SpaceX Says It Signed First Private Passenger To the Moon (nbcnewyork.com)

SpaceX announced Thursday that it's booked the world's first private passenger to the moon. The private aerospace company said on Twitter the unnamed traveler would board its Big Falcon Rocket (BFR) to the moon, where only 24 people have ever traveled. Only 12 of those people actually walked on the moon. NBC New York reports: SpaceX didn't reveal any details about the potentially historic voyage but said it plans to reveal the traveler's identity and more on Monday, Sept. 17. The company called the plan "an important step toward enabling access for everyday people who dream of traveling to space." Musk shared the announcement on his personal page but remained tight-lipped as well. However, when asked if the passenger was him, Musk responded with an emoji of the Japanese flag.

Comments

Lemme Guess

[Anonymous Coward]

Alice!

Re:Lemme Guess

[Scarletdown]

Curse you, AC. That was going to be my schtick...

Re:Lemme Guess

[Memnos]

"BANG, ZOOM!"

Re:Lemme Guess

[Anonymous Coward]

Alice!

Alice! Alice? Who the fuck is Alice?

Re:Lemme Guess

[KiloByte]

Bah you newcomers, master Twardowski is there already for nearly five hundred years. And unless the devil somehow managed to alter the contract again, he's still alive.

Re: Lemme Guess

[Anonymous Coward]

The Brady's live-in maid.

Re:Lemme Guess

[Anonymous Coward]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

Re: Lemme Guess

[Anonymous Coward]

Thank you. This is truly a garbage story.

Don't really care about who

[bobstreo]

what I want to know is:

How much does it cost?

Re:Don't really care about who

[Anonymous Coward]

More than you got, NEXT!

Re:Don't really care about who

[hcs_$reboot]

Just wonder how his/her heirs convinced him/her to sign.

Re: Don't really care about who

[Anonymous Coward]

Got a million dollars? Then I guess you ain't getting a Moonwich! Monkey Banana Raffle!

Re:Don't really care about who

[Anonymous Coward]

Put it this way, if the trip actually happened and the ticket price was high enough to cover the cost of it - let alone the cost of the R&D to make it possible - Musk himself wouldn't be able to afford one.

Let me guess, after a couple thousand of dollars (or pick whatever currency you want) you start getting confused about with the numbers, right? Lets take the whole shuttle program (from R&D to all 135 flights), amounted to $209 billion over it's lifetime making each flight about $1.54 billion (and it's the launch that costs the most)... that's less than one third of the asking price for the most expensive yacht (History Supreme), and is in the ballpark for the next two most expensive superyachts (Eclipse and Streets Of Monaco). Now, Musk net worth is about $20 billion, as although net worth isn't the same as having that cash in hand or being able to liquidate and end up having that same figure... I'm pretty sure Musk could get $1.5 billion to burn if he wanted to, and there's sure are lots of people with deep pockets that could thrown money to flight to the moon and back.

Re:Don't really care about who

[Anonymous Coward]

Trading stocks can yield whatever it takes.
I'm definitely interested under $10 million.
Maybe they'll send BFR there and do a surface landing?

Re:Don't really care about who

[Anonymous Coward]

Of course, this is considering that the person would be paying full price... which probably won't and his/her ticket will be used to shave off some of the cost and Space X takes the blunt of the cost, since they have to do this flights anyway (to confirm their capability, as everyone knows the end goal is Mars).

Re:Don't really care about who

[K. S. Kyosuke]

So, the real question is if it has twenty seats?

Re:Don't really care about who

[Mr D from 63]

what I want to know is:

How much does it cost?

It costs very little to sign a passenger.

Re:Don't really care about who

[DontBeAMoran]

"If you have to ask, you can't afford it."

Re:Don't really care about who

[gl4ss]

I bet there's SpaceX investors wondering the same exact thing.
whats next, tickets to mars?

Musk is losing it. this isn't business. this is a publicity stunt, that's not even original.

Re:Don't really care about who

[Anonymous Coward]

So you think a yacht is comparable to a firecracker roller coaster ride that's over in a week?

Re:Don't really care about who

[Anonymous Coward]

"Let me guess, after a couple thousand of dollars (or pick whatever currency you want) you start getting confused about with the numbers, right?"

Well, looks like after a couple of words you starting getting confusing with the words, right?

" Lets take the whole shuttle program"

Let's.

"amounted to $209 billion over it's lifetime"

You wanted "its". It's means it is. You could have taken that apostrophe and put it up there!

" and there's sure are lots of people with deep pockets that could thrown money to flight to the moon and back."

Wow, with crammar like that, people might think you're creimer!

Re:Don't really care about who

[gl4ss]

yeah, he only needs to find 12 people with few billion to burn.

Re:Don't really care about who

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm definitely interested under $10 million.

What about $250 million?

Re:Don't really care about who

[Anonymous Coward]

Hah! Blunt of the cost. I see what you did there!

Re:Don't really care about who

[cheesybagel]

It can be a business. Much like the Mir flights. If they can land the three F9H main stages back on site and reuse the rocket the costs might end up to be similar.

Re: Don't really care about who

[Anonymous Coward]

There always seem to be a suspiciously large number of people saying this about SpaceX goals, right up until they go ahead and accomplish them. Then the voices turn around and claim that it wasnâ(TM)t such a big deal to start with.

