Yesterday morning, SpaceX successfully launched their Falcon 9 rocket and accompanying Dragon capsule into orbit, and safely brought Dragon back home. This was COTS Demonstration I, which means they are proving to NASA that they are capable of launching and maneuvering cargo (and eventually astronauts) into orbit and to the International Space Station.
This mission is paramount because the Space Shuttle program is being decommissioned and we’re going to have to rely on Russian Soyuz rockets to get astronauts and cargo to the ISS. America needs to act fast, and SpaceX is stepping up to the plate and has recently hit three home runs.
SpaceX's Falcon 9 Takes Off
SpaceX performed this feat with just a FRACTION of the budget and number of failures that other government entities and larger companies have had. They are showing that privatizing works when done right. Put a bunch of geniuses in a room with a solid vision, a fiscal goal to achieve, and an inspirational leader, and this is what you get.
I am very close to many people at SpaceX, as they were one of my primary customers in my old sales job. I am still friends with many of the employees, as they are a great group of guys. I am honest when I tell you that every time I stepped into that building, I was the dumbest person in the room. I can’t say enough good things about them, the missions they’ve accomplished, and how they do so much with so little.
SpaceX is founded by Elon Musk, who was the co-founder of PayPal and also runs Tesla Motors.
What the SpaceX Launch Means to Me… and America
Note: This is the way I see things. I follow space, but not so closely that this is how it all went down
Over the past decade, we have had two American government administrations that have done nothing but balloon the size of the government with basically zero productive results. There has been nothing but bureaucratic waste, failure, and endless “wars”.
Our Space Shuttle program has been ailing, as was evident by the 2003 Columbia disaster. Our shuttles are no longer certifiably safe, and they need to be put to noble rest. So Congress commissioned NASA to create the Constellation program, a new human space transport program. Sounds cool, we can keep up with Russia and China, right?
Wrong.
As many expected, NASA shit the bed with Constellation. They were so covered in shit that they were unable to even provide a reasonable estimation for how much the program would even cost!! Talk about flying blind! (Original 2004 NASA estimates were that it’d cost $230 Billion to get to the moon)
So much win.
So I have to credit President Obama for doing his homework and canceling the program. Instead, he decided that it was time to take a “bold new approach to human space flight that embraces commercial industry”, as Constellation was “over budget, behind schedule, and lacking in innovation.”
So he created the COTS program, designating $6 Billion to fund commercial technology companies to get it done. SpaceX and Orbital Sciences won the bids, with behemoths Lockheed Martin and Boeing left licking their wounds.
What you see in the video above is somewhere south of $600 million worth of investment. That is less than the amount of “cost threats” NASA calculated as being risky endeavors for the Constellation program. While this bloated program was busy making mistakes (yet keepin’ them cushy jobs!), SpaceX got busy flying rockets – and making profit.
I know that it’s not so clear cut, and SpaceX still needed a LOT of NASA help to communicate out there, but let me continue.
Okay… But why should I care about any of this?
Dragon Capsule Comes Home
Good question. This country is on a downward spiral, so why are we worried about sending expensive rockets into space?
The first part of the answer is that if the shit hits the fan, we may need manned missions that we can operate. Even with SpaceX, the US still has a gap where we cannot fly manned missions ourselves after Atlantis is decommissioned. We will have no safe shuttle!!!! SpaceX doesn’t think it can officially bring an astronaut to space for 3 more years, which probably means 4.
Sure, we have companies like Lockheed, Boeing, and SpaceX that can bring your satellite into space. But if we need to do spacewalks to fix things, do we really want to rely on the Russians and Chinese? It’s not a good situation if relations go downhill, which isn’t out of the realm of possibility. I for one don’t completely trust anyone but Americans with my precious cargo and communications systems.
The second part of the answer is this: While NASA is less than 1% of our budget, it’s a microcosm for everything that is going wrong with this country.
You can spend billions upon billions of good peoples’ money by pushing paper around, or you can let a bunch of smart people attack the problem with the incentive of that forsaken word, PROFIT.
So my question back to you is, if a company of 1200 employees can accomplish at a fraction of a price what a huge government organization of 18,000+ people cannot do… where else can this country save money and put power back into the hands of the people?
It’s not rocket science, people. Well, except it is, and privatization STILL worked. Why not try it in places where it’s a bit easier than building space ships?
