Episode 168 - Elon Munch (with Joe Barnard)

Jake and Anthony are joined by Joe Barnard to air their grievances with the FAA.
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Find Anthony Colangelo at mainenginecuto...
Find Jake Robins at x.com/jakeonorbit
Find Joe Barnard at x.com/joebarnard

[@josephmcphee9143]

I loved this episode. I wish Joe Barnard and Eric Berger could alternate every week

[@Colmgreen]

Loved the show. Does anyone else think though that Joe Barnard is what Elon Musk imagines he sees when he looks in the mirror? 20 years younger and er a few pounds lighter?

[@regolith1350]

I think the reason they fished SuperHeavy out of the water is for national security reasons generally, and China specifically. I can easily imagine that some military/intelligence guys have been whispering (or more likely complaining/yelling) to Elon about leaving multiple copies of cutting edge, advanced rocket engines in shallow water. Much of the Gulf is quite shallow, unlike the deep Atlantic. As soon as SpaceX decided to return the booster to the Gulf, everyone would have known that unauthorized/illegal salvage/scavenger attempts would occur. The only questions in my mind were who, when, and how brazen. I'm surprised that people are surprised by all this.
There's a story from SpaceX's early Falcon 1 days on Kwajelein atoll: A few employees took a boat out to the spot in the Pacific where the first stage booster was intended to fall back after launch, under parachute. They discovered a Chinese "fishing boat" loitering nearby. There is every reason to believe the Chinese would have been feverishly scheming of some way to dig up SuperHeavy in the middle of the night, perhaps in pieces, and take it back for detailed study.

[@paco3791]

Fantastic content y'all. I thought I was waiting for the definitive Eric Berger Article on this whole situation but it turns out this video/podcast was what I actually needed. Perfect!

[@TroyRubert]

The process is the punishment.

[@christopherhanshew652]

The FAA is slow?! Elon Musk told us he’d be sending an uncrewed mission to Mars in 2018.