caffinatedone

There wasn’t the public interest or unlimited cash that the Apollo program had to work with, so this was never going to realistically happen in the 80s or 90s, shuttle or not.

Given the technology, there’s no way that we’d have gotten the relatively quick sugar rush like we did for the Moon landings; it’d have been a long, very hard, and very, very expensive slog to get people there.

There’s approximately a zero percent chance that the level of public enthusiasm for such an endeavor would have supported the amount of money and effort needed to make it happen.

Heck, we even cut the Apollo program short because the public quickly got bored with it once we had the big shiny.

There wasn’t realistically the public interest or unlimited cash that the Apollo program had to work with, so this was never going to realistically happen in the 80s or 90s, shuttle or not.

Given the technology, there’s no way that we’d have gotten the relatively quick sugar rush like we did for the Moon landings; it’d have been a long, very hard, and very, very expensive slog to get people there.

There’s approximately a zero percent chance that the level of public enthusiasm for such an endeavor would have supported the amount of money and effort needed to make it happen.

Heck, we even cut the Apollo program short because the public quickly got bored with it once we had the big shiny.

After all of the sketchy contracts that musk seems to be getting under this regime, the next administration should nationalize SpaceX. With their corrupt self dealing, perhaps give him a dollar or so for it.

His mind is already mush and in four years, it’d be a terrible Weekend at Bernie’s sequel.

Since it’s a money hole just like all of the other “AI” companies, who’s funding xAI and what are they getting out of being a slush fund for musk?

I don’t know why not being lied to in the room at the WH would be a big loss for their reporting. Maybe just investigate and cover what they’re doing and tell folks that?

I don’t think that it’s like a patent where the holder has to defend it; Oracle can decide to go after a license violation if they want to.

I’d imagine that if a real competitor or someone with deeper pockets shipped it, they’d be hearing from the throngs of lawyers that oracle keeps on staff in short order.

That’s because Tesla’s stock valuation was always based on “revolutionary new shiny thing!” rather than “making and selling cars”.

musk has to constantly come out with a new reason why the stock justifies a valuation so insanely high (was worth more than all other car companies combined). “Full self driving!” “Robotaxies!” “Fully automated manufacturing!”, etc….

That’s also why musk can extort $50B payoffs from Tesla. So much of their value is based on his BS powered reality distortion field that they’re terrified of what might happen if he leaves.

Now, there’s huge risk inherent in banking everything on the very stable genius musk as they’re learning.

The EV1 was too far ahead of its time. The tech wasn’t there and to even accomplish what they did cost far more than they could hope to sell it for. An estimate that each EV1 cost GM around $100k to make in the early 90’s (so around $200k in today’s dollars).

Battery tech has progressed massively since then and makes all of this possible now (even if it’s still expensive).

Smart cars had to pass US crash test standards and have the appropriate safety equipment. The kei trucks that you can currently import and use are 25+ years old and wouldn't have even passed US standards back then. Your legs are the crumple zone in these things.

I assume that new ones would have a chance, but it'd be expensive for a manufacturer to modify and certify for the US market. Small cars haven't sold well here, and the profit margins are slim.

Maybe with the recent size and price increases in autos here, well see some movement. I'd love a modern Honda kei to go with my element.