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Elon Musk Renames Big Falcon Rocket To 'Starship' (theverge.com)

On Twitter, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said that the transportation portion of the company's Big Falcon Spaceship (BFS), will now be called Starship, while the booster portion will be called Super Heavy. The Verge reports: Plans for the 387-foot Big Falcon Rocket were officially revealed back in September. Eventually, the company hopes that it will replace the company's existing Falcon 9, Falcon Heavy, and Dragon rockets. The craft is currently being developed at the Port of Los Angeles, at an expected cost of $5 billion and will be capable of taking up to 100 tons of cargo or 100 passengers as far as Mars.

SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell said the company hopes to start doing uncrewed launch tests of the new rocket in late 2019. If all goes well, Musk believes that this could be followed by an initial uncrewed flight to Mars in 2022 with a crewed flight taking place as early as 2024. A mission to fly around the moon with a private passenger on board is planned for 2023. However, given that the Falcon Heavy took nearly twice as long to complete as expected, and that only five percent of SpaceX's resources are currently spent on the Starship, it's best to view these plans as an aspiration.

124 comments

  1. Did Musk really call it "big falcon"? by quenda · · Score: 4, Informative

    Musk just called it the "BFR" in a reference to the BFG weapon in the Doom games, many years ago.
    Only recently did Gwynne Shotwell start calling it the Big "Falcon" Rocket, because ... trying to sound dull and respectable.

    1. Re:Did Musk really call it "big falcon"? by muffen · · Score: 2

      Musk has called it Big Falcon rocket on multiple occasions, but you are right, he did reference BFG in doom when initially naming it BFR.

      I kind of liked BFR, which they had stuck with it, but oh well, the name need to be commercially viable for massmarket I guess

    2. Re:Did Musk really call it "big falcon"? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Musk just called it the "BFR" in a reference to the BFG weapon in the Doom games, many years ago.
      Only recently did Gwynne Shotwell start calling it the Big "Falcon" Rocket, because ... trying to sound dull and respectable.

      Big Falcon Groovy starship 9000 - BFG 9000

      and next month it will be called

      Useless SpaceX Spaceship Enterprise - USS Enterprise :-)

    3. Re:Did Musk really call it "big falcon"? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      i believe BFR initially mean big FUCKING rocket, and was replaced by falcon to make it PG.

    4. Re:Did Musk really call it "big falcon"? by Dins · · Score: 1

      Ya think?

    5. Re:Did Musk really call it "big falcon"? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      i believe BFR initially mean big FUCKING rocket, and was replaced by falcon to make it PG.

      Much like the BFG from DOOM was changed to mean Big Friggin Gun ...

      Maybe also because one would assume that the projectile of a Big Fucking Gun would be something quite different than a plasma ball
      or at the very least, would shoot a white plasma ball and not a green one...

    6. Re:Did Musk really call it "big falcon"? by johnsie · · Score: 1

      Just letting off some steam probably. Nothing to worry about.

    7. Re:Did Musk really call it "big falcon"? by johnsie · · Score: 1

      If you say "big falcon rocket" it sounds almost the same.

    8. Re:Did Musk really call it "big falcon"? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I thought the Big Falcon Gun was easily the best weapon in Doom.

    9. Re:Did Musk really call it "big falcon"? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Musk just called it the "BFR" in a reference to the BFG weapon in the Doom...

      Nah, I think ol' Elon did a HAL -> IBM thing and BFR is just a reference to CGS. Just gotta figure out what CGS is. Probably Catholic Guild Syndrome.

      Personally I would have called it Foxtrot for short, instead of Falcon. Bravo Foxtrot Romeo. Nobody could complain about that, and everyone would still know what he meant.

    10. Re:Did Musk really call it "big falcon"? by gtvr · · Score: 1

      Just needs Leonard McCoy asking "Are you out of your Falcon mind?"

    11. Re:Did Musk really call it "big falcon"? by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      Should have gone with Comparatively Colossal Carrying Projectile.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    12. Re:Did Musk really call it "big falcon"? by ArsenneLupin · · Score: 1

      Big Falcon rocket

      In any case, if you say that quickly, without fully articulating, it sounds just like the real phrase :-)

    13. Re:Did Musk really call it "big falcon"? by Shotgun · · Score: 1

      Speak for yourself, Anonymous Coward.