Some of us do have memories, you know. We remember when SpaceX was never going to be able to land a booster, then when they were never going to be able to reuse it. Heck, we remember when SpaceX wasnâ(TM)t going to get a rocket off the ground in the first place.

Re: Don't really care about who

[Anonymous Coward]

Clearly it's not his first language, so it's more telling about you than him. You're petty and your comment just a lazy ad hominem.

Re: Don't really care about who

[Anonymous Coward]

Actually a superyacht has operating costs, yearly, that's usually about 10 to 20% of the yacht cost (and we're talking about some hefty expensive yachts even by superyacht standards). So I would say.... No. And I understand where he was getting: those launches have to be made anyway, so why not make part of the cost be paid? His argument was that there are people who can pay the cost of one launch upfront (contrary to what the gp was arguing), even Musk would be able to.

Maybe for TV

[AmiMoJo]

A Japanese man was the first commercial space passenger back in the day, working for a Japanese TV company. Maybe it's the same deal, TV company is paying for one of its staff to go. Essentially funded by advertising.

Re:Maybe for TV

[Anonymous Coward]

Maybe that's dumb AF

Re:Maybe for TV

[buttfuckinpimpnugget]

Exactly! Just like your whore mothers decision not to abort. Thank god for peanut butter cups, amiright?

Re:Maybe for TV

[Anonymous Coward]

I dunno, just think for a second.. how many annoying 'celebrities' are there on TV that you'd like to see sent to the moon ?

Don't Pay Up Front

[Mkkby]

Reports coming in that tesla is telling customers their car is ready. People are paying full price then being put on indefinite hold.

Just saying buyer beware. Protect yourself from the possibility that Musk needs cash so bad his companies will sell moon tickets for some unannounced future date.

Re:Don't Pay Up Front

[Anonymous Coward]

Modded down the lie telling troll. I just picked up a brand new Tesla Model 3. Painless order and delivery process, very smooth, everything transparent.

The car drives and handles beautifully. Charging is painless. Never buying gas is the best part. Other benefits:

No oil changes
No air filter
No timing belt
No starter
No alternator
No spark plugs
No clutch
No transmission
No exhaust system/catalytic converter/muffler to rust
Most braking is regenerative - shouldn't need brakes for a _long_ time
Amazing acceleration and handling

Re: Don't Pay Up Front

[Anonymous Coward]

Yes, yes, Elon, we all know how much you like your own cars and believe your shit dont stink.

You got the $35k Tesla 3 you ordered years ago and the bumper didnt fall off, nor did it ram a parked cop car, nor did it run into a cement barrier at high speed killing the driver.

Suuuuuuuure! We believe you!

Now stop smoking weed and downing whiskey like water, get off Twitter and slashdot and go build some cars.

Oh and yeah, you are going to the moon, too, how could I forget?

Re:Don't Pay Up Front

[Anonymous Coward]

Congratulations!
You have paid the enctrance fee to the Church of Elon.
Your next life test is to defend the church at all costs from anyone who says even something slighlty critical of their idol, machines marked with a "T". It does not matter if your car has failed misrably or burst into flames, those are just tests to show your dedication to the great god Elon.

Time for prayers I think.
Dear Elon, please don't let my car fall apart, burst into flames or get stolen by some unbeliver who has hacked my keyless entry system.
Amen

and people talk about the cult of Apple... Tesladroids are far, far worse.

Re: Don't Pay Up Front

[Anonymous Coward]

You got the $35k Tesla 3 you ordered years ago ...

er, Tesla's not shipping the "affordable" Model 3s yet. They got the $70K one.

Just sayin'

Re:Don't Pay Up Front

[gl4ss]

Musks cars aren't that bad.
In fact, they're kinda too good.

The business of making them doesn't seem to be good.

Re:Don't Pay Up Front

[drinkypoo]

The business of making them doesn't seem to be good.

To whom? Musk has built the most desirable automobile brand in just a few years, and is pulling in approximately $10,000 per Model 3 at the moment. In theory, he's going to still make thousands in profit selling the lower-end Model 3s. GM is losing money on every EV they sell and Nissan is only maybe around the break-even point. Tell us again how the business of making Teslas is bad.

Re: Don't Pay Up Front

[Anonymous Coward]

Why do you think countering bad (or good) criticism is worthy of a cult status? Disagreement is the fundamental dialogue in the westminster system.

The solution to speech you don't like is more speech. Not attempting to silence people with dumb insults.

Re: Don't Pay Up Front

[Anonymous Coward]

Because he has to sell a 70k Tesla to make 10k, assuming that 10k is even true. Neither of us really knows.

What is the price of the GM and Nissan you fail to mention? Can Tesla break even at the same price? No? Ok then, stfu, fanboi.

Re: Don't Pay Up Front

[drinkypoo]

Because he has to sell a 70k Tesla to make 10k, assuming that 10k is even true. Neither of us really knows.

That's the estimate produced by Munro and Associates, the leaders in the vehicle cost analysis business. It's a reasonable assumption.

What is the price of the GM and Nissan you fail to mention? Can Tesla break even at the same price?

No, because they are producing a superior automobile. However, Munro estimates that they will still make several thousand in profit selling the lower-spec model. It has less expensive content, so it costs a lot less to produce. There's still more profit in the higher-content model, which is why Tesla is focusing on filling those orders first. Musk would have to be a massive moron to not do that.

