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Elon Musk’s Mission to Mars

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Re: Elon Musk’s Mission to Mars

#101

Post by sbierwagen »

jpxxx wrote: post #69
mbrubeck wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why "for life"? Even if a permanent base is established, what would stop people from traveling there to work for a year or so and then returning home? I know health concerns related to radiation and gravity may impose some constraints, but would a round-trip journey be out of the question? Musk's explicit goal is to make and use fully-reusable rockets, so obviously he intends them to travel both directions. If you're…

Yes! The idea of 0.38G water is fascinating. It must look "wrong" when it ripples or pours.

I prefer 0.16G water.

Re: Elon Musk’s Mission to Mars

#102

Post by InternetUser »

jpxxx wrote: post #93
nickzarzycki wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I am delighted You certainly don't sound like it.

I would sprint through a minefield to be on that first boat out. My wallpaper at one point in life was panoramic prints from the Opportunity rover. I wrote Kim Stanley Robinson a fan letter, signed with a chewed up gelly pen. I am utterly delighted. But the hard part is extremely, extremely, extremely hard. It's not getting there, it's staying there. And scant few people are focusing on what it would actually look li…

I have to say that I definitely agree with your point--and your writing style is great. Do you happen to have a blog or contribute material to any other website (aside from this one, of course)?

Re: Elon Musk’s Mission to Mars

#103

Post by josh33 »

minikites wrote: post #95
flatline wrote: post #32

> The problem is that at a lot of big companies, process becomes a substitute for thinking. You’re encouraged to behave like a little gear in a complex machine. Frankly, it allows you to keep people who aren’t that smart, who aren’t that creative. Sounds like so many complaints about the enterprise software landscape, and has certainly proved to be true in my own experience. Codified processes usually start with the…

This is something I've been struggling with. I see the two paths to success being mutually exclusive; throw out process and go big or channel process into success. See this link and the ensuing discussion: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4727045 This view is to cultivate habits and work consistently and methodically every day. Elon's view is to toss out process and dream big. What is the best way to reconcile the…

Process is not a replacement for thinking. It's a tool to be used as enabling repetitive tasks to be higher quality and allowing the doer to focus on higher thought.

Re: Elon Musk’s Mission to Mars

#104

Post by wtracy »

larrydag wrote: post #60
simba-hiiipower wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

very cool; thanks for the links. and that would be absolutely amazing; though in some ways (and not to discount musk’s undertaking at all) i feel it speaks more so to a failure of governments (generally speaking) in investing to drive technological advance. it should be the public sector that leads in these types of endeavors. one of the most important functions of a state is its ability and willingness to invest in…

While I agree the state can provide financing it is the private sector that is going to innovate. When you look at the astonishing transportation and exploration break-throughs of humanity it was mostly the private individual (Columbus, Howard Hughs, Lockheed) with the exception of space. Why is that so? Risk. Astronauts from NASA have been saying for years that the cost to launch increased so much because of the ave…

Christopher Columbus had financial backing by the Spanish crown.

Re: Elon Musk’s Mission to Mars

#106

Post by geoffw8 »

Osmium wrote: post #88
starpilot wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not that hard to become a US permanent resident. SpaceX doesn't hire many PhD's though, they're quite manufacturing/design oriented. The guys I knew who got in were all bachelor's and master's holders with hands-on experience building stuff that flies (mostly via student projects) and high gpa's (3.7+) from good schools.

Thanks for the info and the advice. I know my PhD isn't going to help me, at least not directly, because it's only peripherally related but my undergrad background is very solid. I've also interned at Rolls-Royce working on jet engines, and I know the kind of materials design issues they'll be running up against. e.g. in the article he mentions stir welding, something I've studied (and had the pleasure of visiting th…

Dude go for it! Sounds like the opportunity of a life time and you sound like you know your stuff. Send some emails!

Re: Elon Musk’s Mission to Mars

#107

Post by greedo »

simba-hiiipower wrote: post #43
hi wrote: post #5

If you have't already seen it, Kevin Rose interviews Elon Musk: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-s_3b5fRd8 Also, Neil deGrasse Tyson talks about if there was a space race with China the US would be on Mars in 18 months: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=c... It would be truly amazing if a private company was the first to set foot on another planet.

very cool; thanks for the links. and that would be absolutely amazing; though in some ways (and not to discount musk’s undertaking at all) i feel it speaks more so to a failure of governments (generally speaking) in investing to drive technological advance. it should be the public sector that leads in these types of endeavors. one of the most important functions of a state is its ability and willingness to invest in…

Can't say I agree that funding this type of endeavor is "one of the most important functions of a state is its ability and willingness to invest in projects that would be otherwise unprofitable or far too long-term for any rational player in the private sector to take-on." Government does many things marginally better than the private sector, and many things poorly.

For example, the Pyramids are a stunning achievement that couldn't have been completed without using government. However, I don't see them as being particularly helpful today.

Governments don't need to have "economic functions" other than protecting property rights, and maintaining a sound currency.

Re: Elon Musk’s Mission to Mars

#108

Post by jpxxx »

InternetUser wrote: post #102
jpxxx wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would sprint through a minefield to be on that first boat out. My wallpaper at one point in life was panoramic prints from the Opportunity rover. I wrote Kim Stanley Robinson a fan letter, signed with a chewed up gelly pen. I am utterly delighted. But the hard part is extremely, extremely, extremely hard. It's not getting there, it's staying there. And scant few people are focusing on what it would actually look li…

I have to say that I definitely agree with your point--and your writing style is great. Do you happen to have a blog or contribute material to any other website (aside from this one, of course)?

Soon, thank you. But I doubt I'll connect it to this or any of my other sour and shitty identities. Time for a fresh start.

Re: Elon Musk’s Mission to Mars

#109

Post by swohns »

zacharycohn wrote: post #58
mbrubeck wrote: post #36

I was at the University of Washington science and engineering career fair last month, recruiting for Mozilla. Our booth was reasonably busy, but the SpaceX booth had a gigantic mob surrounding it at all times. People are seriously excited about space.

Did you come to my Hacker News meetup last month? Chris Lewicki from Planetary Resources spoke, which was pretty awesome.

The Explorer's Club in New York had Space Exploration as a theme in 2010, it was amazing how excited people got, and entrepreneurs have really taken hold of space travel. People should also check out Richard Garriott's work in the area, he spoke at the dinner and is another awesome space entrepreneur: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yiWoY36Ukc

Re: Elon Musk’s Mission to Mars

#110

Post by sehugg »

anonymouz wrote: post #37
Tuna-Fish wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

First to file doesn't work like that. Their patent would be struck down on prior art if they ever tried to use it.

If they keep it secret, it's usually not considered prior art ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prior_art ).

Apparently the Leahy-Smith Act allows trade secrets to be used as a patent infringement defense in some cases (IANAL): http://www.patentbaristas.com/archives/2012/06/20/bio-2012-e...
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