It is, however, important to clear up the difference between "space" and "orbit", as described well by https://what-if.xkcd.com/58/
Getting to space needs ~Mach 3, but GTO orbit requires ~Mach 30. The energy needed is the square, i.e. 9 units for space and 900 for orbit.
Of course, going slower means less acceleration, which means less high-G discomfort for paying passengers. A vertical hop makes perfect sense for meerkat-mission tourism.
Well, SpaceX landed their Grasshopped rocket after going up a kilometer. Then Blue Origin landed the New Shephard after going to space but not into orbit. And soon SpaceX might land their first stage after it goes to space and also pushes the second stage halfway to orbit. But in a sense SpaceShipOne had already done the same thing the New Shepard is doing and in another the Space Shuttle went all the way to orbit and back.
Nothing in this post is particularly interesting, from an engineering perspective. Anyone involved with web hosting should be able to deploy sites like this to this standard, if not better.
"Six months after Price's announcement, Gravity has defied doubters. Revenue is growing at double the previous rate. Profits have also doubled. Gravity did lose a few customers: Some objected to what seemed like a political statement that put pressure on them to raise their own wages; others feared price hikes or service cutbacks. But media reports suggesting that panicked customers were fleeing have proved false. In fact, Gravity's customer retention rate rose from 91 to 95 percent in the second quarter."
The @TwitterOSS got really hammered by the layoffs. They were real people, not just "high tier engineers". I take offense as some of my friends, real people, lost their jobs.
You shouldn't make light of other people's misfortune.
I had friends at Twitter OSS too and the ones I knew are pretty well poised to do whatever they want at this point. They definitely are high tier engineers.
It sucks, one of them got me my job, but they're going to be in pretty high demand.
Inexperienced drivers and drunk drivers. Where I'm from there are many inexperienced drivers with lots of money due to political connections. In fact inexperienced drivers are almost a target market for cars in that price range here. There are also brats with rich parents. There's also pretty widespread drunk driving across the board.
Wow. You must have never lived in an area abundant of trust fund kids. A lot of people I see drive $100k+ cars barely (if at all) have a job that could reasonable pay for such a vehicle.
When a soccer mom gets skittish and buries the wrong pedal do you really want her doing it in something with the weight of a Ford Expedition and the performance of a sports car?
He seemed to get a bit technical when talking about filters. I wish he had been more clear and described exactly what the use of filters were to normal people. In that when you're in the vehicle, you'll be breathing in less toxins emitted by other vehicles etc.
> you'll be breathing in less toxins emitted by other vehicles etc
Yes, air pollution from ICE cars (petrol and diesel) and all other sources of pollution.
I think they are touting this with an eye to the China market, where many people have air filtration systems within their homes and apartments. This means that they will be able to have good quality air when they are in their cars too.
