dundundundundundundundundundundun...FLASH...AHHHHHHhhhh...He'll save everyone one of us! He's for everyone one of us!
“This is for suborbital VTOL (vertical take-off and landing) tests,” Musk explained. “Orbital version is taller, has thicker skins (won’t wrinkle) & a smoothly curving nose section.” This particular model will be used to test short launches and landings. Earlier this month, Musk said SpaceX was aiming to carry out test flights within four weeks, but admitted it could be as long as eight weeks when unforeseen issues are factored in.
First official mission for Falcon Heavy scheduled this evening (hopefully). Target window now 8:00-8:32 PM EDT. https://www.spacex.com/webcast
You're not. It's a test model meant for short launches/landings. It has a thin 'skin' which shows wrinkles. The 'production' version will me much thicker without the cover look.
I've been consistently bearish on the prospect of near term fully autonomous vehicles, but there has been growing chatter we may be much closer than imagined, albeit with limited penetration. Elon has historically been prone to over-promising, but he's significantly scaled back over the past couple of years. He seems pretty confident about next year.
The more I learn about this guy, the more I realize he constantly crosses the line between genius and insanity, and the more I like him.