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SpaceX can't test fire its Falcon Heavy rocket due to the government shutdown

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Re: SpaceX can't test fire its Falcon Heavy rocket due to the government shutdown

#171

Post by stcredzero »

schiffern wrote: post #131
Animats wrote: post #38

Space-X was supposed to be building their own launch facility in Brownsville, TX, and it was supposed to be open now, but it's still just a vacant lot. They brought in some tracking antennas and some dirt fill; that's it.[1] [1] http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/news/local/spacex-progress-...

>They brought in... some dirt fill; that's it. They're doing soil surcharging, so that's intentional. Don't want the castle sinking into the swamp (it's on 300+ feet of silt[1]). The steps for soil surcharging are: 1. Pile extra dirt on top of your fill. 2. Wait a sufficient amount of time (usually months/years; it's important to wait long enough[2]) as the dirt compresses and squeezes out water. 3. Remove the extra…

Don't want the castle sinking into the swamp (it's on 300+ feet of silt[1]).

"When I first came here, this was all swamp. Everyone said I was daft to build a castle on a swamp, but I built in all the same, just to show them. It sank into the swamp. So I built a second one. And that one sank into the swamp. So I built a third. That burned down, fell over, and then sank into the swamp. But the fourth one stayed up. And that’s what you’re going to get, Son, the strongest castle in all of England."

Re: SpaceX can't test fire its Falcon Heavy rocket due to the government shutdown

#172

Post by telchar »

nimos wrote: post #164
jernfrost wrote: post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Clanan, to my knowledge this is ALL Trump and the republican's fault. Until 3 weeks ago they could have passed anything they wanted. It is just because they wasted time and Trump sabotaged everything the republicans came up with that so much time passed that they reached a stage where a 60 senate vote was needed. You can't blame this on democrats when republicans could have handled this exclusively themselves and had…

Why could they pass anything up until 3 weeks ago? I though filibustering meant the senate always needed 60 votes if the opposing party wants to block the legislation.

They could have used the budget reconciliation process to bypass the filibuster. Instead they used their one opportunity this year to do that to get the tax bill passed. If they hadn't insisted on forcing through a (historically unpopular) tax bill, they could have passed a funding bill over any Democratic opposition.

Re: SpaceX can't test fire its Falcon Heavy rocket due to the government shutdown

#173

Post by ars »

kasey_junk wrote: post #148
ars wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The tax cuts are actually very popular. And I don't think anyone expected the Democrats to actually shut down the government over illegal immigrants.

It is impossible for this not to be a political topic and I probably shouldn’t be even discussing it here, but whatever. What would be the reasonable thing for the democrats to do right now? They weren’t allowed to see the tax bill. That’s what happens when something has the 51 republicans and it can’t be filibustered in the current environment. Further, the republicans haven’t even brought a bill forward to be filib…

Except they are hurting tons of people in the US in exchange for strategy. That's simply not right.

And of all issues DACA? It's important to some people, but as a national topic it's pretty minor.

> What would be the reasonable thing for the democrats to do right now?

Realize they are weak and accept it. Then take the offer they were given and do the best they can. But don't hurt unrelated people in the US to try to increase their own strength.

That's a pretty selfish thing to do after all.

Re: SpaceX can't test fire its Falcon Heavy rocket due to the government shutdown

#174

Post by ars »

mikeash wrote: post #143
ars wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The tax cuts are actually very popular. And I don't think anyone expected the Democrats to actually shut down the government over illegal immigrants.

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-gop-tax-cuts-are-ev...

I personally, was totally against the tax cut after reading about it in the media.

Then it actually passed and the media (yup, that same media) put out some calculators. I played with those, and realized I was seriously mislead.

Wait another month, when people will get higher paychecks, and see if it's still unpopular.

I really wish the media would stop telling me how to think. Just tell me what happened. Leave out the reactions, and quotes from "other people" telling me what I should think about a topic.

Best I can do right now is read opposing media outlets and contrast them, but it's hard to do.

Re: SpaceX can't test fire its Falcon Heavy rocket due to the government shutdown

#175

Post by cracell »

shmerl wrote: post #165
robryan wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At their current rate of launches it probably just doesn't make any sense to put a lot of resources into it. There has been upgrades in automation for the ranges last year which allow a higher frequency of launches. Plus they started launching again from their second Cape Canaveral pad. I read that even with their own facility they would still be affected by a shutdown.

> I read that even with their own facility they would still be affected by a shutdown. In what way?

