Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Hondas in Space

Posted by timothy on from the vs.-nasa-the-cadillac-dealer dept.

mikejz84 writes "Fast Company takes a look at SpaceX's attempt to challenge the high cost of space. This cost cutting philosophy includes buying equipment on eBay, looking to milk trucks for tank design ideas, and rummaging though junk yards. CEO Elon Musk remarks 'A Ferrari is a very expensive car. It is not reliable. But I would bet you 1,000-to-1 that if you bought a Honda Civic that that sucker will not break down in the first year of operation. You can have a cheap car that's reliable, and the same applies to rockets.'"

3 of 228 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Red index fingers: the hip new way to protest B by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    Shut up. Your side lost, hippie.

  2. most definitly the only way to do it! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    okay, sorry, i complained the space shuttle
    doesn't look aerodynamic. so who cares ...freedom
    of speech thank you very much.
    so, what is really interessting to me is that we
    "know" how a rocket works and how to build one.
    okay we are on one track using one ... "paradigma"
    for a lack of better words. so does this maybe
    make the whole space exploration thing so
    expensive? dunno ...
    i'm missing all the "other" cool machines john dow
    has never heard of before.
    -the "dadalus" wind turbine.
    -repulsine
    -the implosion "egg form" wind turbine
    -the funny japanese "car engine" i saw
    on one grainy second world war pictures
    -fusor
    -tesla generator
    - (and a s...load of other stuff i found only on
    the internet and they will never ever tell you
    about in school or the such.
    so maybe there's a cheap way to get into space?
    but ... it's a conspiracy? i mean someone /
    somefew OWNZ the freaking world. they HAVE to
    protect their investement. (these are people that
    don't really "exist" e.g. if you try to put them
    into a fortune 100 list, they'll freaking murder
    you or if you're lucky sue you to death ...)
    so, universities etc. are encouraged to enforce
    the believe that the machines and methodes we have
    today are sacrosank, the ultimat, and the
    possibility that there might be another way to do
    it, not just cheaper, but fundamentally different,
    will place you firmly on a modern day stack of
    burning wood. so, just a small thought. take a
    sanddollar, no take two, now snap one in half and
    the other one, fling it as far as you can on a
    open football field. what do you think might be
    the aerodynamics governing it's flight?
    you can see the inside of it from the first
    snapped one ...

  3. Re:Bad analogy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    tard