CommentRe:I can find no sources (Score 1)23
Did changing the master/slave terminology have any negative effects?
CommentRe:I don't understand (Score 1)1605
Why would it be "a wet dream" when they're now free to implement it?
CommentRe:Capitalism (Score 1)40
Well Eastern Bloc socialism famously didn't have free enterprise, so you can see how that's an easy connection to make.
CommentRe:Not a great article... (Score 1)111
Rockets only need to store hydrogen for minutes to hours. Not days to weeks. That makes a crucial design difference in the tanks for both.
CommentRe:Not clean at all (Score 1)111
The point you obviously missed: hydrogen would be created by means of electrolysis taking advantage of low or negative spot prices of electricity, not using methane.
CommentRe:Not a great article... (Score 1)111
141,86 vs. 18,6...Isn't that *less* than an order of magnitude, not "over"? Anyway, raw gravimetric energy density isn't all that favourable but hydrogen storage incurs its own costs in terms of weight, so I wonder how large-scale storage fares with both. Storing ammonia in a tank is "slightly" easier.
CommentRe:I kind of feel for them (Score 3, Funny)127
They might get killed, or worse, expelled...
...oh, wait.
CommentRe:Launch from a ship (Score 1)234
Sure, if you launch once a month, something like Sea Launch's platform would work. If you launch thrice a week? Logistically, probably not.
CommentRe:Accuracy of early announcements.. (Score 1)210
Also, it was the E1, not the F1. The F1 didn't fire until years later.
I was talking about the F-1 though, not the E-1, since that's what Saturn V used.
When they built the Saturn V, they essentially picked an "off the shelf" engine
...and there it is. You can't compare the two timelines if one of them contains things the other one doesn't. Especially if you consider that Raptor has *already* undergone two major redesigns since 2016. In light of the fact that engines like F-1, RS-25 received *zero* major redesigns (RS-25 in decades, in fact), it's pretty hard to argue that SpaceX's timelines for development aren't vastly shorter than their competitors'.
So, I'm still pretty convinced that SpaceX has no magic sauce that lets them do things faster than traditional rocket companies.
I have no idea how you can say this with straight face if you look at what Blue Origin, ULA, and Arianespace have been doing for the past 15 years.
CommentRe:Accuracy of early announcements.. (Score 2)210
Trouble is, if you look at Starship, they've been developing it for 12 years already.
The Saturn V development process started in 1961.
By your own standards, you're being hypocritical here. Test firings of the F-1 engine used on Saturn V started in 1957. Test firings of Raptor 1 started in 2016. By what logic do you justify the "the start of Saturn V's development process" POST-dating its own engine's test firing by 4 years but the Starship's one PRE-dating the first test firing by 4 years?
CommentRe:But it's worth it (Score 1)62
...or more expressive?
CommentRe:oh good.... (Score 2)103
STS had *many* "perfect landings". Still was a deathtrap, so your single "perfect landing" isn't the argument you seem to think it is. And as for your comparison, the developmental prototypes currently tested by SpaceX have no people on board. That's why sane people aren't anywhere as concerned about them as they are with Starliner, which was supposed to be already fully operational and problem-free.
CommentRe:I'll stick with trad Credit Card (Score 2)86
With a credit card...I can dispute, etc...and no money leaves my account.
What part of "making it easier for people to reverse direct debit transactions and get their money back" doesn't satisfy your requirement?
CommentRe:shine baby shine (Score 1)103
backslashdot's comment is absolute bullshit even without any automation. In my country you can have a complete domestic rooftop solar system for several thousand dollars, and he claims it takes that amount of money just to install a SINGLE panel on the ground? That's a shocking amount of innumeracy.
CommentRe:shine baby shine (Score 0)103
Each solar panel costs thousands to install
...since when? Drop like two zeroes and you'll be much closer to the truth.
