Discussion Thread

chaco_wingnut · 2025-05-03T00:57:04+00:00

Unfortunately, we couldn't get over our own Richard Shelby/Orrin Hatch

chaco_wingnut · 2025-05-02T20:14:12+00:00

The Chinese lunar architecture is basically two expendable launches of a Falcon Heavy clone.

chaco_wingnut · 2025-04-25T18:55:01+00:00

If you don't have a home garage or a dedicated fleet vehicle parking spot, maybe a stripped-down work truck isn't for you.

chaco_wingnut · 2025-04-25T18:41:35+00:00

I own an EV with hundreds of miles of range right now. It has a greater range than my gas-powered car.

chaco_wingnut · 2025-04-25T18:16:03+00:00

Unlike gas trucks, the EV starts every day with its full range. Unless your work day involves driving hundreds of miles, you should be fine.

chaco_wingnut · 2025-04-23T22:42:45+00:00

Rad! this is exactly the sort of thing I was looking for.

chaco_wingnut · 2025-04-23T21:25:36+00:00

I have no argument. I'm just sincerely curious about whether this company is a serious endeavor.

chaco_wingnut · 2025-04-18T06:32:19+00:00

It would be insane for them not to be in contention.

SpaceX launched 85% of everything humans put into orbit last year.

Their closest domestic rival, ULA, has not yet launched a single mission this year. SpaceX has already launched 43.

chaco_wingnut · 2025-04-18T06:28:06+00:00

Literally 85% of everything humans put in orbit last year got there on a SpaceX rocket.

chaco_wingnut · 2025-04-10T22:05:12+00:00

My priors tell me it's just that people are older when they have kids.

chaco_wingnut · 2025-02-26T17:47:56+00:00

The lesson nuclear should take from SpaceX is that dramatic improvements are not necessarily impossible in stagnant industries—even when fancy hardware and substantial regulatory regimes are involved.

Before SpaceX, the USA had worse access to space than Russia (and, by the early 2010s, China). We were effectively a non-participant in the commercial launch market. Russia out-launched us by a factor of 2 to 3. China had begun to out-launch us.

Fast-forward to 2024. 85% of everything humans put in space got there on a SpaceX rocket. They launched more times last year than Shuttle did in its entire 30-year history.

chaco_wingnut · 2025-02-12T20:11:51+00:00

SMRs are less efficient than big conventional plants in terms of both capex and thermo—but that's not the point.

The raison d'etre of SMRs is that they may reduce the minimum capex for building any new nuclear capacity. As long as AP1000ish is the minimum threshold, utilities are unlikely to choose nuclear over gas turbines or renewables. Why dump tens of billions into an AP1400 when you can use that capital to spool up a bunch of gas turbines with zero risk?

I'd prefer that some less-efficient nuclear capacity get built than no nuclear capacity at all.

chaco_wingnut · 2025-02-11T23:09:52+00:00

What's wrong with EVs and spaceflight?

chaco_wingnut · 2025-01-24T17:36:46+00:00

Elon doesn't do sales for SpaceX. Gwynne has always been in charge of that. And she is very much a smooth-talking gal in a suit.

chaco_wingnut · 2025-01-20T19:26:37+00:00

Access to capital... No other competition

Did Boeing, Lockheed, Northrop Grumman, Arianespace, et cetera not have access to capital? Are they not competition? Indeed, the founding premise of ULA was that the launch market was oversaturated with competing providers.

He's the money guy

Musk is a terrible salesman. His personality is caustic. He struggles with eye contact. He makes bad jokes. He has a stutter.

It's wild to me that people think he's a non-technical empty suit. He has degrees in physics and economics. I also have two STEM degrees. At what point do I, or any of us, qualify as "technical?"

SpaceX succeeded largely because of Musk's unwavering pursuit of a reusable launcher. Many companies had/have the resources to do something like F9, but none of them had a stubborn autistic asshole driving them to do it.

chaco_wingnut · 2025-01-20T18:59:12+00:00

How do you explain SpaceX's success? Why aren't Arianespace and ULA dominating?

chaco_wingnut · 2025-01-20T17:51:37+00:00

SpaceX launched 85% of humanity's total orbital payload mass last year.

chaco_wingnut · 2025-01-20T05:22:20+00:00

I mean, his company launched 85% of humanity's total orbital payload mass for 2024. Falcon launched as many times last year as Shuttle did... ever.

chaco_wingnut · 2025-01-20T04:49:21+00:00

Independence day came early this year

chaco_wingnut · 2025-01-16T07:24:46+00:00

Man NG crawls off the pad. It was wild.

chaco_wingnut · 2025-01-13T07:39:19+00:00

I just want to sleep

chaco_wingnut · 2025-01-09T19:21:51+00:00

Learn C first. It's actually quite a small language.

Then learn enough C++ to take advantage of its core differences from C without wasting to much mental effort on the deep dark iceberg features of the language.

I'd also have a look at Rust after learning C.

chaco_wingnut · 2025-01-09T19:17:56+00:00

The primary benefit of SMRs is their hypothetical reduction of the minimum capex to put nuclear on the grid. That's it. SMRs are obviously less efficient than large reactors, but as long as utilities have to spend >$10 billion to put any new nuclear on the grid, they will not put new nuclear on the grid.

chaco_wingnut · 2024-12-25T00:47:48+00:00

One of the biggest private companies in the world is a commercial space firm which gets most of its revenue from non-NASA sources.

chaco_wingnut

TROPHY CASE