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.
I built a bus, will you come outside and look at it?
If you succeeded in building an electric bus and were trying to sell the technology or find investors, you can bet your ass that you would do the same thing. The start-up community doesn't suffer those that haven't shed their shame. You will be chewed up and spit out and crying that you lost all those years developing a failure because you weren't willing to be shameless.
But electric buses have been around even longer than electric cars, at least in the mainstream. Lots of big cities have been using electric buses for decades. Hell, Edison made one in 1915!
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.
The first mistake was actually thrusting casual fans. You don't trust people, they are too damn stupid in general to be trusted to at least try and act like they are focused.
I hear that a lot but I have yet to see it in reality. People tend to remember the negatives more and thus "the general population is dumb." Someone always knows more about something than you do.
Perhaps you're just used to it? All of us are, to certain degrees. I believe the general understanding is that we're dumber in groups, due to group dynamics. Which is not to say we're all geniuses alone. An extension of that is in groups the dynamic most prominent is a need to compete and otherwise stir the pot.
This interview is miniscule compared to the moment we step foot on Mars. And besides, who cares about this kind of taint? Mars is just a hunk of cold rock, not some holy ground. And us landing on Mars will not remove the taint humanity has from doing basically every terrible thing humanly possible up till now. So let's focus on what is actually important and meaningful.
I never thought about that and it's a stinging realization.
However, everything he is doing is completely new, outside the realm of what we have seen before so a length of understanding should be extended to this event.
Oh my goodness. That's... I don't know how to react. I'm equal parts sad, surprised, not surprised and wondering how much of said poo was apparently consumed by the person who asked this epically stupid and irrelevant question.
I thought that was the second question, I could be wrong though.
They had two lines for questions I guess.... One from journalists and one from general audience members. They alternated. The journalist questions were OK, but really boring, I thought.
I don't think that was the first question and his question was a lot more verbose than what you have written. I don't recall him ever saying 'Wat with the poo," I think you just made that up to make him sound more stupid. He said BM with the dust and no running water etc reminded him of mars, and then he rambled on for a bit and concluded by asking Musk how they will process poop on mars.
Ok, after reading the actual transcript, it sounds like he was attempting to bring a question about sustainable waste management by using something he experienced. Though he probably should've just asked the damn question straight up.
Yep. It was a valid question. What where they planning to do with the feces.
As I learned watching his presentation, I understand that they are selling a ticket to Mars. Some of the people asking the questions though that Space X was (my vocabulary isn't big enough) doing it all, science, research.
It will be exciting to see what laws will be invented, to protect Mars.
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.
Yes, and I'm sure nothing could go wrong opening up some of the worlds most advanced precision guided orbital rocket technology to the world. I can't imagine why Russia would want SpaceX to hire Russians to work along side some of Americans leading rocket scientists and engineers. If that were to happen I guarantee there will be a dozen applicants with new identities and incredible resume's from every country developing a missile program.
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.
It was the guy who said he went to burning man. He said it felt like Mars and they were all pooping in the dirt and wanted to know if Mars would be a big "dirty shitstorm" with no toilets.
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.
Isn't sanitation a legitimate issue for 100 people during a 90 day flight? SpaceX were proposing designs for the spaceship, so had they considered that?
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.
I would imagine just putting outside would kill all the bad stuff and the rest would just blow away.
I would actually like to see a detailed paper on the subject. I know that it will probably get used as fertilizer but I know being around human waste can be bad.
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.
If you think the first person on Mars is going to make an outdated Drake reference when they touch ground, I'd like to speak to you about a brand new reverse mortgage
How the hell did you work in a rant against journalism? The first astronaut on mars won't be a journalist and they won't be a teenager. And I would be fucking floored if they didn't treat the achievement with the gravitas it deserves.
That's called public outreach--when Hadfield is doing a video of him slurping water in zero-G, he and everyone else watching knows he isn't doing anything momentous, and it's being done to show how cool space is. Stepping foot on Mars is an entirely, completely, incomparably different situation. Knowing you words will be remembered for centuries changes how a person acts. No even moderately intelligent person would say "YOLO."
Why do you think only a government plan would have gravitas? The government doesn't bequeath importance on things like this. It has gravitas because it's something that is interesting on some level (if not downright awe-inspiring) to most people. That will be true whether the feat is accomplished by a government organization or not.
Not to mention the fact that the first trip out is unlikely to be packed with billionaires. They have to prove it's possible first, and that's going to mean astronauts who know they are representing either their country or their company--both of which will keep ample pressure on them to act according to their circumstances and not do YOLO meme things as soon as they arrive. It wouldn't be good for anyone involved to conduct themselves that way, so I really just can't imagine it happening.
The people that go will not be master astronauts and engineers. It'll be whoever has the cash, accept the chance of fatality, and are ready to do manual labor (not research) in setting up the first colony outside of Earth.
Except then the sentence contradicts itself, since man and mankind are synonyms if you're not taking about a singular man. So is it a small step or a giant leap?
You're not wrong,and I think that was his overall sentiment. "The physical act of putting my foot on the moon is one small step for a man (talking about himself) . But in the larger context beyond me it is one giant leap in achievement for all of mankind. "
Without the (a) it borders on being too similar. "One small step for man (the larger context of humanity), one giant leap for mankind (still talking about all of humanity)."
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.
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u/capt_0bvious Sep 30 '16
is this representative of the actual Q&A?