      --
      Aah, change is good. -- Rafiki
      Yeah, but it ain't easy. -- Simba
    14. Re:Did Musk really call it "big falcon"? by grumpyman · · Score: 1

      Previous company I worked at code named certain ASIC project as BFC in mid 90s - probably means big falcon chip?

    15. Re:Did Musk really call it "big falcon"? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Should note that it's also a reference to the "Big Dumb Booster" idea.
      From Wikipedia
      Big Dumb Booster (BDB) is a general class of launch vehicle based on the premise that it is cheaper to operate large rockets of simple design than it is to operate smaller, more complex ones regardless of the lower payload efficiency.
      And that is exactly what they plan with the BFR, although the actual complexity is probably greater than what's envisioned in the original BDB concept. Basically though, the idea is to make one rocket that can be used for everything, make it re-usable to make it cheap, and not fuss overly about efficiency for a specific payload since fuel is cheap.

    16. Re: Did Musk really call it "big falcon"? by bn-7bc · · Score: 1

      Hell if Hoshi sato does the communications, book me a ticket ritgt now :)

    17. Re: Did Musk really call it "big falcon"? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Wings attached with hat and umbrella set to match.

    18. Re:Did Musk really call it "big falcon"? by fleisher · · Score: 1

      Should have gone with Comparatively Colossal Carrying Projectile.

      CCCR. The initials (in cyrillic) for the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

      --
      Max
  2. Send those APK and Trump spammers to Mars by aliquis · · Score: 1

    Their comments is everywhere.
    5 billion to save /.?
    Well there's that and the mod down stuff you don't agree with. Are those less than 100 all in all?

    1. Re:Send those APK and Trump spammers to Mars by johnsie · · Score: 1

      Please no. Kind Regards, Mars.

    2. Re: Send those APK and Trump spammers to Mars by Qbertino · · Score: 1

      We haven't even set foot on Mars and already you want to deliberately pollute it?

      --
      We suffer more in our imagination than in reality. - Seneca
  3. Big F by Tablizer · · Score: 1

    He realized cuss-words are awkward as rocket names when he sobered up.

    1. Re:Big F by quenda · · Score: 3

      It was not a cuss name exactly. It was merely an initialism than *hinted* at a cuss name. That's the joke.

      Like DVD, KFC or BP, the term BFR doesn't formally stand for anything. Not at least until Miss Prim and Proper started calling it the Big Falcon Rocket. Hard to believe she is an engineer and not an accountant.

    2. Re:Big F by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      He realized BFR was actually a better name for his penis, so he had to change the name of the spacecraft.

    3. Re:Big F by enriquevagu · · Score: 5, Informative

      Like DVD, KFC or BP, the term BFR doesn't formally stand for anything.

      That's funny. I was going to correct you with the meaning of those acronyms we all know, and when looking for sources I found that you're actually right. Thanks for the info.


      •    
      • DVD was initially supposed to be "Didital Video Disc", and later renamed "Digital Versatile Disc", and eventually nobody agreed on it and it was officially renamed to simply "DVD" (three letters), with many other unofficial meanings.
      •    

      • KFC were the initials of Kentucky Fried Chicken until 1991. From the previous link: Dieting trends had made “fried” a dirty cuss, and the plan was to banish it from view. Voila: KFC.
      •    

      • BP used to be The British Petroleum Company plc, but after many acquisitions it simply became BP plc in 2001.
    4. Re:Big F by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 1

      KFC was short for Kentucky Fried Chicken for most of the company’s existence. Same with BP = British Petroleum. Both companies eventually rebranded officially to just the initialisms as part of attempts to revive somewhat moribund fiscal performance.

      KFC’s attempts to get away from chicken haven’t really been successful - they seem to have mostly backtracked. I wouldn’t be surprised if another rebrand officially brings them back to Kentucky Fried Chicken.

      --
      #DeleteChrome
    5. Re:Big F by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      That's him! The person who checks their facts before posting! Get him off the internet!!! :-)

    6. Re: Big F by c6gunner · · Score: 1

      I was going to correct you with the meaning of those acronyms we all know ...