Re: Don't Pay Up Front

[Anonymous Coward]

No he would be a massive fraud to take money from people for the $35k car, hold it for years, keep promising it it juuuuuuust around the corner and never make it.

As far as a third party parting out the cost. They have no idea either. They are not part of the Tesla supply chain, did not see the contracts, do not have inside info, do not know what the rest of the costs and overhead are aside from the parts themselves, and so on. In other words, they are making shit up because that is how they roll.

So you compare against two cheaper cars and when called out on it you reel it back in and entirely fail to stand by your own point. If Nissan or GM sold a car with $25k parts (according to you and your sketchy unreliable sources) for $70k I suspect (you note I state this as opinion not as fact like you do) that their profit margin would vastly exceed Tesla at the same price point.

Here is what we know as fact: Tesla loses money every quarter. They are losing money right now. They do not have the size, run way, and cash on hand that GM and Nissan have, nor access to capital markets like GM and Nissan do. Comparing a tiny shitbox company run by a mad man to two real companies run by professionals is simply ridiculous.

You are simply a fanboi and have zero facts to stand on. I am sure it makes you feel good to back your Nerd God on every Tesla article. Maybe even makes you feel smart. Feelings are not reality. They are just feelings.

The fact is Tesla is deeeeeep in debt and has a verrrrrrry narrow window to escape and with their stock in the dumps after Elans latest string or PR idiocy their only remaining hope is that by some miracle everything just magically works out for them... somehow.

Hope is not a business model.

Re:Don't Pay Up Front

[Anonymous Coward]

Electric cars still require oil changes. Electric cars still have transmissions and differentials. Those things require lubricants that need changing.

Re: Don't Pay Up Front

[Anonymous Coward]

Apparently to Elon fanboys, hope is the only business model.

Re: Don't Pay Up Front

[drinkypoo]

As far as a third party parting out the cost. They have no idea either.

Munro and Associates has been doing cost analysis for decades, and they've been getting feedback from automakers and suppliers on their analyses all along. Their experience with both suppliers and automakers and doing teardowns has let them get a very good picture of what it costs to build auto parts based on examinations of same.

So you compare against two cheaper cars and when called out on it you reel it back in and entirely fail to stand by your own point.

I stand by my point, you're moving the goalposts.

If Nissan or GM sold a car with $25k parts (according to you and your sketchy unreliable sources) for $70k I suspect (you note I state this as opinion not as fact like you do) that their profit margin would vastly exceed Tesla at the same price point.

If white were black you could get run over at the next zebra crossing. However, Tesla has lower overhead than those big automakers because they have less employees and facilities.

Here is what we know as fact: Tesla loses money every quarter. They are losing money right now. They do not have the size, run way, and cash on hand that GM and Nissan have, nor access to capital markets like GM and Nissan do.

Yet they seem to have no trouble finding enough investors to keep going.

Comparing a tiny shitbox company run by a mad man to two real companies run by professionals is simply ridiculous.

Comparing a small, successful company which is selling more cars than it can produce to massive dinosaurs of corporations which wouldn't exist without bailouts is beyond ridiculous.

You are simply a fanboi and have zero facts to stand on.

You are a coward, and you may run along now.

Re: Don't Pay Up Front

[Anonymous Coward]

You said a lot of stupid things but the best/worst is this: However, Tesla has lower overhead than those big automakers because they have less employees and facilities.

Oh. My. God. You are truly stupid. Of course they have more employees and facilities. They produce and sell orders of magnitude more cars!!!

Fuck. You are just too stupid to try to have a conversation or debate with. Complete moron. Maybe you are someones AI experiment. For an AI you are doing brilliantly. For a human you are a total loss.

Re: Don't Pay Up Front

[drinkypoo]

Of course they have more employees and facilities. They produce and sell orders of magnitude more cars!!!

And yet they would still have gone out of business without bailouts. The simple fact is that it doesn't matter how many cars they have sold, they are failures, just like you are at debate.

Bitcoin on the Moon

[mentil]

Wonder if it was Satoshi. If he's really Japanese.
Wasn't the first private passenger to the moon supposed to be on a SLS mission?

Re:Bitcoin on the Moon

[PolygamousRanchKid]

Wonder if it was Satoshi. If he's really Japanese.

To me, it's obviously the private investor who secured the funding to take Tesla private.

This is his "Thank You!" from Musk for the funding.

Question for Slashdot physicists: Will a Boring Company Flamethrower work on the surface of the Moon . . . ?

Re:Bitcoin on the Moon

[currently_awake]

Fire requires fuel and oxygen to burn. I doubt his flamethrower includes an oxygen tank as that would make it burn much hotter (unsafe).

Re:Bitcoin on the Moon

[Anonymous Coward]

That damn flamethrower is an aerosol bottle and a lighter. You could strap those things to a Nerf gun and make your own in about 20 minutes. It would work about as well except you could soak some Nerf darts in petrol and make it significantly more interesting.

Re:Bitcoin on the Moon

[arth1]

Nah, the first passenger is going to be Vernon Unsworth.

So Good

[dohzer]

So amazing. This must mean they are weeks away from heading there. I'm so excited for them!

Re:So Good

[hcs_$reboot]

Would be worrying I guess, but indeed, what a fantastic journey!

