Omniscient Elon Musk seez....

[WKTaylor]

Sounds like Musk wants to start throwing resources and humans towards Mars like SpaceX is throwing Xperimental Starships over the Gulf Mexico and the Caribbean in 'lets try this... hold my beer' launches... and wants EVERYTHING ELSE OUT-OF-SpaceX's way [to Mars].​

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The ISS should be deorbited 'as soon as possible,' Elon Musk says: 'Let's go to Mars'​

The ISS should be deorbited 'as soon as possible,' Elon Musk says: 'Let's go to Mars'

"It has served its purpose. There is very little incremental utility."

www.space.com

OH... And the SLS program... hence astronaut return to the moon... is is likely to get canceled by defunding...

Boeing plans to lay off hundreds of employees working on NASA's SLS moon rocket: reports

Boeing plans to lay off hundreds of employees working on NASA's SLS moon rocket: reports

Boeing notified employees it is planning to issue layoff notices "to align with revisions to the Artemis program and cost expectations."

www.space.com

​

OH... AND... The Web Space Telescope science/maintenance budget is also 'up' for significant funding cut as astronomers are clawing for precious observation time.
I guess the Musk-Man is expecting astronomers and scientists and technicians to do more with less... or fund it themselves... BUT wait... uncertainty and arbitrary federal budge cuts are everywhere.

'It's extremely worrisome.' NASA's James Webb Space Telescope faces potential 20% budget cut just 4 years after launch

'It's extremely worrisome.' NASA's James Webb Space Telescope faces potential 20% budget cut just 4 years after launch

Such a dramatic cut to a flagship space telescope still in its prime will be felt across the mission's entire operations, affecting science.

www.space.com

Hmmm... I bet-ya if Musk had 'come onboard' before The WST launch... it would be in open-storage, somewhere in California.

Hmmm... I wonder what the ultimate price we all will pay... for all of this budget 'streamlining'.

'Death by a thousand [budget] cuts.' --me

 

[IRstuff]

Gee, you've only mentioned his good side, so far

 

[thebard3]

I enjoy discussions with reasonable discourse. I hope I can make some comments without being indiscriminately insulted or otherwise disparaged as would happen on ARS and some other sites.
1- NASA intends to deorbit the ISS in 6 years. Musk proposes to do it in 2. If they meet in the middle, that seems not unreasonable.
2- SLS should have been cancelled years ago.
3- Indiscriminately cutting funding for a program is probably reckless. Indiscriminately holding onto funding that's not needed is likewise. I would not automatically assume that the funding being cut will have an adverse affect on the program. I'll wait to see what the proposal is before criticizing it.

 

[btrueblood]

Ok, I've typed this reply twice. Gone back and deleted things that you might find insulting

1- NASA intends to deorbit the ISS in 6 years. Musk proposes to do it in 2. If they meet in the middle, that seems not unreasonable.

Having the station in orbit for 6 more years is a bad thing how? Musk's suggested replacement for the ISS and the ongoing experiments aboard (with inter-agency and international cooperation and expenditures) is what exactly? Contracts and projects extending beyond 2027 with ESA and other international organizations are supposed to do what, and is Musk going to refund their expenditures?

2- SLS should have been cancelled years ago.

Why? Musk has yet to fly a viable heavy launch vehicle successfully (i.e. one that NASA would certify for human beings) in seven (7) attempts. Its ability to be refuelled is not yet demonstrated. Its ability to relight engines in-orbit, reach the moon and enter a static lunar orbit is not demonstrated, its ability to land on the moon, take off from the moon, return to LEO, re-enter safely...none of this is demonstrated. Musk changes the mission description for his so-called "Spaceship" launches on-the-fly to normalize launch vehicle "unplanned disassemblies". No part of his rocket designs are open to public examination, review or and you yourself have stated we are not supposed to be.

3- Indiscriminately cutting funding for a program is probably reckless.

Yup.

Indiscriminately holding onto funding that's not needed is likewise.

You need to define and demonstrate "not needed". Cutting funds to JWST is not only stupid from a science standpoint, it's stupid from a public perception standpoint. Other programs, again define and demonstrate. Musk wants to cut funds for competition so that his kerfuffle contraption crap shoot launch vehicle can get a bailout government welfare funds is not at all why he wants to cut the SLS budget.

I would not automatically assume that the funding being cut will have an adverse affect on the program.

Gosh, then give me 20% of your salary, since it won't have any adverse effect.

I'll wait to see what the proposal is before criticizing it.
Great, glad to know you think Musk has a plan, vs. shooting his mouth off. Cybertrucks being such a magnificent demonstration of his engineering prowess, as is dumping 7 spaceships in a row into the ocean. Bought your ticket already?

