I really don’t get Elon… I’m wondering if he’s bi-polar or similar as he really seems to be all over the place.
I’ve been wondring the same thing. ADHD at least.
There’s definitely something not right with him! 
I’m not sure if it’s recent or if he’s always been that way. :} Didn’t pay a lot of heed to him other than being impressed that he’d actually started his own car company, AND space company etc etc etc. His politics however have really turned me off… and his chaotic decisions too.
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He’ll be even more nuts now, after his big rocket 
blew up the other day.
I think he likes blowing up rockets. It is the SpaceX way. He had previously said that there was only a 50% chance of it getting off the launchpad. The Super Heavy booster and the starship itself were stripped versions with just enough components for the test launch.
He has even stated that there may be another two or more similar launches before they get it right.
Yeah, he seems to blow a lot of things up… I understand that you learn from your mistakes, and engineering is iterational… but - well, look at NASA. The Artemis launch was delayed several times because things were not right. I wonder whether Musk would have held off or pushed ahead if he were in charge.
The SpaceX approach with Starship and the Falcon Super Heavy is the polar opposite of NASA’s approach with Artemis and the new SLS rocket.
SpaceX uses the incremental approach with multiple sequences of design, build, test, improve. NASA uses one pass of the classic design, build, test method.
Since 2011, NASA has designed, built and flown the SLS once. It is based on using old proven space shuttle technology to save on costs. The cost per launch is estimated to be over US$2 billion.
In the same time frame:
SpaceX has revolutionised the space launch industry by developing Falcon 9 and proving extensive reuse of the first stage. Some boosters have completed over 10 launches. Cost per launch is estimated to be US$67 million. They have successfully launched Falcon 9 over 220 times. They now dominate the commercial launch industry.
They have also designed and built the Falcon Heavy rocket which reuses two of the Falcon 9 boosters and a strengthened centre core. It has completed 3 (?) successful commercial missions with an estimated launch cost of US$90 million
Finally they have designed and built the reusable Falcon Super Heavy Rocket. It is three times more powerful than the SLS. It is intended to launch the Starship which has been proven previously through explosions, crashes and multiple “hops”. The last involved a flight to an altitude of 10km followed by a successful landing. Starship is also reusable and has been selected by NASA to take the Artemis astronauts to and from the surface of the moon.
They are now starting the testing of the Falcon Super Heavy. Expect a few to blow up in the next 12 months whilst they perfect it.
I believe that the SpaceX approach has proven itself.
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Thanks for filling me in on that! I was assuming that Musk was wasting billions based on my knowledge of NASA launches! That’s a massive difference…
Lot of talk now about governments needing to legislate AI… but… How?
If AI really is the threat that many are now seeming to believe, it’s not like a nuclear bomb that requires very specialised skills and materials to produce - even an independent programmer could potentially pull the trigger on this one in his home office, with the internet connection ready to unleash it on the world…
Not meaning to sound like Sarah Connor… but as they said about nuclear- you can’t put the genie back in the bottle, or in this case - the genie could now appear from many bottles…