      Well then allow me to correct you; they aren't acronyms. NASA, Scuba, and Laser are acronyms, while DVD, FBI, and KFC are initialisms. If it's pronounced as individual letters rather than as a word, it's not an acronym.

    7. Re: Big F by 140Mandak262Jamuna · · Score: 1

      Well then allow me to correct you; they aren't acronyms. NASA, Scuba, and Laser are acronyms, while DVD, FBI, and KFC are initialisms.

      Wrong. I am not sure there is a word called initialism. When letters are spelled out they are called abbreviations. If they are enunciated as a word, they are acronyms.

      --
      sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
    8. Re: Big F by 140Mandak262Jamuna · · Score: 1
      Sorry. I am wrong. You are correct.

      https://data.grammarbook.com/b...

      --
      sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
    9. Re:Big F by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Wrong. Perhaps you're confused by the difference between what is "formal" and what is legally recognized? I'll try to make two points: 1. All of those abbreviations were commonly used and understood to BE abbreviations prior to the company changing its name. This isn't 1984 where doublethink is accepted. 2. In some circumstances their use would be inappropriate, but to claim that in no formal communications would they be acceptable is simply wrong.

    10. Re:Big F by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah, and fucking blackberry used to be research in motion. BFD. Tell me that don't mean something next, formally or not lol.

    11. Re:Big F by hackertourist · · Score: 1

      Like DVD, KFC or BP, the term BFR doesn't formally stand for anything.

      That's funny. I was going to correct you with the meaning of those acronyms we all know, and when looking for sources I found that you're actually right. Thanks for the info.

      While that is technically correct (the best kind), I find it really annoying when a company says "we're going to keep using this well-known abbreviation, but now it's no longer an abbreviation". It's a distinction without a difference.

    12. Re: Big F by enriquevagu · · Score: 1

      I didn't know this distinction either (we do not even have the equivalent word for "initialism" in my mother tongue), thanks!

    13. Re:Big F by sootman · · Score: 1

      > Like DVD, KFC or BP, the term BFR doesn't formally stand for anything.

      DVD, KFC, and BP no longer have official meanings, but they all were legit initialisms at first -- Digital Video Disc, Kentucky Fried Chicken, and British Petroleum, respectively. Just because something doesn't mean anything now, doesn't mean it never did.

      --
      Dear Slashdot: next time you want to mess with the site, add a rich-text editor for comments.
    14. Re: Big F by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      When letters are spelled out they are called abbreviations.

      Abbrev. is an abbreviation.

    15. Re:Big F by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yup. I once got a page long letter explaining the DLT did not stand for digital linear tape, but was just three letters. Three very much trademarked letters.

  4. Exaggeration by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Doesn't term 'starship' implies interstellar capability?

    Oh, wait, I've heard something similar before: autopilot.

    1. Re:Exaggeration by GeLeTo · · Score: 1

      If Boeing can call their LEO-only capsule Starliner, then I guest Starship is fair game for interplanetary spacecraft.
      And autopilot is a pilot assist technology, not a self-flying/driving solution. If the pilot browses the internet or sleeps on the controls while the autopilot is active - he will be fired immediately.

    2. Re:Exaggeration by idji · · Score: 1

      The Starship will "steer" and de/accelerate to where it is going (Moon, Mars, beyond) by using a Star's gravitational field, so it can be called a starship.

    3. Re: Exaggeration by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Beech Aircraft manufactured an airplane called Starship back in the 80s and 90s. It was a turboprop

    4. Re:Exaggeration by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 1

      Doesn't term 'starship' implies interstellar capability?

      Does it imply interstellar capability less or more than "astronaut"?

      Oh, wait, I've heard something similar before: autopilot.

      'Autopilot' implies interstellar capability?

      --
      Ezekiel 23:20
  5. So, should the company building the rocket ... by Mostly+a+lurker · · Score: 5, Funny

    ... now be known as the Starship Enterprise?

    1. Re:So, should the company building the rocket ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Now all he has to do is get all the telephone sanitizers on board ....

    2. Re:So, should the company building the rocket ... by Aighearach · · Score: 2

      It's either that or Jefferson Starship.

      Hard to tell.