Re:So Good

[AmiMoJo]

Wouldn't this person need to go through a lot of training first? Training with the rest of the crew, who are presumably SpaceX or NASA personnel.

I wonder what the trip will be like. Apollo and the planned Russian vehicles were very basic in terms of things like sleeping and toilet facilities. Probably won't be very comfortable but hopefully some improvements have been made.

I wonder what they will wear too. Full suits are bulky and only really need for emergencies, mostly on ascent/rentry.

Re:So Good

[kaizendojo]

I think you missed a sarcasm tag.

Re:So Good

[DerekLyons]

What planet do you live on or what reality do you live in? SpaceX themselves have announced that the first orbital tests won't be until 2020 ("or so").

Has SpaceX fanboi-ism reached the point where the company's own schedules are disregarded in favor of hallucinatory fantasies?

Re:So Good

[Rick Schumann]

Yeah, money can't buy you everything. If someone is rich, but they're in poor physical condition, have outstanding medical condition(s) (like heart disease, diabetes, etc), or are just psychologically unsuited to being cooped up in a capsule for a week (which is how long it takes to make the round trip) then they're just not going to be allowed to go, they'd literally be a danger to themselves and others. Launch alone is enough to kill some people, or at least disable them, or at least freak them the hell out. Imagine being somewhere between LEO and Lunar orbit, and your 'passenger' dies on you? Now what do you do? Or imagine they completely lose their shit somewhere in transit and go batshit insane on you? Maybe damage the craft, injure or kill one of the crew, or they do something completely nuts, like try to exit the vehicle? No fucking way. There'd have to be a very thorough screening process, psychological and physical, extensive training, and a mountain of agreements and releases read and signed, to keep everyone safe and prevent SpaceX from having the living daylights sued out of them if something goes wrong. Frankly I'd assume this is just a publicity stunt and when it comes right down to it, it won't happen at all for reasons.

Re:So Good

[dryeo]

Yet there has been a number of paying customers that have gone to the space station. I'd assume most all of those would have qualified for the Moon trip, which isn't that different from spending a week in orbit, actually a round trip to the Moon is just an orbit in its simplest form.
Even the release forms are probably the same.

Re: So Good

[Anonymous Coward]

The space station isn't the fucking moon.

Re: So Good

[Anonymous Coward]

You must be new here.

Re:So Good

[Rick Schumann]

LEO is so much closer than the Moon, and the ISS has so many times more room inside it than any vehicle SpaceX could send to orbit the Moon and back. if something happned to some civilian on the ISS, they could deal with it much easier, and send them back to Earth so much faster.

Re:So Good

[dryeo]

True. I still think it is possible for someone to pass the physical, sign a lot of release forms and make the trip. Whether it'll actually happen remains to be seen. At least any spacecraft SpaceX gets working will be more roomy then a Soyuz.

Re:So Good

[Cytotoxic]

The BFS is pretty big. It could conceivably provide a less claustrophobic space for a week long pleasure cruise than the ISS.

Take a look at this rendering of the BFS docked to the ISS for a sense of the scale of the thing.

They have been comparing the size of it to an A380 airplane (which seats 800). Were they to decide to send a tourist trip with 10 people aboard, the passengers would likely feel less cramped than the ISS astronauts. Estimating the cost of launch is tough, with the high-reusability goal designed to bring the costs down into the single digit millions per launch. So let's say they can sell it for $100 million - that's only 10 million per passenger. 10 passengers in that large ship would be pretty luxurious, as spaceflight goes.

As for the time... yeah, you can't cut the ride short. But there's plenty of vacation spots here on earth where people are happy to go knowing that rescue is days away at the earliest.

Re:So Good

[Cytotoxic]

Just to underline the massive size of the BFS, I looked up the numbers.

The ISS has an internal pressurized volume of 931.57 m3. That's not the usable space, just the pressurized volume.

The BFR/BFS is supposed to be 825m3.

So one BFS is in the same ball park as the entire ISS in terms of pressurized volume. Smaller, but in the same general ballpark.

Re:So Good

[Anonymous Coward]

LEO is so much closer than the Moon, and the ISS has so many times more room inside it than any vehicle SpaceX could send to orbit the Moon and back. if something happned to some civilian on the ISS, they could deal with it much easier, and send them back to Earth so much faster.

Just because it is close doesn't mean you can quickly get someone from there to Earth. That said, I've been involved with medevacs in remote places where it can take weeks to reach a hospital, so I don't see the Moon as that far, given that the entire trip is ~8 days for a free return trajectory.

Re: So Good

[Anonymous Coward]

The ISS has aproximately the same amount of room inside as the BFR. The ISS has about 10% more room. Remember, the ISS was heavily constrained by the requirement that modules fit in the space shuttle bay. Itâ(TM)s very space inefficient.

right

[matushorvath]

Do we still take what Musk says seriously? I mean, how many times has he said something will happen at some time, and how many times has he actually followed on? For example, just last month he said he said he's taking Tesla private. Or the manned space flight, he has been saying "in two years" for past ten years. Or the Falcon Heavy test flight slipping multiple times, or the other flights of FH that were supposed to happen this year.

Don't get me wrong, he is doing amazing stuff, and I understand there are objective reasons for the deadline slips, and I am a big fan and wish him success. But it has come to the point where I will wait until he actually delivers something before getting excited. And I will definitely get excited when the Moon flight happens.

