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Elon Musk and Mars



 
 
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  #1  
Old July 17th 13, 10:55 PM posted to sci.space.policy
Greg \(Strider\) Moore
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Default Elon Musk and Mars

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology...on-mars-spacex

Not much new here, but still interesting.

I like his final lines too.

  #2  
Old July 17th 13, 11:41 PM posted to sci.space.policy
David Spain
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Default Elon Musk and Mars

On 7/17/2013 5:55 PM, Greg (Strider) Moore wrote:
...
I like his final lines too.


Which one?

"It'd be pretty cool to die on Mars, just not on impact,"


-or-

"Holy ****, I'm on Mars, can you believe it?"



Or maybe combine the two: if he dies on impact we can name the site Musk
Crater! After Mars is colonized, some enterprising person could sell
tickets to the site and for those that visit they get the last phrase as
a bumper sticker souvenir?

:-)

Dave

PS: Meant as a joke! I harbor no ill-will towards EM. In fact, I wish
for him great success in his endeavo[u]rs.


  #3  
Old July 18th 13, 01:33 AM posted to sci.space.policy
Greg \(Strider\) Moore
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Posts: 790
Default Elon Musk and Mars

"David Spain" wrote in message
...

On 7/17/2013 5:55 PM, Greg (Strider) Moore wrote:
...
I like his final lines too.


Which one?

"It'd be pretty cool to die on Mars, just not on impact,"


-or-

"Holy ****, I'm on Mars, can you believe it?"



Or maybe combine the two: if he dies on impact we can name the site Musk
Crater! After Mars is colonized, some enterprising person could sell
tickets to the site and for those that visit they get the last phrase as
a bumper sticker souvenir?

:-)

Dave

PS: Meant as a joke! I harbor no ill-will towards EM. In fact, I wish
for him great success in his endeavo[u]rs.



  #4  
Old July 18th 13, 01:33 AM posted to sci.space.policy
Greg \(Strider\) Moore
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Posts: 790
Default Elon Musk and Mars

"David Spain" wrote in message
...

On 7/17/2013 5:55 PM, Greg (Strider) Moore wrote:
...
I like his final lines too.


Which one?

"It'd be pretty cool to die on Mars, just not on impact,"


-or-

"Holy ****, I'm on Mars, can you believe it?"



Either one :-)



Or maybe combine the two: if he dies on impact we can name the site Musk
Crater! After Mars is colonized, some enterprising person could sell
tickets to the site and for those that visit they get the last phrase as a
bumper sticker souvenir?

:-)

Dave

PS: Meant as a joke! I harbor no ill-will towards EM. In fact, I wish for
him great success in his endeavo[u]rs.




Same here. I've got to start saving my money to buy a ticket to Mars.



--
Greg D. Moore http://greenmountainsoftware.wordpress.com/
CEO QuiCR: Quick, Crowdsourced Responses. http://www.quicr.net

  #5  
Old July 18th 13, 02:19 PM posted to sci.space.policy
Jeff Findley[_2_]
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Default Elon Musk and Mars

In article ,
says...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology...on-mars-spacex

Not much new here, but still interesting.

I like his final lines too.


I think what amazes me most about Elon is that he's actually *younger*
than I and the fact that he understands that a problem must be
approached with a solution that's system oriented. He has taken this
approach with all his businesses. He also focuses on the long term, not
the next quarter. It will likely take decades before a SpaceX vehicle
ever reaches Mars, but he's willing to hold onto that vision in the face
of criticism from the "dinospace" sector.

With Tesla you see this with his building of "supercharger" stations for
Tesla vehicles around the US, offering free charging or fast battery
pack swaps (swaps limited to the Model S). Quite simply, it's not
enough just to build an awesome product and market it. A successful
business supports the customer from the moment of purchase until they no
longer own/use the product. The customer focus is refreshing in this
day and age of mostly "disposable" products imported from nations with
cheap labor. It's no wonder Tesla is proving to be successful, despite
the uphill battle faced by start-ups in the extremely conservative
juggernauts which dominate the automobile industry.

Jeff
--
"the perennial claim that hypersonic airbreathing propulsion would
magically make space launch cheaper is nonsense -- LOX is much cheaper
than advanced airbreathing engines, and so are the tanks to put it in
and the extra thrust to carry it." - Henry Spencer
  #6  
Old July 18th 13, 03:10 PM posted to sci.space.policy
Greg \(Strider\) Moore
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Posts: 790
Default Elon Musk and Mars

"Jeff Findley" wrote in message
...

In article ,
says...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology...on-mars-spacex

Not much new here, but still interesting.

I like his final lines too.


I think what amazes me most about Elon is that he's actually *younger*
than I


It reminds me of Benjamin Franklin. Looking at his bio makes most people
humble when they realize by the time they die, they won't have done 1/2 the
things he did before 40. :-)

and the fact that he understands that a problem must be
approached with a solution that's system oriented. He has taken this
approach with all his businesses. He also focuses on the long term, not
the next quarter. It will likely take decades before a SpaceX vehicle
ever reaches Mars, but he's willing to hold onto that vision in the face
of criticism from the "dinospace" sector.


Yeah, the system's approach is key. You're not building JUST a rocket or
JUST a car, but an entire ecosystem to support them and use them.


With Tesla you see this with his building of "supercharger" stations for
Tesla vehicles around the US, offering free charging or fast battery
pack swaps (swaps limited to the Model S). Quite simply, it's not
enough just to build an awesome product and market it. A successful
business supports the customer from the moment of purchase until they no
longer own/use the product. The customer focus is refreshing in this
day and age of mostly "disposable" products imported from nations with
cheap labor. It's no wonder Tesla is proving to be successful, despite
the uphill battle faced by start-ups in the extremely conservative
juggernauts which dominate the automobile industry.


