Today a Paypal billionaire is launching his car to Mars because he thinks it's cute. Meanwhile:

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Retweeted by Dave Weigel: https://twitter.com/daveweigel

today a paypal billionaire is launching his car to mars because he thinks it's cute, while just a couple miles from paypal those without homes are having their encampments destroyed. the country is going great thanks for asking

Link to tweet

San Jose: Homeless advocates protest sweep of ‘Googleville’ encampment

Homeless form procession of possessions out onto the streets

By JULIA PRODIS SULEK | [e-mail] | Bay Area News Group

PUBLISHED: February 5, 2018 at 9:08 am | UPDATED: February 6, 2018 at 9:22 am

Commuters rushed along freeway overpasses to the Google and Apple and Facebook campuses of Silicon Valley on Monday morning, while 50 feet below a dozen California Highway Patrol officers politely called into the makeshift dwellings at the latest, swelling homeless encampment in San Jose:

“Hello? Good morning,” they said. “You have to move.”

Tent by tent, tarp by tarp, the homeless encampment dubbed “Googleville” came down in the early morning hours, sending about 70 people along a procession of possessions up an embankment and on to the streets in search of their next place to settle.

Monday’s eviction was the largest in a string of recent homeless encampment sweeps in the capital of Silicon Valley. Caltrans, which owns the acreage at the massive interchange of Highway 101 and Interstates, 280 and 680 near Story Road in San Jose, oversaw the operation. About a dozen homeless advocates showed up and, in a jab at tech companies whose success has helped spawn a crippling housing crisis, called the encampment “Googleville.”

[raccoon]

1. Off to greatest with you! nt

[alarimer]

2. Launching his car when he could have launched something useful, like satellites.

Proof that we don't tax people like Elon Musk enough.

[CaptainTruth]

5. No way, not on the maiden test flight of an unproven craft.

It was the Falcon Heavy's first flight, a test flight. The odds of something going wrong on the first flight are much higher. No one risks losing a $100+ million satellite on a first test flight, that's why dummy payloads are used. The test payload could have been a simple block of metal, SpaceX chose a used car.

This has nothing to do with taxing anyone. It has everything to do with testing a new, unproven, rocket design.

[alarimer]

6. It is a stupid, show-off thing

That's ALL it is. Showing off by an egomaniac billionaire piece of trash.

[eppur_se_muova]

8. You should check into the insurance costs of a satellite launch ...

"UNTESTED booster ? OK, add another 400% !"

They had to put some mass in the upper stage for it to be a meaningful test flight. It could have been sandbags (NASA's done that) but he picked something more interesting. Hell, I would have done the same thing.

[SCantiGOP]

11. This OP is kind of ridiculous

It cost next to nothing to put the car in orbit, while a failed satellite could run hundreds of millions.
And look at the publicity it generated. If you think that is not a real benefit explain why profit-making companies were paying $1/2 million for a 30 second Super Bowl ad.

[SCantiGOP]

12. alarimer:

If building electric cars and pioneering the next generation of space exploration makes him a “piece of trash”, just what would he have to do to get your approval?
Are you at all familiar with his politics and charity work?

[friendly_iconoclast]

17. Hatred of Musk has blinded you to the reality that first flights of new rockets often fail:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cluster_(spacecraft)#Launch_failure

Cluster was a constellation of four European Space Agency spacecraft which were launched on the maiden flight of the Ariane 5 rocket, Flight 501, and subsequently lost when that rocket failed to achieve orbit. The launch, which took place on Tuesday, 4 June 1996, ended in failure due to an error in the software design caused by assertions having been turned off, which in turn caused inadequate protection from integer overflow. This resulted in the rocket veering off its flight path 37 seconds after launch, beginning to disintegrate under high aerodynamic forces, and finally self-destructing by its automated flight termination system. The failure has become known as one of the most infamous and expensive software bugs in history.[1] The failure resulted in a loss of more than US$370 million.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_Bird_7

Hot Bird 7 was a French communications satellite which was lost in a launch failure in 2002. Intended for operation by Eutelsat, it was to have provided direct to home broadcasting services from geostationary orbit as part of Eutelsat's Hot Bird constellation at a longitude of 13 degrees east. Hot Bird 7 was intended to replace the Hot Bird 3 satellite which had been launched in 1997...

...Arianespace was contracted to launch Hot Bird 7 on the maiden flight of the Ariane 5 ECA carrier rocket, an upgraded version of the Ariane 5 intended to offer increased payload capacity to geosynchronous transfer orbit...

...Around three minutes after liftoff, performance issues with the first stage's Vulcain 2 engine — which was making its first flight — began to be noted. By the time of fairing separation, 183 seconds into the flight, the rocket was tumbling out of control. It began to lose altitude and speed, before being destroyed by range safety 456 seconds after launch.[5] The failure was attributed to an engine cooling problem which developed around 96 seconds into the mission, causing the engine to destroy itself

Here's a list of 105 more launch failures for your consideration:

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

[yurbud]

15. and sets up the greatest car commercial ever:

How far can you get on a charge in a Tesla Model 3?

Mars.

[RandomAccess]

3. He is no longer associated with PayPal but yes,

he made part of his fortune there. There are things about his politics that I don't like -- but I'm a big fan nonetheless.

[Cicada]

4. PayPal fired Musk in 2008, his efforts are good for the world

Publicity from the car helps promote space travel. Musk thinks humanity might be extinguished on earth so he thinks we should diversify to other locations. Musk is playing the long game. His flamboyant promotions have accelerated electric car sales, good for the planet.

[alarimer]

7. How is such a show-ff stunt good for anything but his ego?

Space is for science, not profit. Fuck Elon Musk.

[Cicada]

9. It makes him and his electric car super cool, increasing electric car sales

Musk is the main reason electric cars are viewed as super cool rather than dorky. He does this stuff with calculation of how to boost sales to save the world. One of the google boys asked whether he will pledge to give his wealth to charity said he would rather give it to Elon Musk. Because he understands Musk is saving the world. This is not a shallow egomaniac. This is a saint among us egomaniac. Musk is the last person on earth you should complain about. He does not do this for the money. He makes money to do this.

[hack89]

10. Why can't space be for profit?

Science benefits when it easier and cheaper to launch satellites. Why should space be the domain of only the richest countries?

[YOHABLO]

13. Well I guess putting a car into space is a lot sexier than finding permanent housing for homeless

I mean who cares about those people anyway. They're just deadbeats. Too bad they're not 20 something highly educated tech geeks that can afford to live in places like San Francisco. What a world.

[CentralMass]

14. Musk has signed the giving pledge and only drew $1/year salary from Tesls

https://www.highsnobiety.com/2016/04/08/elon-musk-10-things-you-didnt-know/

[Devil Child]

16. I don't follow this reasoning

Is Musk supposed to single-handedly respond to all social issues before he pursues other goals?