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What other person started a rocket company from scratch and got them landing? Of course I want to hear everything he says. Yes, he's crazy - seems to be a requi

What other person started a rocket company from scratch and got them landing? Of course I want to hear everything he says. Yes, he's crazy - seems to be a requirement if you want to do such stuff. Doesn't mean I will ignore it. I can think for myself, it's not like I take everything at face value. All that to say, perhaps other people don't prioritize values like you do. The technical excellence that companies repeatedly achieved under Musk is incredible.

boxed 2y ago
It's so sad that the current culture wants to judge peoples life based on the worst they've ever done. Yea, Musk is a troll online, but his success as a business/tech leader is something you can only doubt by donning the proverbial tin foil hat.
- wormlord 2y ago
  I care less about his "troll" posts online (implying there is a conspiracy of jews importing people to destroy America is just a troll and not an actual Nazi conspiracy guys) than his manipulation of the US government, mistreatment of workers, and maybe the most egregious of all, being a fake nerd and pretending to like Evangelion.
  - whamlastxmas 2y ago
    Are you as militant about dunking on the million other people who also manipulate the government and mistreat workers to an even greater extent?
    - wormlord 2y ago
      Yes.
  - boxed 2y ago
    Ah yes, the rocket guy must be a fake nerd, and that's much worse than mistreating human beings. No flaw in that logic at all.
    - wormlord 2y ago
      It was a joke.
ImPostingOnHN 2y ago
Maybe, maybe not. Importantly, the parent didn't call him "crazy", they simply pointed out that he is hostile to workers. It's sad that people can see a good thing and think it cancels out all bad things.
- throw5959 2y ago
  I called him crazy myself (and I do think it's true), to illustrate that I am aware of his antics and it's not a reason to stop listening.
  - ImPostingOnHN 2y ago
    Right, but you replied to the parent, not yourself, and the parent didn't call him "crazy", they simply pointed out that he is hostile to workers (he is). It's sad that people can see a good thing and think it cancels out all bad things
    - throw5959 2y ago
      I'm trying to say that it doesn't cancel but that doesn't mean I won't listen.
wormlord 2y ago
> What other person started a rocket company from scratch and got them landing? I'd rather listen to Lars Blackmore (the engineer who is largely responsible for SpaceX powered descent). Or Gwynne Shotwell who actually oversees the business day-to-day. I'm really not interested in what the money guy has to say, especially since he is primarily interested in cultivating his public image-- how can you trust anything he says? The dude pays people to play a videogame for him 24/7 so he can pretend he is the best player in the world. That's not a metaphor -- he actually does that. https://www.vulture.com/article/fake-gamer-was-elon-musk-cheating-at-path-of-exile-2.html https://www.vulture.com/article/fake-gamer-was-elon-musk-che...
- throw5959 2y ago
  Sure, I'm not saying Musk is the only person who has interesting things to say about it. You're absolutely correct about these other people and I listen to them too. But you're not giving Musk enough credit. All engineers and other professionals told him that landing rockets is bullshit, and what is interesting here is that he went and made it happen anyways. I'm not talking just about the engineering, everything is interesting here - the project management, the hiring, the investments, the business side... Musk has a lot of input and influence in all of these, he was the one who decided and paid for it.
  - wormlord 2y ago
    > All engineers and other professionals told him that landing rockets is bullshit Every company has some kind of mythology where someone says "you'll never make it in this town!". The reality is that uncrewed propulsive landing was technologically feasible since the soviets landed a rover on the moon. NASA propulsively landed a rover on Mars back in 2011. Like I said, listening to billionaires is probably interesting if your goal is "acquire boatloads of money". But we already know how to do that. 1. Appear confident 2. Lie 3. Have no morals or ethics 4. Prioritize the pursuit of power above all else
    - throw5959 2y ago
      Sorry but no, this is absolutely not what happened. I am watching it closely ever since SpaceX was founded in 2002. There is an incredible gap between the tech demo you're speaking about, and actually landing a heavy orbital rocket, and then doing it 100 times in a row without a hiccup. Mars is completely off topic, as they didn't land the booster there. We had Space Shuttle before and it didn't say much about landing rocket boosters.
_shantaram 2y ago
McDonnell Douglas seems to have gotten it done, from a quick skim of [1]. It appears they ran out of funding and the program was cancelled. According to the same article, > Elon Musk stated that the SpaceX Falcon 9 development was "... continuing the great work of the DC-X project." So... [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonnell_Douglas_DC-X https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonnell_Douglas_DC-X

boxed 2y ago

It's so sad that the current culture wants to judge peoples life based on the worst they've ever done. Yea, Musk is a troll online, but his success as a business/tech leader is something you can only doubt by donning the proverbial tin foil hat.

