Quote: (11-24-2014 09:29 AM)frenchie Wrote:
I like Elon, but it pains me how myopic his newest ventures are.
SpaceX is great too, but again where are the provocative engineering endeavors? Why not build a space elevator or work something similar. Find a cheaper way of getting a payload into space that doesn't involve large amounts of fuel.
Basically, do more with less! Cut the legs of the entrenched status quo and eat their lunch. These dot com geniuses never make the jump from IT guru to industrialist very well.
SpaceX is reducing launch costs by more than an order of magnitude, going to reusable stages so you don't have to throw away the expensive parts (engines, tanks, avionics). The cost of fuel and oxidizer is nothing compared to that. He is doing exactly what you said "cut the legs of ..." - the launcher monopoly for US military satellites (United Launch Alliance) are absolutely shitting themselves and on the defensive.
I don't know the automotive industry as well, but it seems to me the majors are falling over themselves to build hybrids and full-electrics at an accelerating pace. That seems like a shakeup which wasn't exactly inspired by the Prius that was around for much longer. Once BMW saw there is a real market for a luxury EV they went forward with the i series pretty quick.
Bad Hussar, my take is once they have fuck you money, future profits don't appeal as much as they did, so the philanthropic billionaires do things like try to cure diseases globally or lower our dependance on fossil fuels.
Between Tesla, Solar City, and SpaceX he seems about as realistically visionary as possible. His next project will partner with World Vu to bring cheaper internet to the entire planet via hundreds of smallsats in low earth orbit. I really don't see where you get "myopic", frenchie.