Private Investment vs Government Spending

Reading this article and the following paragraph really jumped out at me:

"SpaceX privately developed the Falcon Heavy rocket for about $500 million, and it flew its first flight in February 2018. It has now flown three successful missions. NASA has spent about $14 billion on the SLS rocket and related development costs since 2011. That rocket is not expected to fly before at least mid or late 2021."

Dollar amounts bolded by me because I think this is a great example of the vast difference between private investment versus government spending. SpaceX is trying to achieve goals while the NASA spending of our tax dollars seem more aimed at being a "jobs program" and pork barrel government spending.

Maybe it's time to scrap the Boeing/Lockheed Martin SLS rocket in favor of subcontracting the work to SpaceX.

This Week in Musk World

Liftoff of the Falcon Heavy early Tuesday morning - NASA photo

Another jam packed week in Musk World.

SpaceX had another successful launch early Tuesday morning. This time it was the Falcon Heavy STP-2 mission for the DoD.

This mission also marked the first time the side boosters that flew on a previous Falcon Heavy mission were reused. Big item in making Falcon Heavy more cost effective than the competition.

This past week SpaceX also got its (extremely) tentative NASA dates for the first Crew Dragon astronaut launch.

BBC's Top Gear does a Model 3 road test and comes away very impressed, "This [the Model 3] is the traffic light king. It's an AK-47 disguised as a butter knife." Host Chris Harris was so impressed he announced he was buying one.

Speaking of the Model 3 - it is probably the safest car on the planet (according to NHTSA testing).

James May (formerly of Top Gear) reviews the Model S P100D and calls it the "greatest muscle car that America has ever produced." I think his admiration is a little more than grudgingly given from this traditional motorhead and there's a more than a little bit of snark even in his compliments.

And speaking of the Model S - this past week marked the 7th year anniversary of its availability. In 2012 2,650 were delivered and last year 245,240 customers got their Model S's. I'm sure that number will be surpassed when the 2019 numbers are finalized.

Tesla will now also now be offering some collision repair via their service centers and mobile repair service. I really like how Tesla is moving to becoming a full one-stop shop for all car related needs. The car, the charging (Superchargers and Powerwall), the maintenance and repair and even soon insurance for the vehicle.  Oh and also "fast pass" access to The Boring Company's tunnels (very cool video).

Finally - Tesla Powerwalls now starting to be used in the telcom sector to replace diesel generators. This could be significant when coupled with solar recharging for remote cell sites and towers.

This Week in Musk World

The photo to the left is of the Falcon Heavy and its 27 engines. "Awesome" is the word that pops to mind.

SpaceX's Falcon 9 wins launch of an asteroid-attacking NASA spacecraft. Maybe we'll be able to point back to this and tell our grandkids "This is how the Space Force was born!"  Maybe future generations will view Falcon Heavy nailing the first triple rocket landing this week the way we look at the Wright brothers' first voyage.

And SpaceX is poised to win even more NASA contracts in the near future.

Meanwhile in the automobile world Elon Musk is bullish not just on EV's but on autonomous EV's going so far as to state that "in the future any car that does not have autonomy would be as useful as a horse." Even raising eyebrows by saying, "Please note that Tesla Full Self-Driving option will increase substantially over time." Will we look back at self-driving cars like some people look at standard transmission vehicles today? Elon Musk - putting the "auto" in "automobile".

In an interesting wrinkle on autonomous cars Tesla announces leasing options for the Model 3 but also that returned vehicles after the lease expires will be used for a Tesla owned ride hailing network. The leases will be true leases with no end of term option to purchase. Instead those vehicles will used to create basically a driverless alternative to Uber and Lyft.

Tesla this week also released their first ever 48-page Impact Report. The everyday use of Tesla cars and solar products has the biggest environmental impact but Tesla also goes the extra mile in making sure their manufacturing is as sustainable as possible. Their Fremont CA factory was certified as a "Zero Waste" facility. All of this is laudable but I kept waiting to read two words - nuclear power. The report states, "The world cannot reduce CO2 emissions without addressing energy generation and consumption." Solar does augment the grid and make it more resilient but the amount of coal used in the world is at the same level is was 20-years ago. You'd think an engineer and pragmatist such as Elon would simply state the truth that if you want true zero emissions then nuclear power has to be a big part of the picture.

But speaking of the factory - I know I posted this video before but it is so cool watching a Tesla Model 3 actually be assembled.

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Socialism fights obesity! And true socialism has yet to be tried!

- The women who took on the mafia

- This was really cool

- The government really shouldn't be making dietary rules. Historically they are always wrong when they do.

- The Boston Bruins have quietly become one of the elite teams in the NHL. And coach Bruce Cassidy should be the leader for NHL Coach of the Year.

- Long article but worth it to get to suggestions on how Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein can fix the mess the FBI is in with the Mueller investigation.

- "The coolest photo I have ever seen"