Space and Science BS Thread

When you say your “haven’t really been proven wrong”’does that mean you’ve kinda been proven wrong?

In any case, Elon doesn’t own a home anymore so I’m not subscribing to the commute motivation for TBC.

I think he started it to hone and perfect the equipment for use on Luna and Mars. In support of my argument I offer:

• TBC is developing all electric borers;
• Their system is compact enough to fit into Starship;
• Tunneling has long been proposed as a way to shield again solar radiation; and
• They’re developing the technique to start a tunnel without having to dig a starter trench.
  • This will reduce the need for excavators in addition to borers.

My emails to TBC to confirm this theory have gone unanswered

Pushing this argument a couple steps further, I wonder how many Teslas could fit into Starship?

 

NET fourth quarter 2022? Let’s just call it sometime in 2024.


BTW, 2022 is the same timeline for China to finish their space station...
https://twitter.com/TGMetsFan98/status/1366527451099258885?s=20

 

You don't need to own a house to hate traffic. And I'm pretty sure he built the tunnel before his spat with California. Despite looking a fair amount. I could never find out if the tunnel saw regular use. I'm betting it did.

 

My understanding is that the tunnel in Hawthorne is just proof of concept, it only goes a mile or so.
They built one at the Las Vegas convention center, not sure how much use it has gotten, due to Covid.

 

I think, last I read, the tunnel is done but they have issues with the local code. Something about the cars won't be able to travel at the speeds they hoped and may have a cars per station limit way below what they hoped for. It's become a boondoggle either way from what I remember since the track will only be able to transport a fraction of the promised people per hour. They would of been much better off with something more conventional. People are going to end up standing around waiting for a ride rather than in the exhibits.

 

And isn’t only for EVs?

 

Yes. The whole point originally was that the Tesla supplied cars in the tunnel would be able to hit their maximum possible speeds in the tunnel and travel so close to each other that no mere mortal driver could avoid accidents. The concepts viability depended on those two attributes to allow the system to move slightly more people than a more conventional solution like a monorail or LRT loop. For Elon, the goal was to show of self driving in a situation that would seem dangerous on paper but in reality cause zero accidents since all the cars would be 100% computer controlled and able to talk to each other to know where they each were. Ultimately they've hit a ton of red tape. The insurance company wouldn't insure liability if the cars didn't have some human involvement, so they need drivers now. There's also something about the convention center falling under the municipal rules and not private land rules, which means the cars must follow an approved speed limit. The drivers mean the cars have to follow a reasonably safe distance at a reasonably safe speed and the speed limit means the cars will be going something like 30 mph when the track was designed for up to 100 mph, reducing the carrying capacity of the line to a fraction of what Elon promised. That, and the whole system is now massively overbudget though I think Elon is covering that shortfall for now. Once Covid is over this could be a major blackeye for him if the ownership of the convention center isn't happy with the final product. I know Elon is still fighting for the original concept so nothing has boiled up yet. They're only testing cars in the tunnel recently so there is some hope that capacity may go back up before the system is relied upon.

 

Yes, just a concept. It's just a coincidence that it goes from the parking lot of his office to just past the worst of the daily traffic jam...

 

For sure it has the makings for a major Cluster F but who knows how advanced or effective they may become. There was a recent article in ARS downplaying TBC by an industry insider. The article compared it to the early naysayers regarding Tesla and SpaceX... Time will tell...

 

Honestly, I hope TBC works as promised. It will most likely pave the way for self-driving cars to become more mainstream.

 

I'm familiar with the area, if you think that the worst traffic in the area of SpaceX is between his office and a residential garage a few blocks away, you don't know LA traffic.

 

I've seen an outlet that constantly doubts and downplays spacex praising blue origin. Some outlets have biases, some have conflicts of interest, and some sell fear and controversy.

Tbc has potential, but regulators and musk's overall lack of involvement, will keep it as questionable for the foreseeable future.

 

I know la traffic. And getting a mile is huge. In sure he would have loved a tunnel straight to his garage, but that would have been a hard sale. Also know I'm half joking.

 

Gotcha, take a look at Wiki, there's a map of the route

 

Right? Maybe if it was under the entire 405 ...

 

But you guys are ignoring the most obvious part. It comes up in a garage, of a house he bought. Meaning when he comes up, he is home. Or at least his home until traffic is gone home.

 

https://twitter.com/BocaChicaGal/status/1366831841509056512?s=20




But

https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1366854158599352320?s=20

 

For any lunch or other breaks you may get:

https://twitter.com/nextspaceflight/status/1366963359719956480?s=20

 

Nasaspaceflight livestream

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XOQkk3ojNfM