    3. Re:So, should the company building the rocket ... by Rei · · Score: 2

      Now the stage is set for the Alan Parsons Project.

      --
      You people make me envy the deaf and the blind!
    4. Re:So, should the company building the rocket ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Registry NCC-1701?

    5. Re:So, should the company building the rocket ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      SpaceX employers are hereby known as "Starship Troopers"

    6. Re:So, should the company building the rocket ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Is he going to build his first city on Rock and Roll?

  6. Heinlein reference? by torrija · · Score: 1

    Coming soon: "Starship Troopers"

    --
    I hate signatures
  7. Re:Were going to the stars baby by wolfheart111 · · Score: 1

    The have a breakthrough, something big to tell us. And he already answered that question in a tweet. :)

    --
    [($)]
  8. I this why Nasa, by wolfheart111 · · Score: 1

    Wants to have a look around space x. Some interstellar tech that may need confiscating.

    --
    [($)]
  9. Re:Starship Elonprise. by wolfheart111 · · Score: 1

    even better. :)

    --
    [($)]
  10. Re:You get the best Ideas, by wolfheart111 · · Score: 1

    when your high. :)

    --
    [($)]
  11. Re:You get the best Ideas, by stealth_finger · · Score: 1

    when your high. :)

    When my high what?

    --
    Wanna buy a shirt?
    https://www.redbubble.com/people/stealthfinger/shop?asc=u
  12. Annoying by joe_frisch · · Score: 2

    Much as I like spaceX, I hate when companies take well established names for cool things and use them for less cool products.

    A "starship" is sell understood to be a craft that travels between stars, not something that can launch a payload to another planet.

    Similarly "jump drives" "US robotics" , "hover boards", and the ford "fusion" all are in that category.

    The new rock is a heavy-lift rocket. Call it what it is or by some generic name "Neptune", Odin or something. Its cool enough as it is without exaggerating .

    1. Re:Annoying by cowdung · · Score: 1

      and don't forget the (mis)use of the word "organic" when talking about veggies.

    2. Re:Annoying by FormOfActionBanana · · Score: 1

      Agree totally. In fact I liked ITS because that was already a cool sounding, functionally correct name for the product.

      By naming things excessively or falling to name inflation ("starship" and "super heavy") they are limiting space travel for future psychology I think.

      If they play any Jefferson Starship music during the launch video, I may sell my stock :(

      --
      Take off every 'sig' !!
    3. Re:Annoying by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Much as I like spaceX, I hate when companies take well established names for cool things and use them for less cool products.

      Similarly "jump drives" "US robotics" , "hover boards", and the ford "fusion" all are in that category.

      Why the Ford Fusion specifically? Just about any car name would probably fit your hatred standards it seems.

      Why not the Ford Mustang? I mean, it isn't actually a horse!
      What about the Chevrolet Corvette? It's not even a ship!
      The Dodge Dakota or Chevrolet Colorado - they don't even resemble a state!
      The Honda Element has all sorts of elements in it!

      Anyway, why the Fusion?

    4. Re: Annoying by c6gunner · · Score: 1

      Leaving aside the response you already got about the ford fusion ... what the heck is wrong with "jump drive"? I honestly can't figure out what your objection is to that one ...

    5. Re:Annoying by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Much as I like spaceX, I hate when companies take well established names for cool things and use them for less cool products.

      A "starship" is sell understood to be a craft that travels between stars, not something that can launch a payload to another planet.

      Similarly "jump drives" "US robotics" , "hover boards", and the ford "fusion" all are in that category.

      The new rock is a heavy-lift rocket. Call it what it is or by some generic name "Neptune", Odin or something. Its cool enough as it is without exaggerating .

      Those were the words that my brain was trying to generate when I read the submission. Yhank you.

    6. Re:Annoying by 110010001000 · · Score: 1

      Just more hype from Musk. He calls a tunnel a "loop transportation system" and a rusty tube is called a "hyperloop". Gotta keep the stock inflated as long as possible.

    7. Re:Annoying by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I hate when companies take well established names for cool things and use them for less cool products.

      Like Tesla! Especially since the design and ethos was so Edison.

