SpaceX - is it a pipe dream?

Soldato
Joined
8 Mar 2005
Posts
3,615
Location
London, UK
As I said in a previous post. The guy is a hero. We need more of them. I hope I survive another 20 years to see either a man on mars or my head in a jar. *
*I'd prefer the former.
 
Caporegime
Joined
25 Jul 2005
Posts
28,851
Location
Canada
Slightly confused here. Why is the hyperloop going below ground, or is it just a small part of it? The whole poi t was that all it needed was a pipe and legs every so often, making it much cheaper than conventional tunnels and tracks.

I’m also intrigued as to how such a massive project appears to have been approved without any apparent public consultation.

Just getting landowner permission usually takes a couple of years.
 
Man of Honour
Joined
11 Mar 2004
Posts
76,634
we dont know if it is hyperloop, could also be the car sled tunnels he showed off.
and no idea how they got permission so far, perhaps under a certain depth its purely down to local governors giving permission.
if it is hyperloop could also be that's a reason trying to get planning permission above ground is to much of a political hurdle.

although I'm sure its main aim at the moment is try to improve tunneling speed and price.
 
Man of Honour
Joined
13 Oct 2006
Posts
91,052
Not until we have Matrix-like technology (potentially, never). Even if/when we do, many will prefer doing things "for real", rather than living their lives in a fake world.

It is quite interesting as a subject of its own where those two cross over - I like doing many things for "real". I'm not sure it is a case of if though - largely the science and tech breakthroughs have been made that will eventually enable it - if not 100% convincingly at least extremely immersively - its just a long slog from here figuring it all out and making the small (but not insignificant) strides necessary.
 
Man of Honour
Joined
11 Mar 2004
Posts
76,634
edit - so its permission for a 10.3 mile tunnel under the Baltimore–Washington Parkway which is a state owned road, so no other parties involved, and although they have granted permission Baltimore is not giving any funding for the project.

using the same permitting process as utility companies would use for access tunnels etc, no planning permission granted to turn in to a mass transport system. But I doubt that would be an issue when built and elon says he would fund it.

so no risk for Baltimore and could end up with being the first with a new era of mass transport.
 
Last edited:
Soldato
Joined
1 Sep 2007
Posts
5,313
Location
Santa Monica, California
He's a forward thinking visionary engineer with the money and drive to do amazing things. But hero, c'mon. That term is bandied around far too easily these days.
It is, but he is. He is way more impactful than say Steve Jobs was.

Musk doesn't appear to be doing any of this for profit which is why he is upsetting so much establishment in the process. Our regression with such things are all down to big business trying to make a profit on everything and unwilling to take risks.
 
Soldato
Joined
8 Mar 2005
Posts
3,615
Location
London, UK
He's a forward thinking visionary engineer with the money and drive to do amazing things. But hero, c'mon. That term is bandied around far too easily these days.
Nah; to me he is. Humanity, for the most part is insular and self-destructive. This guy shares a vision with a kid who was often scolded for day dreaming and being away with the “faeries". Who hid in books and had spectacular adventures in the cosmos in his dreams.
 
Caporegime
Joined
25 Jul 2005
Posts
28,851
Location
Canada
we dont know if it is hyperloop, could also be the car sled tunnels he showed off.
and no idea how they got permission so far, perhaps under a certain depth its purely down to local governors giving permission.
if it is hyperloop could also be that's a reason trying to get planning permission above ground is to much of a political hurdle.

although I'm sure its main aim at the moment is try to improve tunneling speed and price.

True, but the title of the article seems to assume so. :p

Your other post clears things up though. Makes more sense and may well eventually be a small section of the hyperloop. Presumably it may have to go underground to travel through cities.
 
Man of Honour
Joined
5 Dec 2003
Posts
20,999
Location
Just to the left of my PC
I wonder if he's ever tempted to troll people with a truly ridiculous claim just for laughs. Keep a straight face for a day or two and then announce it was a joke for April Fool's Day or something. He's earned such a reputation for delivering on what initially seemed to be wildly unrealistic claims that if he claimed to be making a warp drive for interstellar spaceships people would say "he's joking about that one...isn't he?"

