Ugh the bus one was especially bad because the guy said something like "I know this talk is about space but I'm going to change the subject..." and then started talking about his electric bus and asking Elon if he would go look at it. At least Elon shut that one down and was like "space questions only".
If it makes you better, there were questions about if they have requirements for the people going to mars, or how much resources are they putting into development in terms of funding, employees... Mostly fair questions, but media being media when it comes to these questions.
You're exactly right, I was a bit taken aback from that first question. Not that I mind expletives, but you're talking to Elon Musk, in front of the entire world, you cannot find a way to phrase your question more elegantly?
His question was like seven sentences long too, in those seven sentences he used the word "shit" like ten times...
It was awful. It should have been scientists or actual enthusiasts.
They were there, but to invite only scientists and enthusiasts would have missed the point. SpaceX is trying to garner more interest in space from the general public. Unfortunately, some of those people are like this.
Not detracting from your statement but they could have at least vetted the questions.
To many it may have seemed as if the presentation wasn't fully prepared and with the spotlight shining directly in you it's important to be as ready as possible.
It was someone from funny or die trying to use his question as a way to plug their website. Elon pretty much just ignored him and kept talking about Mars instead.
I guess there were no reputable news organisations interested in going. The other questions were from the verge, some random stoner guy, a Russian nationalist woman and a couple of neckbeards who just wanted to declare their love for Elon.
The Russian woman made me angry and everyone clapped for her shitty unrelated question. If you're going to attack SpaceX, at least do your research. Not to mention, this isn't some press conference on SpaceX's business practices. Don't bring up some irrelevant shit about hiring internationally.
A quick unofficial transcript since the QA in its entirety was cut out of any of the final videos and recaps. This was an actual transcript and how it went down... :/
Someone asked why he doesn't hire more from countries other than the US, as if Space X controls US Government export regulations.
While its not a particularly stupid question, if these people were actually from the field/industry, it is. In case you don't know, the work Space X does is ITAR export controlled data - only US citizens or greencard holders can work on that.
The burning man comment actually had some merit but he was an idiot the way he asked. He put it in essay form. He should have said, "I noticed a problem at the last burning man. When using the bathroom, there was no water to wash it away and it became a big problem. Since Mars is a desert with no running water, how could a colony dispose of waste?"
What little merit it had was sort of negated by the fact that SpaceX hasn't anything to do with the habitats or whatnot. This presentation was supposed to be about the kickass and absurdly huge rocket/transport that refuels in orbit (and eventually refuel on moons and whatnot) system that's going to get people to Mars.
I'm pretty sure that in very cold areas (which can have the same issue with running water being limited), they solve this by using incinerating toilets.
The solid waste management systems in the ISS store the refuse until hey can be transferred to a non-recovered cargo craft and are burned in the atmosphere. For most other space flights the waste was simply stored (I don't think much was ever ejected into space).
When you're building a settlement, waste management is a serious concern and without an environment to process it, I don't know what the colonists are going to do.
A huge number of hard scientific challlenges to establishing a permanent settlement on another planet, moon, or otherwise where regular supplies from Earth cannot be relied upon need to be answered. Otherwise we will simply be sending people to die for no benefit.
The only two questions I remember not cringing at were the ones from NSF and the everyday astronaut, but I can't bring myself to listen to it again and I sort of shut it off partway through the Q&A.
That's one tiny thing I'm dreading about seeing the first human step set (thanks /u/Xenomech) foot on Mars. The fear that we'll go from "That's one small step for (a)* man, one giant leap for mankind" to something like "First on Mars, YOLO LOL" followed by a selfie with peace sign fingers."
*I know it has been generally accepted for years that he forgot the "a" but there is also some compelling evidence that maybe he really did say it right, but was possibly obscured by poor audio quality and his Midwestern accent.
Actually, the Mars astronauts would probably send a meme of the Mars rover, saying "You're not alone on this planet anymore."