    8. Re:Annoying by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      You forgot the most obvious example, another one from Musk: Autopilot.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    9. Re:Annoying by wed128 · · Score: 1

      yeah! Where's the big antenna?
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

    10. Re:Annoying by dasunt · · Score: 1

      The new rock is a heavy-lift rocket. Call it what it is or by some generic name "Neptune", Odin or something. Its cool enough as it is without exaggerating .

      Mr. World, stop trying to bribe Mr. Wednesday.

    11. Re:Annoying by chispito · · Score: 1

      Much as I like spaceX, I hate when companies take well established names for cool things and use them for less cool products.

      A "starship" is sell understood to be a craft that travels between stars, not something that can launch a payload to another planet.

      I'm ambivalent. On the one hand, words mean things. On the other hand, perhaps the people who are actually doing things have more of a right to terminology than science fiction has. Besides, it's clear that 'Starship' is its name and not a technical term.

      --
      The Daddy casts sleep on the Baby. The Baby resists!
    12. Re: Annoying by painandgreed · · Score: 1

      Leaving aside the response you already got about the ford fusion ... what the heck is wrong with "jump drive"? I honestly can't figure out what your objection is to that one ...

      You've obviously never played Traveller.

    13. Re:Annoying by fox171171 · · Score: 1

      "Nano" has also been abused.

    14. Re: Annoying by c6gunner · · Score: 1

      Correct. Is he really objecting to the name based on some part of a board game that most people never even heard of?

    15. Re: Annoying by joe_frisch · · Score: 1

      "jump drive" has been used in a variety of science fiction to refer to some sort of instant interstellar transportation, presumably though some sort of worm-hole like mechanism. Maybe its only from older scence fiction.

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

    16. Re:Annoying by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Much as I like spaceX, I hate when companies take well established names for cool things and use them for less cool products.

      A "starship" is sell understood to be a craft that travels between stars, not something that can launch a payload to another planet.

      To be fair, it does travel among the star.

    17. Re:Annoying by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      A "starship" is sell understood to be a craft that travels between stars

      Yep, just as a "starfish" is understood to be a fish that travels between stars.

  13. Headline Incorrect by mentil · · Score: 1

    He actually renamed the transport payload to 'Starship'. The rocket itself was renamed to 'Super Heavy'.

    Falcon 9, Falcon Heavy, and Dragon rockets.

    The Dragon is a capsule payload, not a rocket.

    I'm wondering if there might be some confusion between 'Falcon Heavy' and 'Super Heavy', particularly given the latter was formerly known as 'Big Falcon Rocket'. Therefore, its name contains 'heavy' and once contained 'falcon'. I wouldn't expect the editors of TFA to not make that error.

    --
    Corruption is convincing someone that the selfless ideal is the same as their selfish ideal.
  14. 100 Tons and What Do You Get? by mentil · · Score: 1

    100 tons to Mars, wow. Worth noting that's after orbital refueling. If a cargo drop mission is planned for 2022, people had better get on actually making the stuff they'll be dropping; SpaceX isn't making all the stuff required for a Mars habitat, they're depending on others to do that.

    I was actually thinking yesterday about them sending a (small) tunnel boring machine to Mars, digging a tunnel underground, putting in some blast doors for an airlock and at the tunnel entrance, and using that as a habitat. It'd provide protection from Martian weather and cosmic rays, and be far more durable than a dome or other above-surface structure.

    --
    Corruption is convincing someone that the selfless ideal is the same as their selfish ideal.
    1. Re:100 Tons and What Do You Get? by Chrisq · · Score: 1

      100 Tons and What Do You Get?

      Mighty frustrated and and covered with sweat?

    2. Re: 100 Tons and What Do You Get? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm still calling it Bob.

    3. Re: 100 Tons and What Do You Get? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      https://youtu.be/1AABgXnPBqk

  15. Waverider? by sinktank · · Score: 1

    I wonder if SpaceX are looking at Waverider designs for BFR re-entry.
    With a strongly negative dihedral, you can contain the shock wave under the "wings" and use it as a lifting surface - "compression lift".
    To change your lift direction you roll the vehicle around the inside of the shock cone.

