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I subscribe but I do the thing where I call and will only pay the $60/year for it. I listen to some comedy talk shows and some music. But on any long trip I prefer to put on Netflix or a podcast or some YouTube shit.
The Astronomy Thread
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Guest, it's time once again for the massively important and exciting FoH Asshat Tournament!
Go here and give us your nominations!Who's been the biggest Asshat in the last year? Give us your worst ones!
I subscribe but I do the thing where I call and will only pay the $60/year for it. I listen to some comedy talk shows and some music. But on any long trip I prefer to put on Netflix or a podcast or some YouTube shit.
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Gavinmad
Mr. Poopybutthole
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A big issue with NASA is with a new president comes new goals and they have to change course every 4-8 years.
Obama Budget Scraps NASA Moon Plan for '21st Century Space Program'
U.S. President Barack Obama's proposed 2011 NASA budget scraps the agency's moon mission effort to make way for a 21st century space program.www.space.com
I work in aerospace in Los Angeles (DoD side) and know a lot of SpaceX folks. A big advantage they have is SpaceX makes the employees work insane hours for the same pay as the other aerospace companies. Went on a mountaineer trip with a guy who a guy who has a PHD in aerospace engineering and works on the merlin engine at SpaceX over the summer in Washington. The night before the climb he had his laptop and was working in the hotel room while I was going to sleep.
But it's not really the same pay right? Cause the SpaceX guys are getting equity along with that pay for potentially the next big IPO.
LachiusTZ
Rogue Deathwalker Box
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Pretty sure every milestone from the grasshopper to now has been space x.
I can't remember where I read that NASA floated the idea in the mid 90s.
CaughtCross
Ahn'Qiraj Raider
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Im looking at it from the cost to the company. SpaceX labor costs vs the amount of labor they get makes it hard for United Launch Alliance to compete with them. SpaceX is getting 80+ hours a week out of an employee that ULA gets 40-60 hours and pays them the same. Not sure how the equity works at SpaceX but they work employees really hard. A lot of people I know at other aerospace companies would never work at SpaceX due to this.
BrutulTM
Good, bad, I'm the guy with the gun.
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Yeah I haven't worked at NASA but I've worked at other government labs and you can get by at those places working about 2 hours a day and everyone has 5 weeks of vacation etc. That's where my message board addiction started. It's a nice job and they do some good work but they're not going to be able to compete with someplace like SpaceX without completely changing their culture and also probably paying a lot more.
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Ukerric
Bearded Ape
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Actually, not that much.
In those matters, the president proposes, and the congress dispose. They're the ones who make the actual budget. Most of the time, the White House has proposed some stuff, Congress said "why don't we spend it more on those contractors instead", and the negotiation ended there. Most Presidents still think they can be somewhat the next JFK inflaming the country, then they don't bother fighting the Congress once it becomes apparent those grifters will not pass a budget unless it includes their pet projects.
Still, priorities change every 4-8-12 years... when the members of the congress committee rotate.
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Ukerric
Bearded Ape
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True, but the scam would be exposed ("why do we pay so much for what I get on spotify for pennies?").
That way, "it's satellite, man. Of course it's expensive".
(that said, I have no idea as well)
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Ukerric
Bearded Ape
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SpaceX is the videogame studo of aerospace.
It works because everyone knows they're making historical achievements (and hope they will make History, capital-H).
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Video game studios are a bad comparison because they generally don't have this potentially huge stock payoff in the future that SpaceX does. Each worker will value their stock and potential for historical achievements differently, but the stock must also play a big role for many. The valuation on this company 10-20 years out... sky is the limit. Its unknown territory, can imagine some truly astronomical numbers if they keep executing as they have been. Its going to be really interesting to see how Wall Street prices it when it IPOs. It'll be a must-have buy and hold for any respectable portfolio with a 10+ year timeframe. If Tesla, a company that mostly just sells cars, can get to a near-Trillion dollar valuation while having a fraction of the car sales other companies do, what can SpaceX get to when its taking space travel to a level nobody else can compete with?
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Big Phoenix
Pronouns: zie/zhem/zer
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McDonnel Douglas started landing rockets back in the early 90s with the DC-X;
McDonnell Douglas DC-X - Wikipedia
Who knows how accurate that is, but the X-33 which was supposed to replace the Shuttle ended up being a spectacular failure due to mainly the engine it was based around never becoming a reality. Considering how much money NASA was dumping into it, I wouldnt be surprised if they sabotaged the cheaper, more revolutionary option to save face.
Whatever the case, we lost almost 20 years due to it.
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LachiusTZ
Rogue Deathwalker Box
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The DC-X first flew, for 59 seconds, on 18 August 1993;[4] it was claimed that it was the first time a rocket had landed vertically on Earth.[11]
Holy fuck, once I saw that thing I vaguely remembered it.
The early 90s...
If my uncle and I were still on speaking terms I would be calling him right now and verbally abusing him.
He would actually know the politics of whether or not it was killed to save face.
But we don't speak anymore.
Hard to imagine, I know.
Holy fuck, once I saw that thing I vaguely remembered it.
The early 90s...
If my uncle and I were still on speaking terms I would be calling him right now and verbally abusing him.
He would actually know the politics of whether or not it was killed to save face.
But we don't speak anymore.
Hard to imagine, I know.
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spronk
FPS noob
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First X-rays from Uranus Discovered
Astronomers have detected X-rays from Uranus for the first time, using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory. This result may help scientists learn more about this enigmatic ice giant planet in our solar system.
Edaw
Parody
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