SpaceX Falcon Heavy

[dgies9156]

I do think it's a generational thing chitown.  I'm old enough to remember watching the Apollo 11 moon landing well.  It was like witnessing Columbus discover the 'new world' live on TV. So special.

Apollo 11 probably was the greatest single accomplishment this country has ever set out to do. In less than 10 years, we went from barely being able to get a rocket off the launch pad at the Cape without having it blow up to landing two men on the moon.

Yes, the moon.

You almost had to be alive at the time to understand how amazing it was. The computer on Apollo 11 had less computing power than your average simple calculator today. Your cell phone is far more sophisticated than just about anything they had at NASA and yet here's some of the world's brightest people (along with a few Nazis) putting Neil Armstrong down within a few yards of what they planned on the surface of the Moon, 238,000 miles away.

As Walter Cronkite said at the time, "wow!"

[dgies9156]

Bringing space creatures back to earth for possible exploitation by unscrupulous corporate types.

That lends a whole new definition to the term illegal alien.

Hmmmmm, how are we going to build a wall on that one?????

[GGGG]

That lends a whole new definition to the term illegal alien.

Hmmmmm, how are we going to build a wall on that one?????

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyson_sphere

[Hards Alumni]

mining what?  and getting it to earth?

will never be practical

How about tourism?  if this is only something the 1% can afford, it will never go beyond a novelty.

I've been agreeing with you a lot lately.  But you're high if you think space mining isn't a HUGE future industry.

Elon Musk is my personal hero btw.  Puts all his cash on the line to better the world, and has a real shot to make insane money from his Falcon Heavy investment.  Even if Tesla isn't making money, its producing TECH.  And that matters.  First to tech, first to patent.  He can subsidize any Tesla loss with the gains from SpaceX and have money left over.

[GGGG]

How is Elon Musk bettering the world?  It seems to me he's just rolling over his fortune to make more money.

Now Bill Gates on the other hand...

[Hards Alumni]

How is Elon Musk bettering the world?  It seems to me he's just rolling over his fortune to make more money.

Now Bill Gates on the other hand...

Potential to launch satellites way cheaper (allows more entry), electric vehicles (lower CO2 emissions), instant transfer of money across the net... and he is trying to get humans off our rock... I mean I don't care if he makes money his investments, in fact I encourage it.  We need a helluva lot more people like him.  He is actually creating something.  If you're comparing him to Bill Gates... fine.  Bill Gates is right at the top of my list as well.  Absolute fantastic philanthropist, and his spouse is equally admirable.  Their work to diminish deaths from malaria alone is amazing... but we aren't comparing levels of 'awesomeness'.

A man that cares this much about his life's work is impossible to not admire.  His was told his heroes don't think what he is doing is a good idea (they later clarified their statements, but their original words clearly affect him), and he refuses to give up.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CyGqMZQAMio&feature=youtu.be

[GooooMarquette]

Well, technically Space Man and his Tesla will fairly quickly be torn apart by radiation in space.  So I certainly hope we are not going extinct before then.

Folks from NASA and Harvard seem to disagree.

http://money.cnn.com/2018/02/09/technology/future/tesla-orbit-elon-musk-spacex/index.html