A hero? No, I don't think so. 21st century Leonardo? Perhaps.
 
Man of Honour
Joined
13 Oct 2006
Posts
91,052
Nah; to me he is. Humanity, for the most part is insular and self-destructive. This guy shares a vision with a kid who was often scolded for day dreaming and being away with the “faeries". Who hid in books and had spectacular adventures in the cosmos in his dreams.

He is as mad as I am about the original Deus Ex so I give him a pass though sometimes he comes off a bit creepy. I don't think it unfair to compare him to a hero though maybe not quite one in the traditional sense - he is one of the few trying to push things forward in a meaningful way in a world that as you say is largely self-destructive, short sighted and rarely looking beyond itself.

I wonder if he's ever tempted to troll people with a truly ridiculous claim just for laughs. Keep a straight face for a day or two and then announce it was a joke for April Fool's Day or something. He's earned such a reputation for delivering on what initially seemed to be wildly unrealistic claims that if he claimed to be making a warp drive for interstellar spaceships people would say "he's joking about that one...isn't he?"

A hero? No, I don't think so. 21st century Leonardo? Perhaps.

In some videos on youtube he does kind of do that - puts forward in a serious tone something completely outlandish as if fact to make a point (for the moment when the interviewer or whatever takes him seriously).
 
Last edited:
Soldato
Joined
7 Nov 2003
Posts
5,615
Location
Scotland
He's a forward thinking visionary engineer with the money and drive to do amazing things. But hero, c'mon. That term is bandied around far too easily these days.

He could have taken his PayPal billions and lived a life of luxury. Instead he reinvested everything into perhaps two of the riskiest industries possible to try and do some good for humanity (make us a multi-planetary species and try to get the world off fossil fuels). I'd say that makes him a hero (assuming he succeeds one day) but will admit that sometimes the internet can go OTT with the hero worship. Not everything he does is amazing (Hyperloop, for instance, looks like a solution looking for a problem) but his achievements so far are impressive.
 
Caporegime
Joined
23 Apr 2014
Posts
29,406
Location
Dominating rooms with symmetry
He is as mad as I am about the original Deus Ex so I give him a pass though sometimes he comes off a bit creepy. I don't think it unfair to compare him to a hero though maybe not quite one in the traditional sense - he is one of the few trying to push things forward in a meaningful way in a world that as you say is largely self-destructive, short sighted and rarely looking beyond itself.

I could be way off here but I always thought Musk was on the spectrum, his style of socialising is quite different from the norm but I don't know if that's just from years of spending a lot of time on his own developing his dreams. The only thing that casts doubts on it for me is he doesn't seem to be completely void of empathy but he definitely has a number of traits you see in high functioning autists.
 
Soldato
Joined
30 Jan 2009
Posts
17,185
Location
Aquilonem Londinensi
Didn't people say the same about aircraft in the days of the wright brothers?

Yeah but rockets... The average American is a walking coronary. You think strapping them into a rocket and exposing their bodies to forces that astronauts train for years to survive is a good idea? :p

Also, Musk has banged on about eco-friendly tech for a decade plus, now he wants passenger rockets. Possibly the most polluting mode of transport per kg transported. I hope he a has a green method for refining rocket fuel up his sleeve too
 
Caporegime
Joined
23 Apr 2014
Posts
29,406
Location
Dominating rooms with symmetry
Yeah but rockets... The average American is a walking coronary. You think strapping them into a rocket and exposing their bodies to forces that astronauts train for years to survive is a good idea? :p

Also, Musk has banged on about eco-friendly tech for a decade plus, now he wants passenger rockets. Possibly the most polluting mode of transport per kg transported. I hope he a has a green method for refining rocket fuel up his sleeve too

I haven't looked into his proposals but I imagine it's nowhere near the same forces astronauts go through to leave the atmosphere.
 
Back
Top Bottom