Minor addendum: simultaneous to MAVEN, they’re also communicating with MRO. It’s listed that way on the DSN Eyes page because of the relay system; the reality is that only one of them is actually talking to Earth, but it’s sending and receiving data for both of them.

I suspect that was the point of the remark, but they’re seriously underestimating the scales involved, because it makes absolutely no difference. Radio telescopes in the Deep Space Network are not really aiming at individual Mars spacecraft. They’re just aiming at Mars itself. Firstly, because they can’t slew fast…

I just noticed another problem with the article. They say it would be helpful because it would make “the comms target larger than the planet itself”. Actually, a network of Starlink-like relay satellites orbiting Mars wouldn’t appreciably change the apparent size of Mars (from the perspective of radio telescopes on…

I just looked up the actual tweet and it’s even less than that. SpaceX is just responding to an RFP (that Blue Origin and Lockheed are also responding to) for the latest iteration of the existing network at Mars. The current system just takes advantage of Mars orbiters that already there. NASA would like to send…

Plenty who get their vehicle “wrapped” deal with similar issues in ~four to five year’s time when the wrap comes off.

And that is a very fair point. The headline itself is pointing out something he never said. Light speed has nothing to do with the transfer rates, just latency, and AFAIK, he never brought that up. But I had to go “whaaaaaa....” about his actual concept, because damn, it’s dumb. Never mind the bonkers transfer rates,…

Musk didn’t explain in enough detail to know if that’s what he’s getting at, but there’s no way that’s going to get petabyte bandwidth. Mars is still a really really really really long ways away, and the inverse square law kills — most of the signal will be lost traveling from Mars whether it comes from the surface or…

Yeah, but even if we make that correction, it’s still pie-in-the-sky.

I get the feeling he’s trying to describe a string-of-pearls of repeater satellites, possibly inspired by the use of Mars orbiters as relays for the Mars landers. And it could help with conjunction, for sure, but he’s completely ignored the orbital precession problem; to jack up the bandwith that much, you’d need a…

A relay system would be very troublesome, given that it’s not like Earth and Mars are waypoints. The relay satellites themselves would also have to be heliocentric orbit, so would not spend a great deal of time in the optimal positions to serve as relays in the manner he’s describing. I mean, even if the absurd…

Yeah, it was . . . an experience. I was expecting a Ford Transit, and then there’s this huge monster sitting there..... Literally the only truck they had left to rent out. It was either that, or hauling all of my mom’s enormous collection of books in our cars back and forth for hours and hours. *sigh* It was December;…

Seems like a pretty sweet deathtrap. I’d possibly buy it if I won the lottery. :-D But it should really have a vanity plate reading “KAR120C”, unless some other Lotus 7 already got that.

There was a horrendous tragic accident a number of years ago where most of a big extended family died when their huge articulated RV (rented, apparently) went off the road. A 17-year old was taking his turn driving. Not for fun; it was just his turn. Everybody in the family with a license had taken a turn, in the…

Everything up through Class 6, IIRC, requires no special license, as long as you’re not a commercial operator. I once drove one of those things because they were all out of the smaller trucks at Penske. I was *extremely* glad it was a very short distance that I had to go, because I didn’t feel very well equipped with…

My uncle was badly injured working as a highway worker. Nearly died. He was alone at the time; sometimes a worker is out doing some task out in a remote stretch of rural interstate, so if something goes pear-shaped, there’s nobody to call for help. I’m not sure the exact circumstances, but he got his arm pinned under…

$100,000 is for damages. The rest is for his pain and suffering. (Also, it’s a starting point for negotiation. Never start at the point you want to end at, and typically these lawsuits are capped at just under a million, so they usually start at just under a million.)

Yeah, the typo amused me too. :-)

What exactly is the point of this? I mean, you get a dually so you can use your truck to tow in a fifth wheel configuration, and not really for any other reason. Cybertrucks are luxury vehicles (let’s not pretend otherwise), so this isn’t going to be a working vehicle. It’ll be towing toys. Campers and boats. But its…

Also convenience. I like not having to walk all the way around the car just to fill it up, especially in the winter. I live in Minnesota, and in late January, it usually gets a little bit chilly here.

Yeah, I get the comparison because it’s all angular, but I’m not sure I’d lump it in with Brutalism. Maybe if it was made out of concrete and the frunk was, I dunno, cantilevered out sideways or something? ;-)