So congrats once again to SpaceX and all of my friends and past associates.
Yesterday was a great day for America and our founding principles.
Elon is 39, and today I turned 29. I have exactly ten years to be as fucking cool as that guy.
Love this article and love SpaceX – “Put a bunch of geniuses in a room with a solid vision, a fiscal goal to achieve, and an inspirational leader, and this is what you get… a wheel of cheese in space!!!”
Early this morning, I participated in an event I never would have imagined myself taking part in: I went on strike with a labor union.
Specifically, I was a guest picketer for the Writers Guild of America (WGA), joining my dear friend Sarah Watson, writer on NBC’s forthcoming primetime show, Lipstick Jungle.
For those of you unaware, the WGA is a union which represents TV, film, and radio writers. The WGA is striking against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), which is an industry trade group consisting of U.S. film production companies and studios (ie. GE/NBC/Universal, Disney, Time Warner, etc). Every three years, these organizations negotiate a basic contract. However, in 2007, negotiations failed, and a strike began on November 2, 2007.
The way I understand it (heavily dumbed down — explaining it is neither my jurisdiction nor purpose), there are two major sticking points to the WGA’s strike:
DVD Residuals The writers want 8 cents for every DVD sold, double their current 4 cents. That is 0.4% of the revenue from a $20.00 DVD.
“New Media” Residuals Writers currently get no money when their work is viewed through Internet downloads, streaming feeds, IPTV, or phone downloads. They want to receive the 2.5% for these (which is what they’re paid on traditional television).
The funniest thing about this strike is what a social event it seems to be for the writers. Everyone I talked to was in optimistic spirits, and was very friendly to Sarah and myself. After all, being out of work for many months at a time is nothing new to a writer. Among those that I met were
Craig Williams, writer of Underdog (and some really cool upcoming ideas),
Zach Estrin, Co-executive Producer of Prison Break,
The Writers are not dumb, nor are the studios. As Internet and TV are quickly merging (take, for instance, AppleTV, Verizon FIOS, and even the growing popularity of streaming protocols such as Sopcast), each side must stand their ground and try to gain as much leverage over new media as soon as possible. This is especially true since the lines between TV and Internet are blurring and all forecasts of new media are vastly underestimated.
As a Libertarian, I find the entire situation to be a slap in the face to our country’s economic system, which resembles more and more of a joke every day. While I’ve never been pro-Union, I find it absolutely ridiculous that 6 of the largest corporations in the world can unite and dominate an industry with basically no competition between each other.
Our supposed ‘free market economy’ is dominated by corporate interests which have contributed to the disappearance of the middle class — a middle class that is vitally important to the survival of any democratic government.
I fully support the writers’ power to unionize and convene, but I also fully support the corporations power to fire their employees and do things their own way. That’s business.
Although this strike has very little impact on my life and that of my family, I feel that it is indicative of the bigger picture — the pendulum has swung too far, and the time for mass corporate backlash is near.
My question to you writers is this: What next? Let’s say you get everything (or almost everything) you bargain for. You are still pawns in the system, stuck in a traditional business which does not fully understand the future of technology and no longer appreciates the people it serves.
Isn’t it time for something new? Why settle for this, when you can take a risk to do better — to compete with the system by starting your own production organization. After all, if you’re not willing to take this risk, then you’ve already lost.
An internet television network! Down with the terrestrial television networks! It is the only next logical step. Newspapers are sinking because of the internet, why not the networks? They put out nothing but crap these days anyway.
Everyone is a pawn in the system except the CEOs, so I don’t think it’s a matter of branching out and creating a writer studio. Then the actors would create an actor studio and the producers a producer studio, and television/movies would swirl further down the toilet.
If the 2.5% you mentioned is what has been the working pay-paradigm for television writers, I cannot understand how that same figure does not directly translate to “new media.” Even if the money in new media is less than that of old media, it’s still the same slice size of simply a smaller pie.
I think the way that things work now is the way they have to work, but it might take a protracted strike for these uber-wealthy studio executives to realize that Jim Morrison was right: They’ve got the guns, but we’ve got the numbers.
