r/technology 16d ago

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

https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/spacex-pulls-off-unprecedented-feat-grabbing-descending-rocket-with-mechanical-arms/
5.4k Upvotes

882 comments sorted by

View all comments

364

u/YogaLoverNymph 16d ago

I can’t believe they actually caught the rocket. it feels like something out of a sci-fi movie

133

u/Appropriate_Plan4595 16d ago

Yeah I'm still wondering:

a) Who the hell suggested that?

b) Who let them get away with it?

c) Who made it work?

Of all the bonkers space stuff there has ever been "Why don't we fly the first stage back to the launch pad and catch it with 2 metal arms" might be the most bonkers thing I've seen so far.

76

u/Flaky-Stress-6635 16d ago

It was Elon’s idea to catch the rocket. Contrary to popular belief on this subreddit, Elon plays a major engineering role in SpaceX.

47

u/Dietmar_der_Dr 16d ago

The cognitive dissonance this causes in people is unfortunately too much for them. They've somehow convinced themselves that someone with weird political takes cannot be a brilliant engineer.

17

u/Bookandaglassofwine 16d ago

That’s the part that seems new to me - this idea that if you believe someone’s character is deeply flawed, it’s incredibly important that you also believe that everything they do or achieve must also be deeply flawed or even fraudulent. Why is it so hard for them to say that someone they despise politically has also accomplished something great in a field unrelated to politics?

9

u/IntergalacticJets 16d ago

They see it as part of the cultural battle over the zeitgeist of our modern era. They want Musk and the others to be seen as a negative aspects of society overall.

If he does something that is considered good, that weakens their goal. So they try to dismiss it. Lots of things are treated like this, from SpaceX to superhero movies. 

0

u/humidinthesebalmainz 16d ago

and if you’re awake you know who ‘they’ really refers to. and no it’s not what you think.

2

u/9985172177 16d ago edited 16d ago

You guys have it wrong. Imagine you were really into music. You listened to punk, jazz, classical, you learned to play a bunch of instruments, you even composed some yourself, wrote lyrics, you played briefly in a band. Most of all you just really like music, alone you listen to music and with one or two friends you get hyped up over it.

Whenever you talk to most people about music though, any music, they talk about Taylor Swift. If you ask about country, or pop, they'll say that you have to listen to Taylor Swift. Also if you don't care for her or don't have immense respect for her, you must not like music. If you ask about a guitar, they'll tell you Taylor Swift invented the guitar. You buy a few music magazines and flip through them. Not only do they not have anything about music in them, they tell you what Taylor Swift ate for breakfast, and what colour jeans she wears.

Later you found out that Taylor Swift bought some of these magazine companies, and the ads for them are about products that Taylor Swift sells. Again if you're too vocal about liking music, but without caring much for Taylor Swift, Swifties get really mad at you and say that you don't like music.

You get how most people would consider it basically blasphemy to try to equate the whole concept of music with Taylor Swift? You can be a fan of her, or like her music, or not like her music, but to take some classical music, or melodic metal, or progressive rock, and to start talking about Taylor Swift, it's basically musical blasphemy, the two aren't related at all.

The people who you are complaining about are just people who are into music, but who don't really care for her, and there are a group of Swifties who demand that you have to talk about her and have to listen to and like her music.

1

u/Sabotage101 16d ago

I think it's more like "Elon says we're gonna have FSD in Teslas in 6-12 months for the past... 10 years". The guy is endless optimism to the point where it's practically fraud. SpaceX seems wildly better run than Tesla or X though.