 

[Brian Malone]

Humans going to Mars makes little sense to me, other than to say it has been achieved. Similar to climbing Mt. Everest - once you are there, little can be done, and no benefit outweighs the cost of sustaining the human presence. Mars is generally very cold (albeit, equatorial regions can reach a tolerable 70 F), lacking liquid water, and has scant oxygen in its atmosphere, high exposure to cosmic radiation and is a long trip from Earth - how is the deorbiting of the ISS and defunpding other NASA programs going to change the near death conditions for any humans who may travel there? The reusable launch systems SpaceX is developing are amazing but I am missing the big O factor of these systems to change human survival on Mars. Putting funds and research on a Moon colony seems more reasonable and closer to home. The "Go to Mars" chants are great for building enthusiasm but seem wildly optimistic.

 

[IRstuff]

The "Go to Mars" chants are great for building enthusiasm but seem wildly optimistic.

Unlike Full Self-Driving mode for Teslas, I suppose.

I think the only other semi-plausible reason for going to Mars is if Earth fails to survive humanity, or vice-versa. I think Musk has that in mind, as well as the possibility that unfettered humans on Mars might overcome the replacement ratio problem that Earth humans have; but, I think that would only work if humans were to regress a couple of thousand years and start over as hunter-gatherers or newly minted subsistence farmers.

 

[rb1957]

Elon has accomplished a lot ... 10 years ago who'd thought we'd the landing rockets (catching them !) ? who'd've thought we'd have a launch cadence like SpaceX has ?

The ISS is approaching the end of it's life. AIUI it is hard for find funding from commercial sources. I think Elon is thinking (yes, I think he is thinking) that if we're going to end, let's end it soon and save some money. The counter argument is "ok, what is going to replace it's functionality ?" (a question that should've been asked before we retired the shuttle) ... so we keep it going until it's replacement is online. It's replacement ? IDK, a moon base ?

We are years (decades ?) from a moon base, and I think we need a moon base to learn about ET living. Some say the lessons of living on the moon aren't applicable to Mars; ok, IDK. I do know that journeying to the moon is enormously easier than to Mars.

Elon has done a lot to shake up Rocketry as an industry. Personally I like his approach to testing, to building (then modifying or scraping) but I fear that if he pushes the FAA out of the way then we may have trouble. Visionaries have good ideas and bad ones.

I still "hate" the pictures of their lunar lander, looks ridiculous to me. Sure there is some logic to it ... justs looks "wrong" to me. I still like the Space 1999 Eagle.

 

[thebard3]

 

[WKTaylor]

Spaceflight is hard... it would be crazier-dangerous-hard... without a continuously trained, corps of space-hardened astronauts... 'at home' in long duration spaceflight including EVAs, working experiments, testing hardware, encountering new/unique demands, honing leadership and teams-skills and facing the daily stressors and real dangers... IE: maintaining their spaceflight senses etc, etc. There are still plenty of hard lessons and challenges to learn/endure in spaceflight .... that simulations, AI, locker-room chats and so-on simply fail to convey. Genuine astronauts know better. Occasionally I ask myself, why Musk has never been in space on a private mission he could obviously fund with his chump-change... although I suspect that he is medically disqualified from spaceflight

AND OH, by the way... the hazards of human space flight to Mars, orbiting Mars, returning from Mars... not even 'counting' a landing on Mars, operating/surviving/EVA, and returning to Mars Orbit... are actually far more daunting than Musk's arrogance can understand. Also the fact that he has committed to one type of spacecraft for doing it all... is mindboggling.

Musk arrogantly seems to believe that everyone else should step aside and let SpaceX take charge... after all its just child's-play to Musk... and NASA is simply too inept to lead any more. He seems very indifferent to the potential of the thousands of ways space can kill you.

It's not JUST US laws and societal norms Musk/Trump are violating 'by-the-numbers'... that all of us should 'just' be concerned about... it is their reckless violation/ignorance and indifference-to Murphy's Law(s) that we all should all be most concerned-about.

Murphy’s Basic Law: What CAN go wrong, WILL go wrong! (Murphy, the optimist, told us everything we need to know!)
Murphy’s Basic Law Revisited: What CAN go wrong, WILL go wrong… at the worst possible time, in the worst possible way! (Murphy the pessimist)
If there is a possibility of several things going wrong, then the one that will cause the worst damage will be the one to go wrong.
Technology is dominated by those who manage what they do not understand.
The opulence of the front office décor varies inversely with the fundamental solvency of the firm.
You can never tell which way the train went by looking at the track.
Logic is a systematic method of coming to the wrong conclusion with confidence.

Know the rules well, so you can break them effectively." --Dalai Lama XIV
Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist." -- Pablo Picasso, Spanish artist
Know the rules [before You] [to] break the rules. – Quick/Dirty version of these quotes.

The foundation stones for a balanced success are honesty, character, integrity, faith, love and loyalty." -- Zig Ziglar, American author and motivational speaker

The opposite of love is not hate... its indifference.” --Elie Wiesel
Indifference, to me, is the epitome of evil.” --Elie Wiesel

It is a bad plan that admits of no modification.” -- Publilius Syrus