(How are we on criticizing Musk here? Am I good? Am I going to get crucified? Stay tuned to find out.)

Re: right

[Anonymous Coward]

Slashdot is predominantly Musk-sceptical to lukewarm. Me? I like him.

He invented Paypal, made Tesla, Space-X, and the Boring Company. Those are big ideas, brave to dream, and well implemented. Anyone who dreams like that, theyâ(TM)re not going to be orderly, conservative, or necessarily consistent... theyâ(TM)re going to be people who are used to having 1,000 ideas in a day and throwing 999 straight in the bin.

He has excelled at and by thinking of what nobody else has. You do that by not second-guessing yourself for a bit, and then looking back to make sure everything makes sense. You make hypotheses, check them, AND adapt.

Besides which, heâ(TM)s a CEO who says: look at me and hold me accountable. Iâ(TM)m a big fan, but the internet and media have cooled drastically.

Re: right

[Anonymous Coward]

No one intelligent will criticize you here.

Re:right

[Anonymous Coward]

This guy is motivated to change the world and is so busy that he slices his time into 5-minute intervals. The recent negative press about him was bound to happen. Any human has a maximum stress level and has to relax somehow. Not long TSLA yet b/c I see more short-term opportunity elsewhere. If SpaceX was public, I'd definitely go long with a buy and hold strategy. No other launch provider can compete. When TSLA hits the $25k price point, they will be competitive against Honda, Ford, Subaru, and Toyota for the average Joe. Anyone sick of paying for gas and stopping at gas stations will do it.

Re:right

[110010001000]

Hahah, 5 miunte intervals. How many intervals are devoted to Tweeting? Other manufacturers already produce affordable EVs today. Tesla makes toys for the rich. You still need to pay for electricity and stop to refill.

Re: right

[Megol]

Musk... Invented... Paypal...

It's hard to enumerate in how many ways that's inaccurate.

Re:right

[blind biker]

What he has achieved with Tesla and SpaceX is nothing short of ... frankly, unbelievable. Before Tesla, there was no electric car marketplace. Now there is, and there's even competition.

And SpaceX is the #1 private space company in the world. Maybe #1 overall.

And now the Boring Company is making some important strides, too.

If anyone can bring (back) men to the moon, it's Mr. Musk,

Re:right

[thegarbz]

Do we still take what Musk says seriously? I mean, how many times has he said something will happen at some time, and how many times has he actually followed on?

Yes we do. He has a great track record on delivery and just a poor track record for timing.

Oh the flip side I 100% believe they have signed their first tourist to the moon.

For example, just last month he said he said he's taking Tesla private.

Something you can take very seriously given members of his C suite were pushing for it, and the withdrawal of the idea to go private resulted in the disgruntled resignation of the CAO. About the only thing you can conclude given the actions was that this privatisation was very real.

Re: right

[Anonymous Coward]

But other than the fact that he didn't invent PayPal, and didn't make Tesla, and didn't invent the boring company's machine tech..he's an amazing guy

Re:right

[bill_mcgonigle]

It's a safe bet. Want to put $500 on whether Musk flies tourist(s) around the moon?

Re: right

[Anonymous Coward]

Yes. He does amaze.

Re:right

[Kjella]

Do we still take what Musk says seriously? I mean, how many times has he said something will happen at some time, and how many times has he actually followed on?

The flip side of that is how often has he actually been forced to give up? Like not on a particular timeline or event or scaling it back but abandon it altogether? Tesla is churning out cars. SpaceX is building rockets. Landing has gone from highly experimental to routine in a few years. We'll see if the F9 block 5 is really as reusable as they say or if that's more aspirational too, but it's probably more reusable than the block 4. The Falcon Heavy flew... eventually and nailed 2/3rds of the landing on the first try.

We know Musk wants to put people in space. We know Musk wants to go to Mars. As long as he's in charge at SpaceX they're developing the Raptor methalox engine. They are developing the BFR/BFS. They are pursuing manned flight through the Commercial Crew program. They're making space suits. He's not some loon building a rocket in his back yard, they got engineers capable of doing it. Doing 20 satellite launches at $60 million a year is a billion dollar revenue stream, so they got money too.

I'm pretty sure that if you'd like to book a Moon trip then Musk is the right person to go to and that he'll eventually deliver. In that sense getting in first in line might be a good idea no matter when the doors open. Musk wants an Apollo program, how can we get to Mars in less than a decade not a plan that takes 20-30 years. I don't think he can pull that off without Apollo-level funding too, but then again sometimes it brings out the "they said it was impossible so we did it" in engineers.

Re:right

[Anonymous Coward]

The Falcon Heavy was slipped on purpose because the plain old Falcon 9 saw huge increases in lift capability, and it could lift most of the payloads the F9H was originally designed to fly. That took the pressure off the F9H, which anyway SpaceX now considers a bit of a mistake given how complex flying a 3-stick rocket is.

But yes, if you want more realistic schedules, look to what Gwenne Shotwell says, not what Musk says. Shotwell is saying perhaps 2030 for the first manned flights on a BFR.

Re:right

[SlaveToTheGrind]

Before Tesla, there was no electric car marketplace. Now there is, and there's even competition.

You make Nathan Poe proud, my friend.

Re:right

[drinkypoo]

Do we still take what Musk says seriously?

Definitely more seriously than what you say, because...

For example, just last month he said he said he's taking Tesla private.

