Thread

1. fakwandi_priv · 1790601680 · focus · HN ↗

   I’m a bit saddened this thread has so little activity, 55 comments as of posting, here even though there are half a million people watching the spacex stream. Just watching the launch, the amount of technology and people involved is incredible.

   Prompting claude 5.5 has more appeal it seems.

   1. varjag · 1790601961 · focus · HN ↗

      For all very real SpaceX achievements there's certain Musk fatigue if you haven't noticed. He's done enormous job to sour people on the idea of becoming multiplanetary species.

      1. themgt · 1790603265 · focus · HN ↗

         Speaking as a crab in a bucket, for all the very real WorldX achievements there's a certain Muskcrab fatigue if you haven't noticed. He's done enormous job to sour fellow crabs on the idea of leaving this bucket.

         1. rtkwe · 1790604135 · focus · HN ↗

            The biggest issue is the whole idea of colonizing Mars or anywhere else as a backup runs into a couple major issues. 1) These backups are going to be extremely dependent on Earth for supplies because the alternative is replicating a tiny version of the whole planet's industrial base which will only make economic sense if transporting goods between these locations is extremely expensive, which is something that makes setting them up in the first place also prohibitively expensive. 2) Any technology that makes Mars/Space/etc survivable also makes it possible for an Earth based civilization able to survive basically any calamity up to the death of the Sun.

            1. soco · 1790604477 · focus · HN ↗

               I bet an underlying thought is that we crabs will have to finance the entire Mars colony adventure through taxes and incentives and subsidies and whatnot.

               1. leoc · 1790606140 · focus · HN ↗

                  There's also some concern for what life will actually be like for any poor sods actually stuck on Mars. Between the harsh conditions and what we know about the aspiring Emperor Musk of Mars, it's likely to make the Sea Org look like Butlin's.

                  Relatedly there are questions about why the whole project seems to assume that it&#x27;s much more important to preserve the human species, like a celebrated breed of dog, than to protect the lifespans (ideally, healthy lifespans) and welfare of individual human beings, questions which unfortunately can also probably be answered with reference to Musk personally: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;youtu.be&#x2F;-VfYjPzj1Xw?t=18" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;youtu.be&#x2F;-VfYjPzj1Xw?t=18 .

                  There&#x27;s also the wrinkle that if it&#x27;s viable to send settlers and adequate resupply to Mars, then it&#x27;s probably much easier and more straightforward to send a few nuclear warheads on their own one-way trip, so the whole premise that a Martian colony wouldn&#x27;t be struck in a full-scale nuclear war on Earth seems shaky. Now a Martian colony dug in deep under the surface might be relatively safe, but that brings up again the question of whether it wouldn&#x27;t just be better to build a far-flung network of underground settlements on Earth and&#x2F;or have submarines loitering in the Antarctic Ocean in shifts.

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