wormlord 2y ago
I care less about his "troll" posts online (implying there is a conspiracy of jews importing people to destroy America is just a troll and not an actual Nazi conspiracy guys) than his manipulation of the US government, mistreatment of workers, and maybe the most egregious of all, being a fake nerd and pretending to like Evangelion.
- whamlastxmas 2y ago
  Are you as militant about dunking on the million other people who also manipulate the government and mistreat workers to an even greater extent?
  - wormlord 2y ago
    Yes.
- boxed 2y ago
  Ah yes, the rocket guy must be a fake nerd, and that's much worse than mistreating human beings. No flaw in that logic at all.
  - wormlord 2y ago
    It was a joke.

ImPostingOnHN 2y ago

Maybe, maybe not. Importantly, the parent didn't call him "crazy", they simply pointed out that he is hostile to workers. It's sad that people can see a good thing and think it cancels out all bad things.

throw5959 2y ago
I called him crazy myself (and I do think it's true), to illustrate that I am aware of his antics and it's not a reason to stop listening.
- ImPostingOnHN 2y ago
  Right, but you replied to the parent, not yourself, and the parent didn't call him "crazy", they simply pointed out that he is hostile to workers (he is). It's sad that people can see a good thing and think it cancels out all bad things
  - throw5959 2y ago
    I'm trying to say that it doesn't cancel but that doesn't mean I won't listen.

wormlord 2y ago

> What other person started a rocket company from scratch and got them landing? I'd rather listen to Lars Blackmore (the engineer who is largely responsible for SpaceX powered descent). Or Gwynne Shotwell who actually oversees the business day-to-day. I'm really not interested in what the money guy has to say, especially since he is primarily interested in cultivating his public image-- how can you trust anything he says? The dude pays people to play a videogame for him 24/7 so he can pretend he is the best player in the world. That's not a metaphor -- he actually does that. https://www.vulture.com/article/fake-gamer-was-elon-musk-cheating-at-path-of-exile-2.html https://www.vulture.com/article/fake-gamer-was-elon-musk-che...

throw5959 2y ago
Sure, I'm not saying Musk is the only person who has interesting things to say about it. You're absolutely correct about these other people and I listen to them too. But you're not giving Musk enough credit. All engineers and other professionals told him that landing rockets is bullshit, and what is interesting here is that he went and made it happen anyways. I'm not talking just about the engineering, everything is interesting here - the project management, the hiring, the investments, the business side... Musk has a lot of input and influence in all of these, he was the one who decided and paid for it.
- wormlord 2y ago
  > All engineers and other professionals told him that landing rockets is bullshit Every company has some kind of mythology where someone says "you'll never make it in this town!". The reality is that uncrewed propulsive landing was technologically feasible since the soviets landed a rover on the moon. NASA propulsively landed a rover on Mars back in 2011. Like I said, listening to billionaires is probably interesting if your goal is "acquire boatloads of money". But we already know how to do that. 1. Appear confident 2. Lie 3. Have no morals or ethics 4. Prioritize the pursuit of power above all else
  - throw5959 2y ago
    Sorry but no, this is absolutely not what happened. I am watching it closely ever since SpaceX was founded in 2002. There is an incredible gap between the tech demo you're speaking about, and actually landing a heavy orbital rocket, and then doing it 100 times in a row without a hiccup. Mars is completely off topic, as they didn't land the booster there. We had Space Shuttle before and it didn't say much about landing rocket boosters.

_shantaram 2y ago

McDonnell Douglas seems to have gotten it done, from a quick skim of [1]. It appears they ran out of funding and the program was cancelled. According to the same article, > Elon Musk stated that the SpaceX Falcon 9 development was "... continuing the great work of the DC-X project." So... [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonnell_Douglas_DC-X https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonnell_Douglas_DC-X