...that is a lie, and you are a liar. He said he was considering it, and had secured a source of funding, not that he was actually doing it.

Don't get me wrong, he is doing amazing stuff, and I understand there are objective reasons for the deadline slips, and I am a big fan and wish him success. But

...you are actually a big liar.

(How are we on criticizing Musk here? Am I good? Am I going to get crucified? Stay tuned to find out.)

Criticizing Musk is fine, telling lies is shit.

Re:right

[Anonymous Coward]

depends , can he suck at the governments tit for subsidy to do so?

Re:right

[jeti]

They're making space suits.

Let's call them flight suits.

Re: right

[DontBeAMoran]

You mean the same marketplace that would have been made by companies such as GM, who crushed their own electric cars so that nobody could buy them?

Re:right

[Anonymous Coward]

Maybe, maybe not. Tesla is on the edge of a knife. The first 250mil of debt comes due in November, then March of next year a BILLION comes due. He can't go to the bond market and stock price has been very volatile. Tesla could be BK about 6 months or if the 3 actually shows real profit with real cash flow that can pay out 1.25 billion in the next 6 months they will be fine. I'd not want either of those bets. Either could happen.

Re:right

[angel'o'sphere]

If anyone can bring (back) men to the moon, it's Mr. Musk,
Would not wonder if the first private customer is a woman.

Re: right

[Anonymous Coward]

Who said the finance guy was disgruntled? You are making shit up , as usual, fanboi. He left because if you look him up he has a very serious background doing finance for real tech companies for 20+ years. He got to Tesla, looked at the books, and did what any hard core profession would do: he ran screaming from the mad house immediately. Any pro would have done the same.

Re:right

[Rick Schumann]

Seems like mavericks and bleeding-edge people like Musk are always on the 'bleeding edge' mentally/psychologically/emotionally themselves.

Re: right

[Anonymous Coward]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

Re:right

[dryeo]

There was a pretty good electric car marketplace over a hundred years ago, even had charging stations all over NYC.
Shit there was even a steam motor marketplace for a while. Perhaps they'll comeback, burning powdered coal.

Re: right

[careysub]

Obligatory Simpson's quote (the Stonecutter's song).

Who controls the British crown?
Who keeps the metric system down?
We do, we do
Who keeps Atlantis off the maps?
Who keeps the Martians under wraps?
We do, we do
Who holds back the electric car?
Who makes Steve Gutenberg a star?
We do, we do
Who robs gamefish of their site?
Who rigs every Oscar night?
We do, we do

Re: right

[careysub]

Garbled lyrics cut and paste (a version fairly widespread on the Intertubes for some reason.

The correct line 10 is:

Who robs cavefish of their sight?

Re:right

[careysub]

It is bringing men (or women) near the moon. No one is landing on it.

Re: right

[Anonymous Coward]

But but 25k Tesla's are coming bro.

Re: right

[Anonymous Coward]

LOL you fanboys twist everything.

He never considered taking Tesla private, it was a fucking lie to drive up the stock price. Because he's so mad at shorts.

Who's the liar now?

Re: right

[cheesybagel]

He owned stock in Tesla and was part of the board. He founded SpaceX. Yes, he did not found Paypal, he was brought into the business after he tried to do a competitive business called X.com. His main claim to fame before that was selling Zip2 to Compaq. Which was supposedly some sort of micro-portal platform or directory. I can't remember exactly. Other people have founded similar businesses and gotten rich with venture funding afterwards like Paul Graham but don't seem to get the same amount of vitriol that Musk gets.

You can definitely say that SpaceX wouldn't exist today without Musk. As for Tesla, had he not gotten into handling the business personally like he did, I doubt they would ever be more than a niche electric sports car maker like Koenigsegg. The management was full of Electric Engineers from Silicon Valley with next to no car manufacturing experience. He was the one who pushed the company to get into the mass market. The fact that the Model S was manufactured out of aluminium was due to suggestions from SpaceX mechanical engineers. What he does not have is people with experience with mass manufacturing on the scale he needs for the Model 3. He's stumbling along the way with growth pains because he decided to reinvent the business manufacturing model without having a priori knowledge of how the industry worked. But even supposed "established" car makers have made similar blunders with excessive faith in automation of car assembly in the past. Remember Saturn? The division of GM which was supposed to compete with the Japanese? This is just another rehash of that.

They might be stumbling along the way but they are churning cars out. I think it's disingenuous to compare him with either Tucker or DeLorean because they never even dreamed of selling as many cars as he did. The company might eventually go belly up but it wouldn't be the first car company to do it. In fact many hope for it so they can fold the remains into one of the incumbents. Which would, in my opinion, actually kill the motive drive for the company and surrender the market to the Chinese and Europeans.

The Chinese BYD already has an electric bus manufacturing facility in California for example.

Re: right

[cheesybagel]

I guess you never heard of vehicles like the Nissan Leaf.

Re:right

[arth1]

Don't get me wrong, he is doing amazing stuff

By "amazing stuff", do you mean cocaine?
Some of his engineers do amazing stuff. Musk is just a figurehead.

Re:right

[Anonymous Coward]

Heaven forbid someone is not boring.

Re: right

[DontBeAMoran]

Tesla, Inc. (formerly Tesla Motors), founded in 2003
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/....

