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knicholes 4 hours ago

Getting to Mars, it would seem.

nicolas_17 2 hours ago | parent | next [-]

I agree we'd all be better off if SpaceX figured out how to send Musk to Mars ASAP.

hdndjsbbs 4 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Does anyone seriously still believe this? I thought as a society we had realized Musk is simply BSing whatever he feels like until it becomes untenable.

JumpCrisscross 4 hours ago | parent | next [-]

> Does anyone seriously still believe this?

I do. It’s not his singular focus. But he continues to personally invest himself in pushing the boundaries of human spacefaring capability. That goal seems more meaningful to him that it does to e.g. Bezos, who seems to have a rocket company to look cool.

thejazzman 2 hours ago | parent | next [-]

It’s in his own biography (the older one) that spacex would pursue mars without distraction. That he went to great lengths to ensure it wouldn’t be used for military, tourism, etc.

You can’t believe musk without simultaneously believing he’s a liar. It’s in HIS fucking book.

JumpCrisscross 2 hours ago | parent [-]

> It’s in his own biography (the older one) that spacex would pursue mars without distraction. That he went to great lengths to ensure it wouldn’t be used for military, tourism, etc.

I said I believe he wants to go to Mars and will put in the work to make that happen. I didn't say everything he's said is true. Musk absolutely lies. But his actions speak pretty consistently to Mars being a real goal.

tehjoker 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

This is a joint project of U.S. government military planners and an ostensible private individual. If Elon disappeared, rest assured, the contracts and development would still happen.

They want mega constellations for always-on drone guidance and for "golden dome" which would allow for the laser-based shoot-down of long range exo-atmospheric missiles. You need reusable spacecraft to make that tenable. This is not about Mars, don't buy the marketing. At best for civilians, this is about making broadband widely available such that America can dominate internet connectivity going forward and increase spying further. As an example, examine a map of Starlink connectivity, you will notice that Russia and Gaza are excluded.

The Artemis missions will eventually enable the placement of communications equipment on the moon, making anti-satellite weapons less effective at disrupting critical communications.

Fortress America will be invincible forever, so so they desire. The macroeconomics are not working out for them though even though the technological edge is still working for them on that level.

JumpCrisscross 2 hours ago | parent [-]

> They want mega constellations for always-on drone guidance and for "golden dome" which would allow for the laser-based shoot-down of long range exo-atmospheric missiles

This is a conspiracy theory folks who just Googled In-Q-Tel have been stringing together since Covid. It's not true.

> examine a map of Starlink connectivity, you will notice that Russia and Gaza are excluded

Russia wasn't excluded until recently. That was a problem!

> The Artemis missions will eventually enable the placement of communications equipment on the moon, making anti-satellite weapons less effective at disrupting critical communications

Wat.

4dfg 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

What a load of crap. He pushes this narrative purely for valuation purposes.

He has a legion of people propping up his stock by manipulating them into believing he is a wizard.

awesome_dude 3 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I know there's a risk when Musk's name comes up that everyone takes "all against" or "all for" approach - very polarising figure.

But I see a lot of that announcement, and the others someone else pointed to as his "aspirational, but ultimately never going to happen" goals - whether he believes the claims are achievable, or not, he says these things to energise people to working/paying for him to try

It costs him little to nothing to say, and other people's time, effort, and capital to try (and succeed/fail)

Tesla is falling to pieces now, and SpaceX is getting loaded up with completely unrelated projects (xAI) in order to try and make it look saleable (I guess) - it's very difficult to see the Mars announcement as anything but hype.

usefulcat 2 hours ago | parent | next [-]

> It costs him little to nothing to say,

That all depends on how much he values his credibility, I think..

But to be fair, for someone as good at self promotion as he is, I can believe that the value of the hype could be greater than the cost in credibility.

vardump 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

> Tesla is falling to pieces now

Did I miss something?

stickfigure 2 hours ago | parent [-]

Year over year sales are declining. Stratospheric stock price is propped up by promise of selling humanoid robots, a technology (and market) which are unproven.

I would not invest.

scottyah 11 minutes ago | parent [-]

That's a no, it's business as usual except they have massive cash reserves.

JumpCrisscross 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

> difficult to see the Mars announcement as anything but hype

Oh yeah, the announcement is hype. But there is actual work underneath it making real progress in science and engineering that moves us closer to Mars. Some of that, moreover, is work that has limited appeal outside a Martian context.

48terry 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

> pushing the boundaries of human spacefaring capability

I guess polluting space with shitty satellites and causing environmental disasters with failed and questionably-permitted rocket launches is, technically, pushing on boundaries of human spacefaring capability.

thinkcontext 3 minutes ago | parent | next [-]

I mean, I really dislike what Musk has become but SpaceX has brought about a huge leap in access to space. Last year they launched more than the rest of the world combined, including the rest of the US. They now own more operating satellites than the rest of the world combined. When the rest of the Western world's launchers have had problems over the last few years (Ariane, Vulcan, EU Soyuz, New Glenn, Antares) SpaceX has been able to absorb their payloads with relative ease rather than waiting many years for other arrangements. They've saved the US many $Bs in launch costs by undercutting the incumbent monopoly. Cheaply and easily reusing a rocket was thought impossible, now it's routine and every rocket maker on earth is attempting to copy them.

JumpCrisscross 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

> guess polluting space with shitty satellites and causing environmental disasters with failed and questionably-permitted rocket launches is, technically, pushing on boundaries of human spacefaring capability

My cat is both cute and fluffy as well as a menace.

dogscatstrees 3 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Oh, you mean like:

Solar Roof: https://electrek.co/2026/05/14/tesla-solar-roof-promise-vs-r...

Tesla Full Self Driving: https://electrek.co/2026/05/18/musk-unsupervised-fsd-widespr...

Hyperloop / Boring Company mass-transit vision

Mars settlement timelines

X as an everything app

hsuduebc2 2 hours ago | parent [-]

I mean, most of his wealth is coming from his overhyping skill, you can also tell marketing. Or lying.

I consider him a visionary in a sense of innovation but he is insecure and immoral one.

Needles to say his investors made money on his over promises.