There’s no profit to be had in running a studio without the creative engine of writers. A new slate of reality programming might be headed our way, but I imagine while some will catch, the majority will pass by in utter failure. Writers might seem like creepy crybabies, but it takes creepy crybabies who’ve been shit on their whole lives and who were forced to develop a keen wit and wild imagination in order to overcome the bleak reality of their shituation in order to develop the bittersweet creativity necessary to create worlds and people and situations that go beyond the limits of your common yokel’s imagination.
All it takes is five minutes of YouTubing to see just why the deep pockets of major corporations are necessary to create a full season of quality programming. For ever “I like turtles” gem you find, there are literally 10,000 videos of disturbingly low-quality production and creativity. A full season of a major production like a show like Friday Night Lights, 22 episodes at 43 minutes per episode, is something like, if my multiplication is correct, and it’s probably not (I’m a writer), 946 minutes of production. “I like turtles” was 30 seconds.
So, sadly, the current system of deep-pocketed megacorps is a necessary evil.
But I agree: more competition is more than necessary.
For well over three years, I have been constantly abusing the word “humiliation”. I revel in the minor doses of fame resulting from stories of my getting into and out of pitiful situations. I didn’t know that this would happen, but it now seems as though personal humiliation is an incredible way to get attention in today’s morally-declining American society – which often equates to measures of success.
Take, for instance, the mother of all humiliations in the news recently: Miss Teen USA 2007, South Carolina – Caitlin Upton. It’s been viewed over 14 million times, and I still can’t watch the entire thing:
Ten years ago, this girl’s life would have been over. But not anymore, thanks to the Internet. Tell me, how many of you can actually recognize the winner of Miss Teen USA? I know I couldn’t, but if I saw Caitlin on the street, I’d immediately recognize her. Not only that, but she’s now had major follow-up interviews, and I can guarantee you that magazines like FHM will are trying to get her into sexy photo shoots. The landscape has changed indeed.
There are two ways which Britney could have gotten all of the attention she received:
She knocks everyone’s socks off (not likely), or
She is a trainwreck (very likely).
As expected, Britney bombed in flying colors, yielding more press than a good performance would ever have received. Her constant humiliation has kept her in the spotlight. For someone struggling to keep things alive, no press is bad press.
What hasn’t been removed from YouTube, however, is the defensively embarrassing video “LEAVE BRITNEY ALONE!” from Britney’s #1 fan, Chris Tucker. Nobody heard of this loser until this video was made. Now nearly 5 million people have watched it. In case you haven’t, here it is:
In case you didn’t know, Chris is a male, and is somehow gaining a monstrous fan base. Does anyone see a problem here?
Now let’s take a look at the lighter side of popular-culture humiliation. The Zombie Kid who Likes Turtles:
Ten years ago, 10,000 people in Portland, OR would have seen this on the evening news, said “what in the hell?”, and went to bed, all to forget about it the next day. Now, over a million people have seen Jonathon Ware — he gets recognized everywhere, t-shirts have been made with the “I Like Turtles” slogan, and there is a Washington Post Article summing up the whole experience.
For my last exhibit, my favorite humiliation of all, is “Flaming Shot Goes Terribly Wrong”:
I’ve seen this video over 50 times (more on that in the future), and laugh every time I see it. These guys are true heroes to our generation of idiots, including myself. “Flaaaaaaaaming!”
What’s the point?
My point is this. The Internet is moving towards a self-aggrandizing style of short-lived entertainment fueled by Generation Y-ers’ passion to put themselves in the spotlight at any cost. America has loved humiliation for several years, starting with the television show “COPS” and MTV’s “The Real World”, and then moving towards reality TV and shows like “Jackass”.
Your typical 30+ year old would never want to be shown on the Internet partaking in such self defeatism. They wisely cower at the sight of video cameras, and don’t want to be the center of this Internet-based attention.
Generation Y, however, is embracing that humiliation, and taking it to levels I never imagined. We are, as a young society, increasingly becoming attention-whores.
The rest of us just revel in everyone else’s humiliations because it makes us feel better about our worthless, emotionally-neglected selves, thanks to the lack of proper parenting because we decided to toss a generation of children in extended day care rather than raise them like normal humans just so that everyone could afford a 3,000 square foot house and country club membership.
