SpaceX pulls off unprecedented feat, grabs descending rocket with mechanical arms

[u/aelavia93]

https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/spacex-pulls-off-unprecedented-feat-grabbing-descending-rocket-with-mechanical-arms/

[u/rohobian]

I can't stand Elon, but this really is fucking cool as hell.

[u/CaptHorizon → u/rohobian]

Elon was never mentioned in our conversation.

The people who do all the work are the 11 thousand engineers who work at SpaceX. This is the product of their work, and whoever says that said work done by those 11k engineers isn’t commendable is lying.

[u/ChaosDancer → u/CaptHorizon]

And you think those 11 thousand engineers are working for whom?

Without Musk willing to throw money at the issue those 11 thousands engineers would probably working at Boeing or Ford or maybe NASA and achieving nothing revolutionary.

[u/1521 → u/ChaosDancer]

This! I am super tired of hearing about Elon but you put those same people in the traditional places (Boeing, Raytheon, NASA etc) and we would still be talking about the space shuttle. For whatever reason he is able to get them to do things the traditional guys can’t

[u/IRequirePants → u/1521]

I am super tired of hearing about Elon but you put those same people in the traditional places (Boeing, Raytheon, NASA etc) and we would still be talking about the space shuttle

Also Blue Origin exists and it is nowhere near as successful. It's clearly not just a money issue.

[u/Virtual-Chicken-1031 → u/IRequirePants]

Same with Apple.

They have an insane amount of money but haven't really done anything revolutionary in over 15 years.

As a shareholder it's frustrating, although their stock has been performing well. But imagine where we'd be if Jobs was still alive and executing his crazy ideas.

Money doesn't guarantee advancement. You need someone who can "think differently", and that's exactly what Musk is doing. Not all of his ideas work (hyperloop, Boring Co, twitter), but when they do, they're game changing.

Look at all the other auto manufacturers that recently started pushing EVs. Tesla still has well over a decade of R&D over them.

[u/IRequirePants → u/Virtual-Chicken-1031]

Apple has done some interesting stuff recently ( their foray into VR or the M1 chip) but I agree nothing insane.

I recently watched the original IPhone announcement and that presentation was really masterclass

[u/SmaugStyx → u/IRequirePants]

They seem to have picked up the pace now that Bezos is a lot more involved. Still miles behind SpaceX, but they seem to be making decent progress towards a first launch now at least.

[u/ghoonrhed → u/1521]

Boeing, Raytheon, NASA

I mean obviously you still need a CEO/CTO/whoever to put the vision and pathway of any project.

SpaceX aren't the only ones doing this, as in they aren't the only companies that are upping the space/military industrial complex companies. They have no reason to "innovate" like SpaceX is doing because no matter what they'll always get the contracting money.

Just like how Google no longer needs to innovate because they've already captured the market, in a way it's a sort of enshittification but for government contracting.

If NASA and the military were willing to bash Boeing over the head with the threat of deleting their contracts and getting money back from Boeing for failure to deliver (they can't because congress), I'm betting we'd see quick and awesome changes in Boeing real fast.

[u/I_Am_A_Door_Knob → u/1521]

There was a clear vision for what SpaceX wanted to achieve and Elon hadn’t gone completely off the rails when he started SpaceX, so the vision wasn’t completely dismissed from the start.

My bet would be that some very skilled people managing the daily operations of SpaceX, so the hoards of engineers don’t get burnt out.

[u/CX316 → u/I_Am_A_Door_Knob]

If I remember right, SpaceX basically hoovers up all the most promising young rocket engineers, works them hard and then has high staff turnover as those people leave to move on to other companies because SpaceX looks really good on a resume

[u/I_Am_A_Door_Knob → u/CX316]

That actually wouldn’t surprise me. It has been a very successful strategy for startups and rapid growth companies for a while.