The Wrong Kind of Rocket Man
A sharp essay on why useful disruption can provoke more hostility than failure, especially when Elon Musk is involved.
SpaceX
28 posts
Starlink and the Cult of Earthbound Resentment
Starlink becomes a case study in why some critics struggle to separate personality, politics, and genuinely useful infrastructure.
White Tiles, Hard Lessons
Starship’s heat-shield troubles show why building reusable spacecraft is less about perfection than learning faster than failure.
Moon First, Mars Later: The Fast Feedback Path to a Spacefaring City
The Moon-first argument reframes lunar missions as the fastest feedback loop for building a real spacefaring civilization.
When Rockets Meet Robots: The xAI–SpaceX Mashup and Its Cosmic Comedy
A comic but serious look at what happens when rockets, robotics, AI, and Musk’s corporate universe start overlapping.
To the Naysayers: Shards of Envy in the Golden Age of SpaceX
A defense of SpaceX’s messy progress, arguing that broken test flights can become part of the design’s strength.
Starship Soars: Flight 11 Triumphs and V3 Sets Sights on the Stars
Starship Flight 11 becomes a bridge between today’s test campaign and the larger ambitions of the V3 architecture.
Flight 10, Starship, and the Art of Learning by Fire
Starship Flight 10 shows how SpaceX turns dramatic failure modes into data for the next design iteration.
SpaceX’s Starship Flight 10: MarkSetBot Buoy Makes a Splash in the Indian Ocean Landing
A small buoy in the Indian Ocean becomes an unexpected witness to Starship’s increasingly precise flight-test choreography.
Starship Flight 10: first payload deploy, controlled splashdown — and a curious nudge at the airlock
Starship Flight 10 combines major milestones with one odd airlock moment that makes the test especially worth unpacking.
Landing on Mars: No Chopsticks, No Problem! How Starship Will Stick the Landing Without a Red Carpet
Landing Starship on Mars will not need launch-tower chopsticks, but it will demand a very different kind of precision.
Starship 9: A Cosmic Adventure with a Stubborn Door and a Stuttering Start
Starship 9’s awkward details make the test memorable, showing how small mechanisms can complicate giant ambitions.
Starship Flight 9: Skipping the Rehearsal, Aiming for the Stars
Skipping a rehearsal can look reckless or efficient; Starship Flight 9 offers evidence for both interpretations.
The Great Space Switcheroo: A Cosmic Comedy of Perspectives
Changing perspectives can make space familiar, ridiculous, or profound, depending on where the mental camera is placed.
Debris Trajectories from Starship 7 Test Flight
Starship 7’s debris path turns a failed test into a practical lesson in breakup dynamics and public risk.
Advancements in Heat Shield Technology for Safe Spacecraft Re-entry
Modern heat shields are evolving quickly because coming home safely remains one of spaceflight’s hardest problems.
Small Steps, Giant Leaps: The Dawn of Commercial Spacewalks
Polaris Dawn’s commercial spacewalk marks a small step outside the capsule and a large shift in who gets to do it.
SpaceX's Starship: A Leap, A Hop, and A Splash in the Cosmic Pond
Starship’s explosive test history becomes a story about ambition, iteration, and the public theater of engineering.
To Infinity and Beyond: The Magnetic Pull of SpaceX Launches on Space Enthusiasts and the Cosmic Race
SpaceX launches attract devoted watchers because they combine spectacle, uncertainty, and the feeling of history being made live.
Battles of the Future: Elon Musk vs. The Envious Titans of Industry
A combative look at why established industries react so strongly when Musk’s companies move faster than expected.
Calculating the Rendezvous of a SpaceX Cargo Ship with the ISS
Rendezvous with the ISS is a precise orbital dance where timing, speed, and geometry all have to agree.
Satellite Hacking: Vulnerabilities, Security, and the Age of Megaconstellations
Megaconstellations make satellite security more urgent, turning orbital networks into targets as well as infrastructure.
When Clouds Formed Inside NASA and How SpaceX Changed the Rocket Game
NASA’s old constraints and SpaceX’s new methods reveal how culture can shape the pace of rocket innovation.
Flight Termination Systems in Spaceflight: A Historical Overview and a Look at SpaceX's Starship Incident
Flight termination systems are grim but essential, protecting people when rockets stop behaving like rockets should.
Unraveling the Mystery of Q's: From Star Trek to James Bond and SpaceX
The many Qs of pop culture become a playful route through intelligence, gadgets, power, and space-age storytelling.
Preparing the Next Generation for Careers in Aerospace: The SpaceX Example
SpaceX’s hiring culture offers clues about how young engineers can prepare for aerospace work that moves fast.
The First Flight of SpaceX's Starship: A Leap Forward Despite Aborted Test
Starship’s first flight test failed loudly but still marked a consequential step in reusable heavy-lift development.
The Power Behind SpaceX Starship: Raptor Engines and The Future of Space Travel
Raptor engines are more than Starship’s power source; they embody SpaceX’s bet on reuse, methane, and scale.