And what country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
On the other side of that fence, just out of the picture, is the first thing that they did their test flights with. Lifted off, flew up to a few hundred feet, flew sideways under control and then landed gently on its legs. It was called "Starhopper" but mostly just called Hoppy. Hoppy was about a quarter of that height, with no fins or control surfaces and really had people thinking "grain silos can fly."
Yup, my first thought too. I recall futuristic illustrations from my childhood about the future space program, and inevitably an illustration like this would show up on the cover. It has a certain retro beauty about it, doesn't it?
This is the first generation. The next generation is going to have smaller forward flapperators because flight tests have shown that this design has too much authority. I'm looking forward to seeing what they come up with.
Looks like a grain silo with fins.
ReplyDeleteOn the other side of that fence, just out of the picture, is the first thing that they did their test flights with. Lifted off, flew up to a few hundred feet, flew sideways under control and then landed gently on its legs. It was called "Starhopper" but mostly just called Hoppy. Hoppy was about a quarter of that height, with no fins or control surfaces and really had people thinking "grain silos can fly."
DeleteFlash Gordon-esque
ReplyDeleteI sometimes think Musk gets his inspiration from comic books. Not that that's a bad thing.
DeleteNemo
Yup, my first thought too. I recall futuristic illustrations from my childhood about the future space program, and inevitably an illustration like this would show up on the cover. It has a certain retro beauty about it, doesn't it?
DeleteJust read the bio on Musk. He was a scifi book junkie as a kid. So, yes, he gets alot of inspiration from classic scifi and comics.
DeleteDies it say ACME on the other side?
ReplyDeleteDOES it.....sheesh. Why doesn't autocorrect pick up on these things?
DeleteThis is one of the first ones. Those tiles are terrible! The newest ones are much cleaner. Here is one of the latest ones, fully stacked:
ReplyDeletehttps://i.ytimg.com/vi/KqUiaApe3pM/maxresdefault_live.jpg
This is the first generation. The next generation is going to have smaller forward flapperators because flight tests have shown that this design has too much authority. I'm looking forward to seeing what they come up with.
ReplyDeleteBig Bertha.
ReplyDeleteYou think that's big? Find a photo where it's stacked on its booster. The complete stack Is slightly taller than a Saturn V!
ReplyDeleteThe link I posted above is that!
DeleteLooks top heavy on the transporter.
ReplyDeleteWatching it lauch, even on my computer, was one of the most awesome things I have ever seen or heard!
ReplyDelete