Elon Musk’s plan to build one Starship a week and settle Mars
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Re: Elon Musk’s plan to build one Starship a week and settle Mars
#2Excerpt:
"Just iterate, baby"
"I’ve spoken with plenty of the earliest engineers who worked at SpaceX, and almost all of them have noted that Musk tackles the hardest engineering problems first. For Mars, there will be so many logistical things to make it all work, from power on the surface to scratching out a living to adapting to its extreme climate. But Musk believes that the initial, hardest step is building a reusable, orbital Starship to get people and tons of stuff to Mars. So he is focused on that.
He knows he won’t get Starship right at first. He employs some of the smartest engineers on this planet, and they’re still, in many ways, fumbling toward solutions for the extremely hard problem of getting a super-large vehicle out of Earth’s gravity well into orbit—then to land it and fly it again. Musk has come to believe the only way to realistically achieve this is through trial and error, by iterating closer and closer to the right design."
Re: Elon Musk’s plan to build one Starship a week and settle Mars
#3This Musk quote from the article resonated with me:
> There’s plenty of forgiveness if you pass me the buck. There is no forgiveness if you don’t.
Re: Elon Musk’s plan to build one Starship a week and settle Mars
#4Is it me, or does this article basically romanticize abusing workers and glorifies running projects without a plan, just with a goal?
Re: Elon Musk’s plan to build one Starship a week and settle Mars
#5This Musk quote from the article resonated with me: > There’s plenty of forgiveness if you pass me the buck. There is no forgiveness if you don’t.
Next week, Musks inbox is flooded with "Weld 28467 is looking slightly bubbly. It'll probably be okay, but wanted to pass the buck to you".
Re: Elon Musk’s plan to build one Starship a week and settle Mars
#6Excerpt: "Just iterate, baby" "I’ve spoken with plenty of the earliest engineers who worked at SpaceX, and almost all of them have noted that Musk tackles the hardest engineering problems first. For Mars, there will be so many logistical things to make it all work, from power on the surface to scratching out a living to adapting to its extreme climate. But Musk believes that the initial, hardest step is building a re…
"Musk has come to believe the only way to realistically achieve this is through trial and error, by iterating closer and closer to the right design"
This how everything is made. Revolutionary.
Re: Elon Musk’s plan to build one Starship a week and settle Mars
#7Excerpt: "Just iterate, baby" "I’ve spoken with plenty of the earliest engineers who worked at SpaceX, and almost all of them have noted that Musk tackles the hardest engineering problems first. For Mars, there will be so many logistical things to make it all work, from power on the surface to scratching out a living to adapting to its extreme climate. But Musk believes that the initial, hardest step is building a re…
"Musk has come to believe the only way to realistically achieve this is through trial and error, by iterating closer and closer to the right design" This how everything is made. Revolutionary.
You jest, but he actually does it. Executing the right idea is the value, not the idea.
Everyone else is cush and doesn't want to rock the boat (SLS, legacy automaker leadership, etc). For those, innovation has no incentive. "Innovator's dilemma" [1] and all that jazz.
Disclaimer: Not a huge Musk fan anymore, "world's least worst billionaire", but credit where credit due. I don't endorse sweat shops, but he has teached a cohort to yearn for the vast and endless sea. He is a salesperson first, and he is selling the dream.
Re: Elon Musk’s plan to build one Starship a week and settle Mars
#8I wonder how they handle differences in plans/knowledge/outlook between the 4 shifts. I can totally see the AM team working towards different quality standards or designs than the Evening team because they never talk to one another.
Re: Elon Musk’s plan to build one Starship a week and settle Mars
#9Is it me, or does this article basically romanticize abusing workers and glorifies running projects without a plan, just with a goal?
I assume that an "all-hands" meeting at 1AM means an all-hands for everybody working the night shift, not the entire staff. Yes, shift work sucks, but that doesn't necessarily mean overwork.
Re: Elon Musk’s plan to build one Starship a week and settle Mars
#10Elon Musk is beyond obsessed with reaching Mars. I feel bad for his employees