    Since the purpose of such "wings" is to contain the shock rather than generate lift directly, they don't need much thickness, just (a lot of) heat resistance - maybe even something as flimsy as a woven mesh. ...which means they could be folded and stowed for other phases of flight to reduce drag, you could easily swap out the wings for different planetary atmospheres, and by having your payload/CG on a sliding sled you need fewer control surfaces - like a hang glider.

    (Citation: https://doi.org/10.2514/6.2015...)

    TLDR / WAG: Replacing those huge leg-stablizer-thngs on the "Tintin BFR" with something resembling fold-away mosquito netting would add a lot of lightness....could this be Elon's "delightfully counter-intuitive" new BFR design?

  16. fuck slashdot in the cunt by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    fucking bloody dwarf cunts in the arse. fucking vacant vagina dwarf cuntholes fucking cunts

  17. Not expensive enough by petes_PoV · · Score: 2

    The craft is currently being developed at the Port of Los Angeles, at an expected cost of $5 billion

    Compared to NASA's version the Space Launch System that is reported as costing $35billion.

    Doesn't SpaceX have any feelings for subcontractors? How are they supposed to make a living when a new, non-governmental, outfit starts making competing rockets that are just as good, reusable and 7 times cheaper to develop and up to 10 times cheaper to launch?

    --
    politicians are like babies' nappies: they should both be changed regularly and for the same reasons
    1. Re:Not expensive enough by Areyoukiddingme · · Score: 3, Informative

      The engineering community is full of whispers and rumors about how low the bar for safety and rigor is at Musk's companies. Everything they do seems to be hacked together on Elon's whims and never really proven.

      Riiight. You're so full of shit your eyes are brown. SpaceX can't hide their failures and their successes are also a matter of public record, and there are vastly more successes than failures.

      Corners were cut so hard that SpaceX launched their 18th rocket this year to complete mission success, their 63rd launch attempt overall, reusing a first stage for the second time, and recovered that first stage a second time. They've launched more rockets this year than their competitors launch in three years, for 1/5th as much money, while recovering first stages and reusing them, which their competitors have never done in the history of rocketry.

      Oh noes. Muh corners.

    2. Re:Not expensive enough by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Found the short-seller...

  18. "Cuss" ... Catholiban autocensorship is fucked up. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Seriously, you Americans sound like you're seconds away from dressing in bomb belts and raping children, when you talk like that. It's really creepy.

    And that mind control level is insane... other countries primitively censor things .... your owners got you to do it *yourselves* and like it too! The book 1984 was wrong in this one point: People won't see it as a dystopia. They will *like* it, and viciously *defend* it against their saviors! Even with mass-murder if necessary. Double-plus good!

  19. No, he's not right. Not in reality. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    They can say they renamed it to just the initials as much as they want.
    The real world hasn't given a fuck. It's still Kentucky Friend Chicken. And it's still the Big Fucking Rocket, and Big Fucking Gun 9000, and Graphics Interchange Format. Not Big Falcon Rocket, and not Jraphics Interchange Format. Even the coiner of a term can be wrong. (And yes, the public can be wrong too. They both can, at the same time.)

  20. Starship Super Heavy by crow · · Score: 1

    So the spaceship portion is Starship, and the launcher is Super Heavy, so together at launch (from Earth), it's Starship Super Heavy. When using it to ferry passengers across the globe, it will give new meaning to making an SSH connection.

    1. Re: Starship Super Heavy by Jeremi · · Score: 1

      The trick is knowing which corners you can cut without causing accidents, and which you cannot. Master that, and you can provide the same reliable launch services as the competition at a fraction of the cost, and gain a dominant share of the industry. Which they have. Perhaps theyâ(TM)ll screw it all up tomorrow; OTOH if they didnâ(TM)t have a pretty good idea about what they were doing they would not have got as far as they have.

      --


      I don't care if it's 90,000 hectares. That lake was not my doing.
  21. I bet this has to do with Robyn Denholm by MobyDisk · · Score: 0

    I bet this is one of the consequences of Musk stepping down as Chairman. The new board probably found BFR unprofessional because of the subtle meaning and forced him to rename it.