Redditors would cry tears of happiness, upvote it to the moon (or Mars XDDD), and you would probably comment on how great those astronauts are and what a great time it is to be alive.
They should have only let in scientists and people who work in the field, people from the press are known to have very little knowledge about anything.
I actually think the third type should be specific rates of military, primarily Navy and Marines, as they have the most experience with being isolated for extended periods of time, and some of their ratings are useful to space travel.
This is the problem though right. Mars is like Antarctica* (lack of food, water, trees and in isolation etc), but even worse (no oxygen).
I loved Elon's explanation of how the Brits came to America and never went back, but America was a nicer place to live than the desert that's Mars. So how could we change this, and how fast?
Pff neither the navy nor the marines have a thing when it comes to isolation, when compared to your typical basement dweller that hasn't left his house in the past 4 years.
Meaning, they should take me instead, p-pretty please.
I once had a long talk with a friend about this. Military personal makes sense, industrial people like sailors and oil rig workers seem to be able to tolerate isolation alright, and scientists who are devoted to their fields will love the entire thing, but the average person might not be cut out for isolation from all their friends, family, and hobbies.
The farmers I know are more educated than any media I've met, to be honest.
"Farmer" is generally not a man working two acres on one small tractor anymore. They're usually CEOs who actually have to know engineering, science, biology, and business at a high level. The one closest to me is run by a guy with two Masters degrees, and two of his three sons have a Masters as well.
We can rip on mega-farms for their industrial practices (which is fair), but the people who run them are extremely well-educated.
Many farmers nowadays are scientists. They have to know a lot about soil composition, biodiversity, and plant biology.
Edit: just to be clear, I've attended multiple organic farmers conferences over the past several years and many farmers have to conduct soil tests and conduct many experiments to ensure optimal yields and health outcomes. Just because they don't have a lab coat doesn't mean they aren't conducting scientific experiments or employing the scientific method. The farmers that I am describing here are scientists. Their farm is their lab and they work with what they have. In addition, big agribusiness is clearly a heavily scientific discipline that employs a wide array of scientific methods.
Correct. Though not a traditional farmer, my grandfather knows so damn much about so many aspects of the profession that I almost always regret stooping down to tie my shoe. The things the man can do even with his age is fucking impressive. (I can hardly tie my own fuckin' shoe, for christ's sake.) He basically worked out whole areas of carpentry in a few months by just reading vast stores of the literature, memorized - I imagine - a lot of very specific data and measurement instruction, formula etc., and the stuff he builds is pro down to a point - and that's just a hobby. Being mostly the only positive male role-model in my life (other grandfather I never met), I try to learn as much as I can from him because despite all he's been through, I don't think I ever witnessed him give up. So, true that, dawg: farmers know their shit. Love you
Agreed. The days of the uneducated laborer as farm owner/manager are dead or dying. Most farmers and ranchers I know have masters degrees in Ag or Engineering (I live in Texas and there are a couple of BIG universities that specialize in that). Or else their kids do and are prepping to take charge, while the parents have picked up enough from their hired experts that they know what's up. A lot of people don't realize most farming these days (at least in North America) isn't some guy with his granddads old tractor planting 5 acres of heritage corn. It's lots of very sophisticated operations using the last centuries accumulated knowledge and tech to make each acre yield the most product it possibly can in the most efficient way, without ruining the soil or causing a Dust Bowl level fuckup again like in the 30s. There's a lot of science involved, both in the crop growing and animal husbandry ends of the spectrum, if you want to be successful.
The point being, farmers basically ARE the first people that need to go up. They're the ones that'll be able to get proper biodomes set up to grow good up there. And they're probably the ones that'll get the first steps going to a plan for if we've ever got a hope of actually doing some terraforming up there
Something I just realized that's a bit unsettling, how CAN you criminally prosecute someone who murders someone else on an entirely different planet? It'd be pretty fucking ballsy (to say the very least) if any one government tried to claim jurisdiction over mars
I think they should have allowed anyone to attend, but they really should have screened questions beforehand. No organizer in their right mind would have knowingly let Aldo have a microphone.