The Nissan Leaf (Japanese: ) is a compact five-door hatchback electric car manufactured by Nissan and introduced in Japan and the United States in December 2010, followed by various European countries and Canada in 2011.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

If Nissan had really wanted to make an electric car, they would have made one to compete with the GM EV1 in the early 2000's, especially after GM stopped making them. Nissan would have had all the market for themselves.

But no, it took them two years after the Tesla Roadster was launched in 2008 (or seven years after Tesla was created and announced they were going to build electric cars) to finally decide to bring an electric car to market.

So yes, I have heard about the Nissan Leaf. Just like the other car companies, they had to be pushed into making electric cars.

Re: right

[Cytotoxic]

Yeah, the Tesla Roadster is the vehicle that changed the perception of electric cars.

Before that they were slow, light and almost concept-car in appearance and finish - GM EV-1. Everyone was thinking super-econo-box.

The Roadster was specifically designed for the task of demonstrating that electric cars can be cool. And having ridden in one at the time they came out, I can confirm that it was an experience like no other. The huge amount of torque and acceleration made them immensely fun, despite their shortcomings.

Then they came out with the Model S, which demonstrated just how sporty and cool could be translated to luxury sedan and really cool.

The stated mission of Tesla was to act as a demonstration of how electric vehicles that would appeal to a mass market could actually be built. I'd say they accomplished that mission in spades. Of course, once they got a little taste of success, they redefined their goals upward. But that doesn't mean they didn't already accomplish what they set out to do.

Re:right

[Paul Carver]

Some of his engineers do amazing stuff. Musk is just a figurehead.

Do you seriously think this bunch of engineers got together and organized Tesla, SpaceX and The Boring Company and they let Musk figurehead all three? Who are these miracle workers? I assume you must know at least a few of their names.

Or are they entirely separate groups of engineers doing amazing stuff and Musk is just the world's luckiest man to have coincidentally been made figurehead of multiple groups of amazing engineers when most people can't even manage to get themselves made figurehead of one amazing group.

Obviously Musk isn't a one man show, but it's absurd to suggest he just wandered in off the street and found himself inexplicably in charge of multiple groundbreaking companies. Certainly some people do have a fabulous opportunity drop in their lap with no idea of how it happened, the claim that "it's a fluke" starts to grow implausible.

Re:right

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm pretty sure that if you'd like to book a Moon trip then Musk is the right person to go to and that he'll eventually deliver.

And I was counting on Space Force TM & Co. Silly me.

Re:right

[Richard_at_work]

The problem with saying "I 100% believe they have signed their first tourist to the moon" is that SpaceX and Musk already announced this, but for the Falcon Heavy in February 2017, saying two unnamed persons had paid significant deposits for the circumlunar trip. Is this going to be an annual announcement?

Re:right

[DerekLyons]

The flip side of that is how often has he actually been forced to give up? Like not on a particular timeline or event or scaling it back but abandon it altogether?

Half a dozen times when it comes to SpaceX alone. That is, multiple versions of the Falcon and Dragon have been tossed in the trash.

We know Musk wants to put people in space. We know Musk wants to go to Mars.

Both of these things are true - but the 'rest of the story' (as they say) is that his track record isn't one of doing what he wants, but what people will pay him to do. Without the Commercial Cargo contract, it's likely SpaceX wouldn't exist. Without the Commercial Crew contract, he almost certainly wouldn't be putting people into space. (And even then he's not "putting people into space" for his or their own independent purposes, he's a glorified bus driver for NASA.)

Doing 20 satellite launches at $60 million a year is a billion dollar revenue stream, so they got money too.

"A billion dollar revenue stream" sure sounds impressive - so long as you don't dwell too hard on the vast gaping difference between revenue and profit.

Re:right

[thegarbz]

Is this going to be an annual announcement?

Why not? It's not like any other company in the world announces something once and then never talks about it again.

Re:right

[Kjella]

Both of these things are true - but the 'rest of the story' (as they say) is that his track record isn't one of doing what he wants, but what people will pay him to do.

I think this is a "is the glass half full or half empty" situation, is he a corporate puppet that follows the money or is he leveraging what others will pay him for to further his own goals. Nobody asked him for a rocket that lands or a methalox engine or the Falcon Heavy, yes NASA paid for many of the primary missions particularly early on but that's just good business. And it was work they previously did themselves or hired the Russians, it's not like they created make-work for SpaceX to do. The BFR needs to be useful for other things that being a new Saturn V and IMHO that's a good thing, there's no sustainable market for flag planting. You do it once at great fanfare and then interest drops to near zero.

"A billion dollar revenue stream" sure sounds impressive - so long as you don't dwell too hard on the vast gaping difference between revenue and profit.

Well it was more the scope of the organization, SpaceX now has ~7000 employees. NASA had ~36000 and employed ~400000 total during the Apollo program but we also have 50 years of progress in computers, CAD systems, simulations and industrial production techniques. Even if they're both at break-even I wouldn't believe a company of ~70 employees that they're going to Mars, but SpaceX seem to have the qualifications. They just need to make enough money off satellite launches to fuel their own ambitions.

Re:right

[DerekLyons]

I think this is a "is the glass half full or half empty" situation

Neither - it's a "choice between full unvarnished truth or fanboi half truths and spin" situation.
 

I wouldn't believe a company of ~70 employees that they're going to Mars, but SpaceX seem to have the qualifications.