I'll tell you, I'm a "used car" person (Subaru wagon's are my thing) but if
I had the cash, I'd drop one on a Model S tomorrow.
The supercharger stations only make it even MORE tempting.


Jeff


--
Greg D. Moore http://greenmountainsoftware.wordpress.com/
CEO QuiCR: Quick, Crowdsourced Responses. http://www.quicr.net

  #7  
Old July 18th 13, 03:57 PM posted to sci.space.policy
David Spain
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Posts: 2,901
Default Elon Musk and Mars

On 7/17/2013 6:41 PM, David Spain wrote:
On 7/17/2013 5:55 PM, Greg (Strider) Moore wrote:
...
I like his final lines too.


Which one?

"It'd be pretty cool to die on Mars, just not on impact,"


-or-

"Holy ****, I'm on Mars, can you believe it?"



Or maybe combine the two: if he dies on impact we can name the site Musk
Crater! After Mars is colonized, some enterprising person could sell
tickets to the site and for those that visit they get the last phrase as
a bumper sticker souvenir?

:-)

Dave

PS: Meant as a joke! I harbor no ill-will towards EM. In fact, I wish
for him great success in his endeavo[u]rs.



Just realized in the shower this am, that those Martian bumpers would
likely be attached to EVs with perhaps the "Tesla" moniker? :-D

Dave

PS: If Pat were still around, he'd have pointed this out before I had
thought of it! :-D :-D

  #8  
Old July 18th 13, 07:57 PM posted to sci.space.policy
Rick Jones
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Posts: 685
Default Elon Musk and Mars

Jeff Findley wrote:
I think what amazes me most about Elon is that he's actually
*younger* than I and the fact that he understands that a problem
must be approached with a solution that's system oriented. He has
taken this approach with all his businesses. He also focuses on the
long term, not the next quarter. It will likely take decades before
a SpaceX vehicle ever reaches Mars, but he's willing to hold onto
that vision in the face of criticism from the "dinospace" sector.


Perhaps Elon Musk is a contemporary Renaissance Man, but I must
confess that I think hyperloop is an iron too many in the fires.

Just for fun, but noting that I can assert no cause and effect, I will
point-out that the SpaceX launch manifest page has had some
non-trivial alterations in the last several weeks, with a number of
"Vehicle at the launch site" dates slipping to the following year.
There are now just 5 entries for 2013, 12 for 2014, and 15 for 2015.
Comparisons to what may be found on archive.org left as an exercise to
the reader.

With Tesla you see this with his building of "supercharger" stations
for Tesla vehicles around the US, offering free charging or fast
battery pack swaps (swaps limited to the Model S). Quite simply,
it's not enough just to build an awesome product and market it. A
successful business supports the customer from the moment of
purchase until they no longer own/use the product. The customer
focus is refreshing in this day and age of mostly "disposable"
products imported from nations with cheap labor. It's no wonder
Tesla is proving to be successful, despite the uphill battle faced
by start-ups in the extremely conservative juggernauts which
dominate the automobile industry.


Finance via the early adopter is a great, and tried-and-true model,
yet my feeling of being refreshed is awaiting the existence of a Tesla
under $40K (before any rebates). And yes, I am indeed quite jealous
of the "souped-up golf-cart" of a Tesla S some family friends have

IIRC, the family friends have mentioned that the "free" charging is
only if you buy the top-end Model S model. If you buy the lesser
model, it is a $2000 addon. I think the US average residential price
for a kWh is something like 11 cents (that is from memory and probably
wrong), but for the sake of easy math lets call that $0.10/kWh so that
is 20,000 kWh. What I don't know is how many kWhs it takes to charge
the lesser Model S. I think the battery itself is rated at 60 kWh.

rick jones
--
Process shall set you free from the need for rational thought.
these opinions are mine, all mine; HP might not want them anyway...
feel free to post, OR email to rick.jones2 in hp.com but NOT BOTH...
  #9  
Old July 18th 13, 10:39 PM posted to sci.space.policy
snidely
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Posts: 1,303
Default Elon Musk and Mars

On Thursday or thereabouts, Greg (Strider) Moore declared ...
"Jeff Findley" wrote in message


I think what amazes me most about Elon is that he's actually *younger*
than I


It reminds me of Benjamin Franklin. Looking at his bio makes most people
humble when they realize by the time they die, they won't have done 1/2 the
things he did before 40. :-)


Heck, I'd be proud of doing half the things he did AFTER 40!

/dps

--
Ieri, oggi, domani


  #10  
Old July 18th 13, 10:42 PM posted to sci.space.policy
snidely
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Posts: 1,303
Default Elon Musk and Mars

Rick Jones wrote on 7/18/2013 :

IIRC, the family friends have mentioned that the "free" charging is
only if you buy the top-end Model S model. If you buy the lesser
model, it is a $2000 addon. I think the US average residential price
for a kWh is something like 11 cents (that is from memory and probably
wrong), but for the sake of easy math lets call that $0.10/kWh so that
is 20,000 kWh. What I don't know is how many kWhs it takes to charge
the lesser Model S. I think the battery itself is rated at 60 kWh.


But the charging stations aren't being built at people's homes, they're
being built at waypoints for people taking trips. And the charging is
supposed to be fast, although you might as well stretch your legs while
you're doing it, unlike the battery swap.

/dps

--
"I am not given to exaggeration, and when I say a thing I mean it"
_Roughing It_, Mark Twain


 




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