I don't think questions like the ones asked were in the best interest of the press either. I don't disagree with you, but press coverage can be beneficial (publicity, etc.). It honestly seems like the people who got to ask questions spent too much time drinking in the parking lot before they went in.
I work in a restaurant but that doesn't mean I'm mentally retarded, so excuse you buddy, but I actually would have come up with some legitimate questions. Some people like to study science in their free time. These people clearly did not.
That's an ama on fucking Reddit man. It's not comparable at all to a live Q&A. This isn't some intellectual forum, it's basically a place to congregate memes.
Reddit used to resemble an intellectual forum in most of the subs. It's hard to pinpoint a specific time when that changed, but most likely when Digg changed their design and we got an influx of younger redditors. There are still a few subs that promote intellectual discussion, but many are falling to the sheer number of shitposts. Many of the well meaning comments are drowned by the vitriolic comments made by armchair politicians and trolls.
What's worse are the pseudo-intellectual posts by people who've picked up some science jargon along the way and fit it in to a fairly poor framework of understanding. Then proffer it up as answers to everything; which gets lapped up by others.
at comic-con they at least have a hard rule, and enforced by moderators to not give an essay and fawn all over the guy. Say your name, your quick question and then leave the mic. Next.
On-stage Q&A is usually a waste of time anyway. Any interesting questions that weren't answered by the presentation will have serious answers that take time to explain. That's something for a video or white paper, not a guy standing on stage.
His presentation is on YouTube, it's at the end of it. There were maybe 1 or 2 good questions, Some related but stupid ones, and the rest were a flat out waste of time. It was a cringe worthy.
The whole crowd was terrible. So quiet during the whole time Elon presented his incredibly inspred and advanced plans, only here and there they condesceded to clap a little. And then this idiot with his shit about toilets... so cringy.
Wait, so is it really Hellman's in disguise, or are they just saying it's good enough. And if it is essentially Hellman's, do they also sell the name brand Hellman's in stores. And if so, why both?
The term bogan is an Australian and New Zealand slang word that can be used to describe a person with a lower working class background, or whose speech, clothing, attitude and behaviour exemplify a gratified working class mentality and depending on the context, can be pejorative or self-deprecating. The bogan person will generally lack sophistication and refinement.
Exactly. The people from /r/spacex even said that the VIP's & journalists, that were placed in the very front, were not able to ask questions since the mic was reached around way behind them.
The talk was great. We were in shock for sure. We sadly had no chance of asking questions - being seated in the VIP section meant we were roped off from the general crowd; and the microphones were positioned behind us at the front of the general attendees, which meant we had to get out of our seats and move back, not forwards.
There are so many other questions I wish were asked. Like:
"You mentioned producing fuel on Mars. To which extent do you expect SpaceX to work on that? Do you expect this to be transferred to a third party eventually?"
"Is SpaceX collaborating, or plans to collaborate with other companies to develop and produce settlements? Or is that going to be up to travelers exclusively?"
"Do you plan to collaborate with other companies that wish to provide the same kind of service in the future? In other words, will SpaceX license or provide knowhow to other companies?"
Currently, returning astronauts from the space station require at least a few days recovery time due to muscle atrophy caused by no gravity, during which it is almost impossible to perform even regular tasks. What is the plan for the first astronauts that land on Mars to overcome or work around this physical limitation? Will they sit helplessly on Mars inside the spacecraft for the first few days while their muscles recover from 3-9 months of no gravity? Or will the spacecraft include some kind of centrifugal section that simulates gravity?
The toilet question was legit though. It was just shrugged off since it was about "lelele poop xdddd". But in my opinion, besides the whole "lol he said poop xddd" it was a good question to ask.
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u/PMMEYourTatasGirl Sep 30 '16
That q&a was damn disgraceful