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Would it be possible to self-tag posts with one or all of the following five tags: Technical Social Funny Questions Answers Then people could filter for whatever interests them. No censoring is required. No wading through uninteresting content. Much easier to re-find comments you want to...

Everyone quotes the Falcon/Dragon program being 1% or less of revenues. What is the % of expenses and facilities and supply chain (parts, fuel, barges, etc)? Is there a limit on how old a booster can be before it loses crew-rating? I think every Falcon second stage is expendable. How much...

[edit: this post ONLY addresses what I think he believes about Mars.] The other thing to consider are his companies: electric vehicles, tunnel boring, solar panels, rockets, telecommunications (satellites), perhaps even computing. To me, everything aligns with needs on Mars. I think he is...

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There was a comment (that I can’t find now) by a person that felt the proper safety protocols were probably overridden by corporate pressure for the go/no go orbit decision. They said they lost a lot of respect for SpaceX due to that. I don’t see it that way. The engine didn’t explode, so it...

For non-Latin speakers: This is Ars Techinca. Ars Política is next door. Ars Civilis is just beyond that. For advanced learners we have this gem: Ars opinionum redundantium: Literally "the art of repeating/overflowing opinions," which captures the modern political and social meaning of an...

They are adding 6 satellites at two tons each. It seems to me that they are incrementally adding weight, measuring performance, and finding the limits of the spacecraft safely. Their incremental weight increase is more than most rockets total payload. This likely isn’t the last increment either...

In our city, we have different gasoline blends for summer and winter. IDK how much that affects mileage, but probably more than the air density.

AI Fact Check: Yesterday, I was researching about the Chevy Silverado EV pickup longevity in Austin, Tx. Of course, the first Google result is their AI answer. But in this case, I found it interesting. It said that if you left the vehicle plugged into grid power while parked, the integrated...

Honest question: Why there? What are the pros and cons?

Their first launch site was in Europe. That’s reasonable, they live there. Their second launch is reportedly planned for Canada. Only on their third launch site will they move closer to the equator. Shipping to Canada is probably no easier than shipping to Guiana. Q1: Is there any technical...

I love the scene in Apollo 13 where the guy walks into the conference room, dumps the box on the table, and says “This is what they have in the capsule. Figure out a fix before they die in four hours” (more or less). I envision Issacman viewing his job similarly. “I have 3.5 years to change...

SpaceX has cut the time and cost to LEO drastically and the opportunities that have opened up are impressive. If the nuclear propulsion or other alternative propulsion systems can be developed that make interplanetary travel faster and allow for larger launch windows, then some serious science...

We haven’t seen the first operational flight yet. Once Starship is operational, we know it will be modified to suit 4+ missions (Starlink, StarMind, lunar lander crewed, lunar lander cargo, tanker, depot, Mars test missions) We can speculate about other missions as well. Right now, Starship is...

I was more referring to the “Louisiana is corrupt” drumbeat and other insults. There are very few places of perfect virtue in this world. Musk will always be attacked in this forum, but does everyone need the same treatment? Even if it is just snark, I see plenty of articles that say, “people...

A “few meters” was in contrast to the 3 mile safety radius stated by the commenter. The absolutely iconic video of that first Falcon Heavy booster landing (you all know the one I’m thinking of) was referenced to highlight historical simultaneous operations in relative close proximity. My...

The USA has: about 300 million automobiles. 15,000 military aircraft, 35,000 commercial planes (global), 15,000 private jets, & 200,000 private aircraft. O’Hare airport handles 2,600 flights per day on 5 runways. New Orleans uses 160 million gallons of water per day. The Carlsbad Desalination...

There are a lot of people bad mouthing Louisiana here. Illinois is a northern state with politicians reliably voted by deep blue Chicago. For a while it seemed we would need to add a new wing to the prison just for governors and assorted politicians. No matter what state you live in, I’m sure...

I agree. Falcon Heavy lands two boosters simultaneously within a few meters of each other during return to launch site. The Stage 0 tank farm and equipment are very close to the launch catch tower. And the two setups are adjacent to each other. If you are using Cape Canaveral as your go-by...

I think the Space Force provides the physical land and range safety services. Probably security and road access too. Much like the FAA provides air traffic control for private airlines. SpaceX and Blue Origin are well known to be building their own infrastructure and are actively doing it right...