Whew – that was all very profound……….However, the best (and of course, my favorite) was your last paragraph….. Let it be known, Mikey Roberto was NOT A DAY CARE KID…… Hence, the reason our family was never rich (in $$$) or belonged to a country club. I’d like to think he was raised by “normal humans”, but then, where did all this humiliation come from………….Gotta love him!!!
Holy crap, that leave britney alone video can NOT be real. That kid needs a serious ass whoopin! Unless he is home schooled, he will probably get one soon.
As of right now, it’s looking rather promising that good ol’ Hillary Clinton may indeed be the Democratic Party’s 2008 Presidential candidate. Guess what – I am actually pulling for her to win the Democratic primaries. Those of you who know me best must be wondering what is going through my head, as I agree with almost nothing this socialist woman says. And that is still a true statement.
However, more than politics, I am a fan of chaos and disorder. It is actually inscribed on my personal emblem, shown to the side. Just imagine the chaos that would ensue if this woman ran for President. This country would be turned absolutely upside down, and that would be a riot to watch. Blogs would be bursting with fantastically incredulous write-ups. Political debates would actually feature some (but not much more than the John Kerry era) estrogen. Rednecks and businessmen alike would be up in arms. And Fox News would nearly implode.
And while I continue to support Texas Congressman Ron Paul for President, I would sit on the sidelines saying, “This is good for our country. We needed to get our rotten eggs scrambled up a little bit”.
Here in the wonderful United States of America, we are well on our way to declaring English to be our official language. Senate Bill S. 2611 passed 62-35, and now needs to pass the House of Representatives. Having lived in Texas and Los Angeles, I almost thought we’d make the official language Spanish. But I was wrong.
So let me tell you how infuriated I get when I have to do extra work because I follow the damned rules. As if it’s not bad enough to have to deal with automated telephone systems, I am now asked to press 1 for English
Excuse me? I’m pretty sure that I am the default. I shouldn’t have to do jack shit to speak English[1]. In fact, I should be given free discounts because I speak the damned language.
And that upsets me to the point of abusing customer service representatives (who are, by the way, quite possibly the most abused people in the world — especially if they’re really speaking that awful flavor of Indian-English).
So my ultimatum is this: if you ask me to press 1 to speak English, I am not going to. I am going to sit there. And wait. And if I get disconnected, you will lose my business. If I get forwarded to an operator, I will then tell them about my new refusal to press 1 to speak English, at which point they will roll their eyes and forward me to the proper Indian-speaking rep.
Furthermore, my solution to the afflicted situation is simple, and done by most responsible-behaving organizations: quickly state “Habla ‘espanol’ a hablar Espanol”, or something like that, pause for 3 seconds, and carry on in English if nothing is said.
Once we’re there, I am then in favor of allowing absolutely anyone who can grasp this to become a US citizen, so long as they don’t commit violent crimes (and if they do, I am also in favor of torturing them).
In conclusion, I will no longer press 1 to speak English. And if you think you’re going to change me, you must have forgotten how stubborn of a Roberto I am. I do not change. I will die not changing, and I would rather die than press 1.
[1]Unless I’m calling Japan, and at that point I am actually more interested in speaking Engrish.
The Writers are not dumb, nor are the studios. As Internet and TV are quickly merging (take, for instance, 
As expected, Britney bombed in flying colors, yielding more press than a good performance would ever have received. Her constant humiliation has kept her in the spotlight. For someone struggling to keep things alive, no press is bad press.
However, more than politics, I am a fan of chaos and disorder. It is actually inscribed on my personal emblem, shown to the side. Just imagine the chaos that would ensue if this woman ran for President. This country would be turned absolutely upside down, and that would be a riot to watch. Blogs would be bursting with fantastically incredulous write-ups. Political debates would actually feature some (but not much more than the John Kerry era) estrogen. Rednecks and businessmen alike would be up in arms. And Fox News would nearly implode.
Larry Salbira said,
12.11.10 at 9:06 am
Well said Mike. 10 years. Let’s do it.
Alison Lowndes said,
12.12.10 at 12:15 pm
Love this article and love SpaceX – “Put a bunch of geniuses in a room with a solid vision, a fiscal goal to achieve, and an inspirational leader, and this is what you get… a wheel of cheese in space!!!”
Chad Vordemesche said,
02.07.11 at 6:23 pm
Great article Mike. I didn’t know you were a great writer too!