    1. Re:I bet this has to do with Robyn Denholm by Enigma2175 · · Score: 1

      You realize that Tesla doesn't make rockets, right? SpaceX is a completely different company with nothing in common with Tesla other than Musk. Robyn Denholm isn't the chair of SpaceX and so her appointment shouldn't have any bearing on SpaceX's naming conventions.

      --

      Enigma

    2. Re:I bet this has to do with Robyn Denholm by MobyDisk · · Score: 1

      Apparently I had a lack of sleep that day. Or I was just so itching to make a point about Elon stepping down as Chairman that I rushed to post.

  22. It can only be called a starship by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    if it built this city on rock and roll.

  23. Jefferson Airplane by jfdavis668 · · Score: 1

    It was all downhill once they renamed themselves "Starship".

  24. Starship?? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Why sure. It isn't anything other than a pipe dream, of course. The probability that in the foreseeable future (the next 30 to 50 yrs) we'll actually have real starships to confuse the issue isn't significantly different from zero, so why not? After all Mars is one of the wandering "stars", right?

  25. Starship ? by rossdee · · Score: 4, Informative

    Dud he add a warp drive or hyperdrive or some other FTL method?

    Its not a starship until it can get to another star system

    1. Re:Starship ? by cascadingstylesheet · · Score: 1

      Dud he add a warp drive or hyperdrive or some other FTL method?

      Its not a starship until it can get to another star system

      So basically the same logic as his "Autopilot" ...name it way more than it can do.

    2. Re:Starship ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Dud he add a warp drive or hyperdrive or some other FTL method?

      Its not a starship until it can get to another star system

      So basically the same logic as his "Autopilot" ...name it way more than it can do.

      Been his MO for a long time. Made him rich. Or do you really think PayPal thinks of you as a friend?

    3. Re:Starship ? by Trevorm7 · · Score: 1

      It's kind of like calling HSPA+ 4G even though it's not nearly as good as LTE which is the real 4G.

    4. Re:Starship ? by Eloking · · Score: 1

      Dud he add a warp drive or hyperdrive or some other FTL method?

      Its not a starship until it can get to another star system

      Look like a bait...oh well.

      Someone on tweeter already mentionned that point to which Elon replied "Later versions will"
      Link : https://twitter.com/mwolman98/...

      If I may add, a warp drive/hyperdrive/FTL isn't a requirement to reach another star. I'm not saying that a viable way to reach another star exist, but if Elon does have some design to accelerate and (more importantly) decelerate a "starship" to reach another star, I'll be very interested to see it.

      --
      Elok
    5. Re:Starship ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > Its not a starship until it can get to another star system

      Give it enough time and point it in the right direction and inertia will take care of the rest.

    6. Re:Starship ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Dud he add a warp drive or hyperdrive or some other FTL method?

      Its not a starship until it can get to another star system

      That would be a stars-ship. This is a star-ship.

  26. Re:You get the best Ideas, by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    When you're ten feet tall. Just ask Alice.

  27. Be careful! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The last entity to rename itself simply "Starship" faded into oblivion....

    They built some city no one wanted to visit. ðYZ

  28. Re:"Cuss" ... Catholiban autocensorship is fucked by Applehu+Akbar · · Score: 1

    Seriously, you Americans sound like you're seconds away from dressing in bomb belts and raping children, when you talk like that.

    Those are jobs you Europeans leave to the refugees.

  29. I was hoping for "Rocinante" by Applehu+Akbar · · Score: 2

    When you call something a 'starship' it should actually be, you know, a starship.

  30. From the guy that calls cruise control by Fly+Swatter · · Score: 1

    Autopilot...

    Starship implies a ship that can go between stars. Well at least he is aiming for the stars :D, but can a rocket really be called a ship?

    This is like naming things hoverboards and AI, which do not and are not.

    -off my lawn.

  31. "I have the best hyperbole ever, believe me!" by Tablizer · · Score: 1

    As one Twitter user pointed out, calling the BFS a starship is technically inaccurate unless the craft is sent on a mission to another star system. Musk quickly responded that later versions of the Starship will be capable of doing so, although he has previously said that the craft is intended as an âoeinterplanetary transport systemâ capable of travelling to âoeanywhere in the Solar System.â

    The existing ones are probably capable of launching small payloads out of the Solar System using some gravity "tricks" (think New Horizons with Jupiter). However, it takes hundreds of K years to reach any stars. "Interstellar" is relative to one's patience.

