Elon Musk on 60 Minutes

[Zathras]

Not only that but Tesla announced today the final crash results were in and they can now start selling the Model S!
First customers are to receive theirs June 22nd

Elon had a very very good day today!

[Chuckanut]

Here is an interesting look at the life, accomplishments and future goals of Elon Musk. I must admit I would like to know more about the HyperLoop transportation system.

Elon Musk, the 21st Century Industrialist - Businessweek

[Chuckanut]

Interesting article on recent developments in international relations and SpaceX. Elon Musk must be wearing a watermelon smile at the moment.

Russia's New Space Sanctions Mean SpaceX Is About to Get Paid | Motherboard

Quote:

Russia just announced plans to shut down the International Space Station in 2020, and prohibited companies in the country from selling engines to Lockheed Martin and Boeing for military launch purposes.

[Totoro]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chuckanut Interesting article on recent developments in international relations and SpaceX. Elon Musk must be wearing a watermelon smile at the moment. Russia's New Space Sanctions Mean SpaceX Is About to Get Paid | Motherboard

Bold predictions for 2020:

• The ISS will still be there
• The russians are back in the poor house
• Europe is energy independent
• The Chinese embark on a five year plan to match SpaceX on price, and fail
• The Ariane program is restructured three times until french-speaking Germans run the whole thing

[sailor]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Totoro Bold predictions for 2020: Europe is energy independent

That's probably the most ambitious goal in your prediction.
How do you think it's going to be achieved?
There is no way I can see Europe investing in energy development during next 6 years bringing it to "independence".
What do you mean by independent?
As far as I know there are no new technologies coming available soon.
DEMO tokamak won't be operational until at least 2033 and Energy Catalyzer is probably a scam.

[Totoro]

I meant independent as in in self-reliant, certainly not ditching fossil fuels.

Right now Europe is importing about 30% of its gas needs from Russia, that's what I was referring to

On a good windy summer day Germany now has more solar / wind production than it needs - they are actually selling power at negative prices at times (!).

Ways to achieve: Solar, nuclear (France gets 60% of electricity from that), insulation and energy savings, a bit of wind.

And the rest is plain old rotten dinosaur and plant remains, gotten from the North sea, Norway or NL.

[clifp]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chuckanut Interesting article on recent developments in international relations and SpaceX. Elon Musk must be wearing a watermelon smile at the moment. Russia's New Space Sanctions Mean SpaceX Is About to Get Paid | Motherboard

This will be an interesting case study in the power of lobbyist. The SpaceX solution will have less political risk, will undoubtedly be less expensive and will use almost entirely US sourced parts.

The ULA solution will have a longer track record and will spread the pork out among more congressional and senate seats.