Launches still have a bunch of government regulations. Which I assume include government workers monitoring or reviewing things.

Re: SpaceX can't test fire its Falcon Heavy rocket due to the government shutdown

#176

Post by ateesdalejr »

fhood wrote: post #156
mikeash wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That’s oversimplified. Some agencies continue to operate for a bit because they have enough money stashed to do so. For example, the Smithsonian stayed open over the weekend and is apparently open today as well. The EPA will stay open for another week because they apparently have a nice chunk of cash somewhere. The postal service will operate indefinitely because they earn their own money. For everybody else, a shutd…

Thank god for usps.

Neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night, nor government shutdown stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.

Re: SpaceX can't test fire its Falcon Heavy rocket due to the government shutdown

#177

Post by stcredzero »

jernfrost wrote: post #155
icelancer wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>>Which is beyond ironic to anyone who's worked in the corporate world, but I guess that's for another thread. >>This idea they have that private enterprise naturally evolves toward the most efficient system is laughable. Work in private industry AND government and you might find the comparison a bit more apt, not that I'm a Republican.

In my native Norway, we let the public sector and private sector compete to perform public services. I can't say that I've ever seen that the private sector has a clear advantage, otherwise they would already have taken over running everything. In fact I think I know of far more cases of private companies doing considerably worse job than what the public sector did. My city recently switched to a private company for…

I can't say that I've ever seen that the private sector has a clear advantage, otherwise they would already have taken over running everything.

An entity that can rig the courts, the laws, and the regulations to its favor has an advantage.

Sure these are just anecdotes. But it puts a hole in the claim that the private sector is ALWAYS better.

Yeah, that's just magical thinking nonsense. You have to take the situation apart and look at what the incentives are. Economic libertarian woo is just as bad as alternative medicine woo. Markets aren't magic. They are a particular kind of distributed machine. It sounds like that mental hospital/home didn't have a competitive environment, or they couldn't have demanded more funding.

In fact almost every case I've seen where a private company does the job cheaper, it is because they give their employees worse conditions and salaries, not because of smarter organization and management.

In Washington state in the US, there were private DMV counters at Fred Meyer. AAA auto insurance can also do some of these functions. The customer experience is almost universally better at the private counters, because the private employees have incentives to make the customer experience pleasant, and the state employees have none. If a company can cheap out on its employees as compared to the state, and the level of service stays the same, then the market worked. If a company does that, and the level of service gets crappier, but the company doesn't face consequences, then the market has not worked. I bet, if you tried hard to prove the null hypothesis and looked for circumstances that would interfere with the market, you'd find them.

Re: SpaceX can't test fire its Falcon Heavy rocket due to the government shutdown

#178

Post by mikeash »

ars wrote: post #174
mikeash wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-gop-tax-cuts-are-ev...

I personally, was totally against the tax cut after reading about it in the media. Then it actually passed and the media (yup, that same media) put out some calculators. I played with those, and realized I was seriously mislead. Wait another month, when people will get higher paychecks, and see if it's still unpopular. I really wish the media would stop telling me how to think. Just tell me what happened. Leave out t…

You seem to be arguing about whether or not the tax cut should be popular, which is completely different.

Re: SpaceX can't test fire its Falcon Heavy rocket due to the government shutdown

#179

Post by bostonpete »

jadell wrote: post #126
dEnigma wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From the context it is clear that you meant "KSC" instead of "KSP", but I think the typo is quite interesting. For those unaware: KSP = Kerbal Space Program, a video game about space exploration

Additionally, "KSC" is the abbreviation of the space center in the game video KSP.

...and the Kenya Space Corporation in Artemis.

Re: SpaceX can't test fire its Falcon Heavy rocket due to the government shutdown

#180

Post by refurb »

mcv wrote: post #92
bsimpson wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is the thing that blew my mind last time: The shoreline of San Francisco is a national park (donated when the military base here closed). There's a restaurant on the shore called Cliff House, whose landlord is the US government. During the shutdown, the government forced the restaurant, a private establishment, to close. The owners and the kitchen staff were not allowed to make a living. And because they aren't…

Why would a lack of funding for the government suspend a rent agreement? That's actually money flowing into the government. Why does that need to be shut down?

My guess is politics. If you want voters to push to end the shutdown, make it hurt regardless if the shutdown requires it.

This also happened with national parks. They actually chained up the entrances during the shutdown as if people can't access a park if the gov't is shutdown.

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