Elon Musk just changed the world.

[TeamPooka]

I was a kid when Armstrong and Aldrin walked on the moon.
Watched it live on TV and at 6 years old I knew the world changed then.
Saw this launch and realized there will be a new era of mankind reaching for the stars, again.
Only this time instead of NASA leading all of us into space for our collective good, now it will be a gold rush of corporate interests charging into the stars.
The tech involved today is amazing.
Straight out of Buck Rodgers wildest wet dream.
Whether it will benefit all of mankind or just used to make the 1% richer is yet to be determined.

[First Speaker]

1. Both, I suspect...

...sometimes, a rising tide--or spaceship--really does lift all boats. If we as a species get out into space seriously and for good, I'm cool with the Delos D Harrimans of this world getting their cut...

[IllinoisBirdWatcher]

37. Yes, Elon Musk is D. D. Harriman. This was amazing.

[Sophiegirl]

2. It was a beautiful thing to see.

And watching the booster land perfectly was astonishing.

[OxQQme]

3. I would suggest, Elon Musk continues to change the world. n/t

[AtheistCrusader]

24. It's definitely not the first time. It is getting harder for most people to ignore him though.

[Eliot Rosewater]

4. Elon is the kind of person we should have as our president.

[RandomAccess]

14. Okay, the KIND of person --

I was going to say, I personally ADORE him, but his politics ain't great. Don't remember any of the particulars at the moment. I just know he's a visionary giant.

[rogue emissary]

32. We already have a bigot in the Whitehouse, why would we replace Donny with Elon?

[BadgerMom]

41. Agreed.

Not every visionary or leader or or inventor or estimable person should be president. We're in trouble right now because our standards are non-existent.

[Tipperary]

53. Oh my goodness. Really?

[Wounded Bear]

5. At least it looks like we will be able to stop paying the Russians for lift capacity...

[lagomorph777]

6. Able to, yes.

But not while Trump is in power.

[former9thward]

42. Musk's rocket can't connect with the space station.

It would cost way too much. We will be paying the Russians to hitchhike to the SS for the life of the station.

[lapfog_1]

7. Watching the two boosters touch down at the Cape...

I started to cry... and I am a 60 year old guy with 10 years given to NASA.

Joined NASA not long after Challenger... left just before Columbia.

Congratulations to SpaceX and the next generation of space explorers.

Edit to add... Love the graphic on the space Tesla's center console, in case anyone caught that.

[Hav]

8. I had similar feelings

It was unreal, it almost looked like SciFi.

Video:

Link to tweet

[writerJT]

12. Agreed. I thought it was animation at first.

[davekriss]

16. Almost?

Those boosters landing as their feet popped out — so twenty-second centuryish! 🙃

[underpants]

38. Amazing. It's like Iron Man.

[Lucinda]

9. Amazing day. And I love Douglas Adams.

Glad to see him represented.

[davekriss]

15. Saw that (the graphic): Dont Panic

Cute

[uponit7771]

44. +1, straight out of some movie !!!

[TeamPooka]

46. That was the most amazing part about it. Landing two rockets simultaneously to re-use.

[C_U_L8R]

10. I feel like a kid again

How exciting was that!!! Well done, Mr Musk

[The Blue Flower]

11. This gave me chills

Last edited Tue Feb 6, 2018, 06:45 PM - Edit history (1)

I was in grade school and then junior high and high school in Orlando at the beginning of the manned space program. The teachers brought tvs into the classroom whenever there was a manned flight at Cape Canaveral. We watched the countdown, then ran outside and saw the rockets ascend into the sky. I still remember the sun glinting off the missiles. John Young's parents lived near my high school, so the entire student body marched to their home when he flew. In 1961, my two little European Bubbies were visiting from Detroit. We watched the countdown in the living room, then went out in the yard to see them fly. My mother was trying to narrate what was happening in Yiddish. I can't imagine how she did that, since both were born in shtetls before the Wright brothers flew. I remember being a young person captivated by the whole idea of space flight, and I've been so disappointed as an adult that it all seemed to come to a halt. Watching the two rockets descend so perfectly means we're on our way again, and I am thrilled today.

[RandiFan1290]

13. Live Views of Starman

[Ms. Toad]

17. My brother works at SpaceEX -

So I've got both family connection to this event & memories of the space race in my youth.

[llmart]

29. My son works for NASA at the Cape...

I was married the weekend of the moon landing. It pleases me to no end that he's an engineer for NASA and a party to all of this. I'll talk to him tomorrow to see how awesome he thought this all was.

We need another JFK to excite young people about space and science once again.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

18. fund NASA

I was a teenager when I watched the first moon landing July 20, 1969. The world watched it.

Then people paid less attention.
Then Nixon cut funding.

