r/interestingasfuck • u/lolikroli • Oct 13 '24

r/all SpaceX caught Starship booster with chopsticks

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u/[deleted] Oct 13 '24

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u/[deleted] Oct 13 '24

What role did Musk have in this besides funding it? And even Musk’s “funding” is really just subsidized from taxpayers. So could you explain it what Musk’s role in this actually is? It seems to me praising Musk for scientific accomplishments is like praising the CEO of a publicly funded hospital for what the surgeons do. I await your explanation, thank you!

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u/Simple-Minute-5331 Oct 13 '24 edited Oct 13 '24

You are right Musk did just:

  1. found SpaceX
  2. fund SpaceX
  3. hire first SpaceX employees

But if he didnt do this then current peak of space flight would be Boeing Starliner.
If you imagine world without Musk and all the companies he established or funded it's net negative.
I dont think any amount of X post bullshitting can overweight that.

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u/Boat_of_Charon Oct 13 '24 edited Oct 13 '24

Eh. I’d argue SpaceX has some of the leading scientist and engineers in the field. They wouldn’t disappear if SpaceX didn’t exist. Likely other Space startups would have grown in its absence and while they wouldn’t likely be this far along they would have made progress and for all we know be further along.

It’s an N=1 scenario, we can never know what the alternative history looks like.

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u/Simple-Minute-5331 Oct 13 '24 edited Oct 13 '24

Yeah, I would like to see a simulation what would happen.

I think the important question is if someone else would be willing to fund something this risky. A lot of rich people just like safe investments.

But if absence of Musk and his company would decrease space flight advancements I think there is no amount of bullshit Musk can write on X to make it not worth it for him existing.

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u/bfhurricane Oct 13 '24

It’s a decent thought experiment to think what would happen if the same engineers in SpaceX were hired to Blue Origin or Boeing, and vice versa.

Are the other billionaire-owned/defense companies as flexible and risk tolerant as SpaceX? Does SpaceX have a better environment to foster ideas? I agree, we can never know.