BaratundeJan 28, 2023

“If NASA is Amtrak in space, then SpaceX is the Fyre Festival with rockets, a glamorous effort led by a hype man who promises that every logistical problem will melt away if we can just get people to the destination.”

#BARS! I’m reading this piece making the case against human exploration of #Mars, and it’s crushing my childhood dreams and also making too much sense. This line above though! Have you read the piece?

https://idlewords.com/2023/1/why_not_mars.htm

#space #nasa #spaceexploration

Why Not Mars (Idle Words)

Show threadBrian Dear
@baratunde Fyre was vaporware. SpaceX is FedX of space. The very opposite of vaporware. Forget Musk and his Mars bs; SpaceX is quite effectively run by Gwynne Shotwell. She makes it all happen and she's a superstar. I'm typing this from a computer connected to a router connected to a little flat dish on the roof that's talkin' at 80mbps to a satellite put there by one of those Falcon9s. Nobody else would sell us decent internet until SpaceX came along and offered it to rural New Mexicans.
Jan 28, 2023 at 11:45pmWeb
Show threadmathewJan 29, 2023

@baratunde @brianstorms You’re aware that the “decent Internet” you’re getting is unsustainable by SpaceX’s own figures, right? Will you be as happy when it slows down dramatically or gets 5x as expensive?

https://www.fool.com/investing/2022/02/21/spacexs-starlink-has-a-price-problem/

SpaceX's Starlink Has a Price Problem

It also has a solution: Charge more for Starlink service.

The Motley Fool
Show threadBrian DearJan 29, 2023
@mathew @baratunde Nope, obviously. If it got 5X as expensive it'd be $550/month which um, seems unlikely and certainly would be a showstopper for approximately 100% of customers. I figure the inevitable direction that they'll at least try to go in is, offer content and services -- music/tv/movie streaming for example, as well as bandwidth in vehicles, trains, etc (they're already selling to cruise ships and planes, they could do cargo ships too). Oh, and they blot out the sky w/ satellites.😂
Show threadmathewJan 29, 2023
@brianstorms @baratunde As the article points out, the commercial offering is already $550 a month for the same service, and they’re not making money on that. So enjoy it while they’re selling it to you at way below cost.
Show threadBrian DearJan 29, 2023
@mathew @baratunde Your deep concerns for how much I spend per month on my internet service provider, as well as your bringing to my attention the questionable long-term business viability of said internet service provider, are most gratefully appreciated. Good day to you.
Show threadbassplayerJan 29, 2023
@brianstorms @baratunde Shotwell is doing a great job. Falcon 9 launches are utterly commonplace and boring. SpaceX has cornered the market on access to Leo. As an engineer I am in awe of the people that made rockets which land themselves. Or would you rather go back to single use rockets that are basically jobs programs. As for SL, who knows but like reusable rockets there are many who are trying to copy it.
Show threadK`TetchJan 30, 2023
@brianstorms @baratunde shotwell is crushing it right now.
But when the sad E crashes and burns twitter to the ground, what then? Boring is dead, tesla is public and legal stuff is ongoing there over his actions, which leaves spacex where he WILL be desperate to prove he's not a loser.
Also, you want rural internet, talk to your reps, they're the ones stopping it.starlinks only good for maybe 700k people in the US. There's 15m unserved.
Show threadBrian DearJan 30, 2023
@ktetch @baratunde Heh. Talk to legislators. Yeah. Been there, done that. In New Mexico, you don’t talk to legislators, you show them money.