NASA is not a sinkhole for tax dollars. We get back much more than we put in.

[roscoeroscoe]

19. That's right!

Fund the future!

[7962]

21. Nixon wasnt the only one who cut funding, cuts continued. Glad to see this success!

No way should we have to pay RUSSIA to launch ANYTHING

[AtheistCrusader]

26. There's nothing wrong with working with Russia, or China, or ESA or anyone else.

We're all humans.

Having independent heavy lift capability is good, because politics can muck up the other international stuff. But there's nothing inherently wrong with people working with people.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

30. science is universal

If we ever meet extra-terrestrials, math will be the first means of communication.

Politics and geo-political boundaries don't change '2 + 2' or pi.

Having independent heavy lift capability is good, because politics can muck up the other international stuff.

That makes me think of all the EPA data that fast thinking scientists preserved before cheetolini and Pruitt arrived. Thanks Canada, et.al.!

[LanternWaste]

50. But sending a car up on a test flight is?

"There's nothing wrong with working with Russia..."

But sending a car up on a mere test flight is?

[AtheistCrusader]

51. Yes gosh, he should have sent a block of concrete like every other space program.

Boy, that'll really fire up the imagination of kids, who will become the next generation of scientists, engineers, and explorers.

Bring on that grey, sexy, block of concrete. Hell yeah. Kids will love it.



Do you not understand the value of whimsy?

[IronLionZion]

27. We've gotten many technological advancements from their work

https://spinoff.nasa.gov/Spinoff2008/tech_benefits.html

But we have a political party in America who believes science and education make us weak and funding must be cut so billionaires can have bigger tax breaks. Ironically, they'll claim tax cuts helped Elon Musk do this somehow.

[bronxiteforever]

20. Well said. Kick.

[Jakes Progress]

22. If we have to have a billionaire for president

let's might as well have a real one instead of the joker who only plays one on tv.

[Vinca]

23. That gave me a flashback to the time we followed launches, knew all the astronauts and

were really excited about space exploration. Elon Musk is an amazing man. What a vision!

[IronLionZion]

25. Trump might try to deport him back to Africa

[Blue_true]

28. It will make the 1% richer.

On a related note, as asteroid was spotted that is 100% platinum. It won't be around long once the Kochs figure out how to get to it.

[progressoid]

31. Because he sold 20000 FLAMETHROWERS to the general public?

https://www.instagram.com/p/BeeYW0NA1HU/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=embed_ufi_control

[peggysue2]

33. He did indeed change the world and . . .

made history. This is one time I whole-heartedly support a 1%er. This is a huge f*cking deal and will open the door to a slew of space-related projects. I've followed the space program since I was a kid. Always fascinated and been awe-inspired by the audacity of those pushing and dreaming beyond Planet Earth. I know there will always be naysayers, those who say we should concentrate on the plights and necessities of earthbound problems. But I still believe we can do both, embrace the pragmatists and the dreamers. Because without the dreamers, who are we?

Flat earthers could be one answer

[Buns_of_Fire]

34. And someone on Mars is gonna get a brand new Tesla!

The car's affordable, but the delivery charge is a killer.

[MFM008]

36. Lol

Yeah tough charges on delivery...

[Farmer-Rick]

35. Like in most everything on earth the

Very, excessively rich and powerful always gain more from everything.

[riverbendviewgal]

39. Straight out of The Mars trilogy.

By Kim Stanley Robinson. Corporations were doing the explorationto Mars. Excellent novels.
Musk is a genius as was Tesla.

[mn9driver]

40. Am I the only one who remembers this scene?

Fantasy becomes real. Well, almost.

https://m.

[JI7]

43. How come paul Ryan or any other followers of Ayn Rand

Never do something like this ?

[Sienna86]

45. Very cool.

There is no limit to human intelligence and the hard work of a team.

[Motownman78]

47. Meh

When he develops something this strong, then I will be impressed.

[NNadir]

48. He changes the world by being a subsidized billionaire...

Last edited Wed Feb 7, 2018, 10:21 AM - Edit history (1)

...who skims money to promote himself.

That's not much in the way of change actually, but as it goes it will have to do.

Putting more junk in space, including his subsidized car for other billionaires and millionaires is a very bad idea unless there's a practical reason for it.

Orbital debris is a serious issue which requires serious reflection on the rights of future generations.

I am always astonished at the worship of this guy on the left of all places,

[Johonny]

49. Space has always been a collective effort of industry, NASA, and the military

[randr]

52. All I can do is think of all the good that amount of money could have done

Instead a very rich person can brag that the launched a fucking car into space. The dummy driver says it all.
Most extreme example of affluenza I can fathom.

[sarcasmo]

54. IMHO, the boosters return was the big deal.

[TeamPooka]

55. I agree.