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And just for comparison on that number, the entire Apollo spacecraft (command+service+lunar modules) was about 50 tons to lunar orbit. And that took a gigantic

And just for comparison on that number, the entire Apollo spacecraft (command+service+lunar modules) was about 50 tons to lunar orbit. And that took a gigantic Saturn V to launch.

ericd 29d ago
SpaceX is planning on launching the significantly more gigantic Starship daily. It's not there yet, but they're steadily grinding toward regular launches, and they supposedly are retiring Falcon 9 from commercial launches within the next couple of years.
- tharkun__ 29d ago
  And "From a technology standpoint, Tesla will have a car that can do full autonomy in about three years, maybe a bit sooner.". Uttered by Musk in 2015. So ... yeeeeaaah.
  - ericd 29d ago
    Have you been following Starship development closely?
    - tharkun__ 28d ago
      Musk has 10+ years of history we can go by that says: Nobody has to follow anything closely to know that he will just say whatever he wants to say and you should give a rats ass about it timeline wise. Now, do not get me wrong: I got frickin' goose bumps when I saw the first Falcon touchdown. Goose bumps again when they did the first landing out in the open ocean. Of course I still love you! The pincers catching a starship booster were super awesome. Did I mention goose bumps? I am getting them as I write this, thinking back to those moments and now I want to re-watch all of those on youtube after I finish typing this. But believing a single timeline prediction by Musk? No, forget it. EDIT: haha, and yeah I did go re-watch and this is so super awesome when I got reminded of it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvim4rsNHkQ&t=1s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvim4rsNHkQ&t=1s No this is not meant as a jab btw. I love that they have this up. This is what many of us do in software development. Just we don't blow up actual frickin' spaceships to do it "It's just a rapid unscheduled disassembly!" ;)
  - anon48293 29d ago
    I mean technologically they can, just not due to safety and legal reasons.
    - tharkun__ 28d ago
      Can you tell me what the difference is between "technologically" and "safely" standpoint? "Technologically we can do self-driving, we'll just be killing any person that happens to stand in our way" does not qualify even as "technologically" for me ;) The technology has to take into consideration the safety part. Legal, sure I'll give leeway. If you've seen some of the stuff Teslas have done past that predicted timeline, then no, they really did not qualify.
  - m4rtink 28d ago
    And they are saying they will land that Flacon rocket on its tail! What nonsense, that will never work! (https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/06/a-falcon-9-booster-turns-five-years-old-and-just-set-a-remarkable-reuse-record/ https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/06/a-falcon-9-booster-tur...)

And just for comparison on that number, the entire Apollo spacecraft (command+service+lunar modules) was about 50 tons to lunar orbit. And that took a gigantic Saturn V to launch.

ericd 29d ago

SpaceX is planning on launching the significantly more gigantic Starship daily. It's not there yet, but they're steadily grinding toward regular launches, and they supposedly are retiring Falcon 9 from commercial launches within the next couple of years.

tharkun__ 29d ago
And "From a technology standpoint, Tesla will have a car that can do full autonomy in about three years, maybe a bit sooner.". Uttered by Musk in 2015. So ... yeeeeaaah.
- ericd 29d ago
  Have you been following Starship development closely?
  - tharkun__ 28d ago
    Musk has 10+ years of history we can go by that says: Nobody has to follow anything closely to know that he will just say whatever he wants to say and you should give a rats ass about it timeline wise. Now, do not get me wrong: I got frickin' goose bumps when I saw the first Falcon touchdown. Goose bumps again when they did the first landing out in the open ocean. Of course I still love you! The pincers catching a starship booster were super awesome. Did I mention goose bumps? I am getting them as I write this, thinking back to those moments and now I want to re-watch all of those on youtube after I finish typing this. But believing a single timeline prediction by Musk? No, forget it. EDIT: haha, and yeah I did go re-watch and this is so super awesome when I got reminded of it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvim4rsNHkQ&t=1s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvim4rsNHkQ&t=1s No this is not meant as a jab btw. I love that they have this up. This is what many of us do in software development. Just we don't blow up actual frickin' spaceships to do it "It's just a rapid unscheduled disassembly!" ;)
- anon48293 29d ago
  I mean technologically they can, just not due to safety and legal reasons.
  - tharkun__ 28d ago
    Can you tell me what the difference is between "technologically" and "safely" standpoint? "Technologically we can do self-driving, we'll just be killing any person that happens to stand in our way" does not qualify even as "technologically" for me ;) The technology has to take into consideration the safety part. Legal, sure I'll give leeway. If you've seen some of the stuff Teslas have done past that predicted timeline, then no, they really did not qualify.
- m4rtink 28d ago
  And they are saying they will land that Flacon rocket on its tail! What nonsense, that will never work! (https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/06/a-falcon-9-booster-turns-five-years-old-and-just-set-a-remarkable-reuse-record/ https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/06/a-falcon-9-booster-tur...)