icandownvote's comments

Hi, thanks for the reply! Yes, software development. Seattle office. My mail is spin.stabilized in the public google mail service.

Do you have any particular insights how to get a reply from the HR? Applied twice through this form to a super relevant position with matching skills -- no reply, not even a negative one.

All at the time when I'm rejecting other offers expecting to have a chance to talk to SpaceX.

First, "hard" landing doesn't necessarily mean "high speed". It's a generic term for unsuccessful landing. It could be incorrect attitude landing (e.g. tilted) or anything else. In this case it looks like it was exactly that: landed tilted or with significant horizontal speed. If it was high vertical speed, we would've seen big scrapes on the platform's surface, and there's none.

Contrary to popular belief, the fins are _extremely_ effective even at low speeds. First, they have enormous surface area. Secondly, they have huge momentum around the center of mass, which is at the very bottom of the rocket when it's empty. So, even a small force generated by the fins generates huge momentum and can help position the rocket in the desired attitude.

It looks like the control system was commanding the fins to move and was expecting the attitude to change, but they didn't move anymore. Perhaps at the very end of the flight the gimbals on the engine didn't have enough authority to orient the rocket vertically and/or arrest its horizontal speed.

I think it's amazing achievement for the very first attempt. Congrats SpaceX and I'm jealous like hell for what you've been able to achieve.

Sounds like a very cool project. Any idea where we can find more info on it? Specifically, it would be interesting to learn where does the freed Carbon go: this topic is not covered in images and the little text that is available on the site. Also (or perhaps related to it) what's the longevity of the leaf and what does it require for photosynthesis to run (regular leafs require at least water and removal or generated organic material)

There's something wrong with the math here. 100 km/s delta-V means you go from standstill to 100 km/s. Solar system's escape velocity is 42 km/s at Earth's orbit. By the very definition, any A->B travel for any A and B within the solar system, requires less delta-V if Hoffman's orbits are used.

In reality the delta-V for Earth_surface -> Mars_surface journey is between 19 and 21 km/s (depending on the relative position of the two bodies) for Hoffman's orbits. Without using aerobreaking. If using aerobreaking, it's less by about 3-4km/s [1]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delta-v_budget

Drive one. Rent/borrow one for a day: it's possible and doable. Take it to a mountain road, take corners faster than you should, then report back.

I owned and tracked E46 M and E37 M Roadster. Sold the last one when I got my Model S. Now I will never go back to an Internal Combustion Engine. Yes, the Model S is not an M3 and won't last through a lap on any decent raceway. But it's not the goal. It's beyond adequate for everyday driving AND for fun through the mountain curves. It's got impeccably precise throttle response, unbelievable lateral grip and no body roll due to incredibly low center of gravity. The fact that it's fully charged every morning for nearly free, that the juice is free in the superchargers and that it's cargo volume and crash safety are out of its class, is just icing on top. The point is: for ALL uses (but tracking) this $70-120K car is better than anything in the $100-300K category.

My friends own 997 4S, E93 M, Viper, E39 M, F10 M, S6 and whatever the GTR Nizmo is (all US spec). Some of them are tracked, some are not. Half of them have deposits down for a Model S.

Another point: Juan Pablo Montoya owns one and uses it as his daily driver.

Hopefully more like FAA role

I have to be driving less than 7000mi/year for Uber to make financial sense over my Model S P85+.

Let me repeat that: from purely economical perspective, if driving more than 7000 miles/year, Tesla Model S P85+ is cheaper than Uber.

Here are the numbers. Basic assumptions:

    gas : $4/gal (don't know if it's even a valid number anymore)
    power: $.1/kWh

Tesla Model S P85+:

    depreciation: $1/mile + $300/month (the $300 per months is a sandbagging factor, in reality it doesn't exist)
    power: $.033/mile
    maint: $600/year covers everything
    tires: $1600 (P85+ goes through the full set once a year, depending on how you drive)
    registration: $60/year
    insurance: $600/year
    parking: $300/year (suburbia, I hear you say. yeah, that's right)
    ---------
    7000 miles => $13993

Uber:

    7000 miles => $14000

For comparison: My old BMW M Roadster (yr. 2000, ~100K miles on the clock):

    depreciation: $1500/year
    gas: $1470 for the 7K miles
    maint: ~$2000/year (it's old)
    tires: $1000/year (chews through one set of good, soft tires. I like fast corners)
    tabs: $100/year
    insurance: $600/year
    parking: $300/year
    ---------
    7000 miles => ~$7000

We also live in an age of visas, rogue governments holding your (expir{ing|ed}) passport for ransom for stupid things like compulsory military service. Not everybody can change that part of the situation.

Lets cool our heads a bit. It's not that "impossible" to crash a modern car with ABS, EBD, TC and ST. I'm a living-breathing evidence to the fact that none of these technologies can do anything if the car hits a paddle of water/sand going too fast around a bend. I'm not saying that this is exactly what happened but do we know that it didn't?