    1. Re:"I have the best hyperbole ever, believe me!" by Tablizer · · Score: 1

      "Unicode mangling" mangled the quote. Here's a cleaned version:

      As one Twitter user pointed out, calling the BFS a starship is technically inaccurate unless the craft is sent on a mission to another star system. Musk quickly responded that later versions of the Starship will be capable of doing so, although he has previously said that the craft is intended as an "interplanetary transport system" capable of travelling to "anywhere in the Solar System."

  32. Correction by rolias · · Score: 1

    *Spaceship

  33. In related news ... crew announcments. by fahrbot-bot · · Score: 1

    Musk also announced the initial crew and alternate crew selections.

    --
    It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
  34. Ahhhh, TSLA short position not doing well? by Brannon · · Score: 1

    That's too bad.

  35. Uh-oh! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I think Grace Slick is calling her lawyer about trademark infringement.

  36. Blame those impersonating me... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    See subject: It's impersonators of me & I only post on hosts IF they stop threats OR speed you up. I don't off topic.

    HOWEVER: I won't "lay down" to losers that don't do a DAMN THING OF VALUE attacking me 1st. I defend myself w/ facts they can't beat.

    I've got a "psycho fanclub" IMPERSONATING me & spamming + lying about MY work STALKING me by UNIDENTIFIABLE anonymous posts like whackos!

    GOOFS like c6gunner CAUGHT IMPERSONATING ME https://linux.slashdot.org/com...

    (His name's on the post as SUBMITTER signing "APK" as I do while he ALTERED users words of praise of my work (since he tried INSULTING me & I issued a FAIR CHALLENGE to him that HE SHOW HE CAN DO BETTER - he hasn't to date)).

    gweihir PROVED you IMPERSONATE me https://it.slashdot.org/commen... too!

    ZIP = a BLOWHARD LIAR vs. https://linux.slashdot.org/com...

    APK

    P.S.=> I'm not here to win a popularity contest OR to lose (it's for LOSERS like ZIP &/or c6gunner - not I): I'm here to WIN & so do hosts users... apk

  37. Planetship, not Starship by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It should be called Planetship, not Starship. It is supposed to travel between planets, not starts.

  38. Those refugees are US puppets. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You US-American Nazis delibetardely created those refugees, to destabilize Germany and the EU. Your leaders literally openly said it on TV. (The "reason" was,that Germany was at the center of tipping the scales of the EU away from bowing to the USA.)

    You also artificially created the Nazi parties, from the AfD (Where I personally could predict each of their actions two weeks in advance, simply by remembering what the US Tea Party did in that phase of its manufacture. And have seen conclusive proof for the Tea Party having been artificially created by your NeoCon old fat cat boys club.), over all those other Nazi parties in European countries, to the Swoboda (whose leader openly does the Hilter salute on camera, and whose members wear SS runes and swastikas.)

    There are two kinds of refugees:
    1. Decent people who just finally want some freaking rest, and be away from the madness you created where they lived. (The vast majority.)
    2. Batshit insane religious fanatic nutjobs, that were either driven insane by the hardships/horrors in their home countries, or by some nutjobs leaders spreading that shit. where those nutjob leaders and the horrors were 90% your doing, of fostering and breeding a otherwise tiny minority of wannabe dictators and nutjobs.

    Making the 2. category of refugees something created the same way as "our" local Nazis (like you), and the same exact type of insane moron. So congratulations. You are them! And they are you!

    But thanks a fuckin' lot, Ameritards! You can be sure, the EU will have a nice reply ready, right when you're the most down on your knees. Not that we'd have to do much. You'll soon be practically a wasteland anyway. So enjoy your wasteland then! lol

  39. Re:Ya man.. by wolfheart111 · · Score: 1

    when your high... :P

    --
    [($)]
  40. Re:Blame those impersonating me... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    APK
    GO the fuck AWAY!

    No one cares what you have to say.

    Stop posting and leave today.

    APK
    GO the fuck AWAY!

    APK
    GO the fuck AWAY!

    APK
    GO the fuck AWAY!

    APK
    GO the fuck AWAY!