I could a couple of dozen dead aerospace companies that seemed to have all the qualifications for whatever it was they were trying to do. The problem isn't qualifications - it's money and SpaceX demonstrating the 95% of what it will take to go to Mars that they haven't yet demonstrated.

Re: right

[cheesybagel]

The first Tesla Roadster was available for sale in 2008. It sold in teensy numbers. It was not made for the mass market. Musk then exposes his "masterplan" of moving down the cost chain to produce the Model 3. Well the thing is, the Leaf was already at that cost almost a decade ago. The main difference is both companies started their approaches from different ends of the price segment and now they are overlapping in a segment. Nissan built several electric cars along the years. But Li-ion technology only became viable in terms of capacity, density, and cost, quite recently. The Leaf was designed to be an electric car with mass market appeal from the onset. So it came with a small battery to keep costs down. As manufacturing costs of the batteries went down (they have their own factory capacity hired in the industry BTW) they have risen the range and performance of the vehicles.

I might say that Tesla made electric cars fashionable and they produce a decent product for a lot of the segments they are in. But they still do not have the best selling electric. The best selling electric is still the Nissan Leaf and has been the case for years now. What kind of put a damper on a lot of electric vehicle car manufacturer plans was when the oil price crashed back down again. Everyone and their mother wants an SUV again, they forgot about the last oil crisis, once the Iranian sanctions begin to hit hard, or even worse, if tensions increase in the Persian Gulf area and it gets blockaded somehow, the oil price can easily go over the last historical highs. Ford shutters everything but their SUV production in the USA and other companies move to do the same. The same insane retarded batshit insanity again.

What a way to scam someone...

[Anonymous Coward]

some Japanese billionaire just paid a billion dollars up front, to save the tanking Tesla, with no actual guarantee that they would be able to pull it off. American honesty and business tactics, selling lies and promises...

Re: What a way to scam someone...

[Anonymous Coward]

How would paying spacex a billion dollars help tesla exactly?

Going to guess

[Anonymous Coward]

It's got to be a disabled trans bi asian female or else you know. Patriarchy

Re:Going to guess

[Anonymous Coward]

Or.... "theRealDonaldTrump"

Please make it so! (And forget to have enough fuel to return)

Bansai ! Bansai ! Bansai !

[Anonymous Coward]

Tweeting the Japanese flag was clever. eh !

Surprising...

[countach]

.. they found someone with a lot of money who wants to die.

Re:Surprising...

[Anonymous Coward]

No, he'll never get there - at least on a Space X rocket. Musk bullshits most of the time and this announcement was just him making noise and distracting everyone from Tesla.

It's funny that he suckered everyone into focusing on the Model 3 production while the Model X sales plummet. You know, the model with the higher profitability.

Space Loss Leader?

[grep -v '.*' *]

it's booked the world's first private passenger to the moon.

BAH -- you can charge peanuts for that. The real charges appear when you want to return to Earth.

Re:Space Loss Leader?

[R3d M3rcury]

See, that's the cleverness of Musk again. He's charging someone for something that is free.

Re:Space Loss Leader?

[Kjella]

BAH -- you can charge peanuts for that. The real charges appear when you want to return to Earth.

Well if one-way tickets were an option they probably should because they really are much more expensive to create. But short term you're probably bringing so many tools and supplies that returning just the crew is no big deal.

Flat Earth Theorist?

[Anonymous Coward]

I hope it is a well-known, global Flat Earth expert.

but did they contract to bring them back

[Anonymous Coward]

and alive as oone piece?

Re:ApArtmen

[DontBeAMoran]

These kinds of posts are the web equivalent of radio "numbers stations".

Souvenirs

[Anonymous Coward]

My parent went to the moon and all I got was this dumb rock.

I'm sorry

[Anonymous Coward]

But I missed the part where turning space exploration into a crass commercial enterprise for the richest people on earth is something to celebrate.

Pesonally I would wait

[AlanObject]

I thought most people knew not to buy and install V1.0 of anything. Apparently not people able to afford a moon trip.

Before I get Google Fiber

[Anonymous Coward]

They're going to get to the moon before google fiber gets to my house, and I'm in a google fiber city.

If I had 1 guess

[TimMD909]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wik...

He bought an extremely ugly painting for way too much a few years back. This trip would totally be his style.

One Way Trip

[Anonymous Coward]

Better sign your life insurance. This is gonna be a one way trip if the rocket burns up on the way down.

Who the Fuck is Alice?

[Hallux-F-Sinister]

Alice!

As Smokie sang... or maybe the audience sang it... (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zw08Py5nz1w) "Who the fuck is Alice?"

so what?

[Anonymous Coward]

No bumper after driving in the rain
No car because I ordered the lower-cost models
No clue that emissions just go into someone else's airshed
No fun after summoning vehicle crased https://gadgets.ndtv.com/trans... ...and on...and on...and on...

A Japanese Flag? Then...

[AlejandroTejadaC]

the mysterious passenger is Tomodachi. ;-)

More than 24?

[alleycat0]

I believe the summary's "only 24 people have ever traveled" is short by 3, given the 9 missions that flew to the moon with 3 astronauts each (Apollo 8 and Apollo 11 through 17). Perhaps they didn't consider Apollo 13, which flew to the moon even though the landing was aborted?

Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa

[mick129]

Turns out it's some billionaire. https://science.slashdot.org/s...