth mode of transportation”—the previous four being train, plane, automobile, and boat. “What you want is something that never cra…

The California "high speed" rail project is depressing. In theory, I'm a huge fan of high speed rail. But the California project is going to end up costing over $100 billion, and everyone knows it. It's going to take decades to complete. If, indeed, it's ever completed. It's routed to go places no one wants to go. And, as Mr. Musk says, it' not actually going to be very fast. It's pretty much a classic textbook boond…

> It's routed to go places no one wants to go.

Big. Red. Flag.

The Minneapolis light rail uses the same equipment as Houston's light rail. The big difference is that the Minneapolis light rail goes between the airport, downtown, and the Mall of America. People can immediately see its value. Houston's light rail doesn't go to either of Houston's airports, even though it's sorely needed.

Re: Elon Musk: "I would like to die on Mars"

#73

Post by stcredzero »

psbp wrote: post #63
nitrogen wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You don't need acid to say things like that, just Star Trek.

Coming to this conclusion on acid is much more gripping and powerful than while watching star trek.

He did too much LDS in the 60's.

Re: Elon Musk: "I would like to die on Mars"

#75

Post by stcredzero »

codex wrote: post #10

Given Mars' weak gravitational field, extremely low atmospheric pressure, lack of breathable oxygen, deathly cold temperatures, and weak magnetic field (leading to high levels of radiation), he may well get his wish. Many others will likely get this wish against their will. If he would like to get a taste of realistic Martian colonization here on Earth, may I suggest living underground in a windowless tank, surrounde…

> Given Mars' weak gravitational field...

Actually, that's a big plus. Single Stage to Orbit and the simplified logistics would make access to the rest of the Solar System much, much easier. Heck, we could even build a Space Elevator on Mars with today's technology, if we really wanted to.

> If he would like to get a taste of realistic Martian colonization here on Earth, may I suggest living underground in a windowless tank, surrounded by a partial vacuum, next to a nuclear reactor.

Some people think living in extreme environments to be fun: http://amzn.com/1590786076

The problem with your scenario, is that you wouldn't get to put on a space suit, step out of an airlock and walk on Mars.

Re: Elon Musk: "I would like to die on Mars"

#76

Post by stcredzero »

it wrote: post #9

Saying it that way makes it sound like a new retirement community. Why not say he would like to live on Mars? Maybe because it's a dead planet and not very livable.

> Why not say he would like to live on Mars? Maybe because it's a dead planet and not very livable.

One could grow plants on Mars. It has close to a 24 hour day-night cycle, and enough sunlight. Growing plants on continental agricultural scales is infeasible with artificial light, but on Earth and Mars, you don't need that. All you need are pressurized greenhouses, and you could have full-blown agriculture on Mars. The industrial processes for creating polymer films from Martian resources on Mars to enable this have already been worked out.

With some genetic engineering, we might not even need the greenhouses.

Re: Elon Musk: "I would like to die on Mars"

#77

Post by aswanson »

damoncali wrote: post #42
dasil003 wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is it "of the highest order" because it's marketing something substantive?

Exactly the opposite. It's the grand marketing of an even grander vision - the ultimate vaporware. Where people with can dream up supersonic aircraft that are massively more efficient than the highly refined subsonic craft that have been built by thousands of very smart people over decades. Where magic tubes will transport people near the speed of sound whenever they want for a mere $6B. Where the realities of space…

If we ever get fusion down, Jupiter is probably a better target, as it has immense stores of hydrogen and tritium.

Re: Elon Musk: "I would like to die on Mars"

#79

Post by ericd »

codex wrote: post #45
mc32 wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Where's the sense of adventure and romance in that? Lots of explorers of yore could have met with the similar arguments. Some people can stay behind and man/woman? the home front, others can go off to explore and expand our existence. Not that there's no cost to it, but let's hope, that overall, it's a net plus. As a species we have wanderlust built-in, perhaps.

When I was young and was reading a lot of pulp science fiction books, I was in love with Mars. But those books are fiction. The reality of Mars is not a great cosmic adventure. Mars is a shithole. Don't get me wrong--Mars should be explored, and we will find some truly breathtaking things. And if we find life on Mars, the scientific paydirt will be huge. However, the great finds and exploration of Mars will be done b…

There are a lot of things that humans can do that robots can't. Adaptability/flexibility/decision-making are the biggest areas in which robots are very deficient. When the RTT is over a year, flexibility of the payload is a pretty big deal. We're also ultimately not just doing this for scientific knowledge, but also knowledge about how to best become an interplanetary species, and those kinds of questions are usually best answered with humans acting as willing test subjects/participants.

Re: Elon Musk: "I would like to die on Mars"

#80

Post by ericd »

enraged_camel wrote: post #60
untog wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is this not the same hacker news where people get bent out of shape when Apple bends the truth on their iPhone marketing copy? Er, no, it really isn't. The implication here is that he is actually working on these things, having had a "breakthrough" over the summer. It could be absolute crap, yes. But he has a number of previous successes that indicate he is capable of delivering. The overall point is that he isn't ju…

>>The overall point is that he isn't just dreaming, he is clearly spending a lot of money on doing as well. Furthermore, he is putting his money where his mouth is, by spending his own money.

And finally, the results have been fucking great. The Tesla Roadster is absolutely unbelievable, it's more fun than most roller coasters. According to the reviews in car magazine, the Model S is similarly unbelievable in similar and other ways (fantastic ride/handling, absurd acceleration, great cargo capacity, seating for 5 comfortably, 7 with kids). And SpaceX is demolishing the other space launch companies in their space in terms of price to fulfill a launch. He's got way more license to dream up crazy things without being called out than pretty much anyone else alive.
Post reply on HN