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Cont: Musk, SpaceX and future of Tesla II

Meanwhile, pumping liquids in space...

Apparently the operation will be performed with both ships undergoing slight acceleration. This causes the liquid fuel to pool at the 'bottom' of the tank where the pump pick-up is located.

:)
 
i would think a pump of some sort would give you more control over the process

anyway it’s interesting to me because i never really thought about how beneficial gravity and an atmosphere are to fluid motion
 
dirtywick said:
i would think a pump of some sort would give you more control over the process
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A pump just creates pressure. Pressure, however achieved, creates flow. If you have pressure, you can always restrict it with a valve. The advantage of a boost pump might be attractive, but isn't really necessary. City water supplies do a remarkable job of regulating pressure and flow using nothing but pressure created by gravity.

dirtywick said:
anyway it’s interesting to me because i never really thought about how beneficial gravity and an atmosphere are to fluid motion
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Space is weird. Some things are easier without gravity, but others are harder. Ditto air.
 
Which is why I take a dim view of most "general purpose" spacecraft in science fiction. Every planet* in our solar system presents a unique environment, and demands a unique set of purpose-built tools. You can't just translate terrestrial air-breathing engines to Venusian or Jovian flight plans.

Landing payloads on Earth is very different from on Mars is very different from on Pluto.
 
jeremyp said:
It was clear at launch that Musk knew nothing about the haulage industry since he concentrated on telling everybody how fast the semi is, not on its load capacity.
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It's a shame really because it's obvious to me that long haulage should be the ideal use case for autonomous robotic trucks.
 
arthwollipot said:
It's a shame really because it's obvious to me that long haulage should be the ideal use case for autonomous robotic trucks.
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Only if the highways are reserved for long haulage. And in fact we already have reserved long haulage routes. They're called railroads.

I wonder if robot road trains are really something Australia wants.
 
theprestige said:
Only if the highways are reserved for long haulage. And in fact we already have reserved long haulage routes. They're called railroads.
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Railroads don't go directly to every Woolworths loading dock.

theprestige said:
I wonder if robot road trains are really something Australia wants.
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I don't know. Let's ask it.
 
theprestige said:
That's short haulage.
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True.
theprestige said:
I'm asking you.
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I'm not Australia, but okay.

Yes, I think it's a good use case. Driving a road train is a physically and mentally exhausting job. If the driver can be safely and economically eliminated from the equation, then I think that would be a good thing.

ETA: Also, railways don't go to all the places they need to in Australia. That's why road trains exist in the first place. The clue is in the name.
 
novaphile said:
Meanwhile, pumping liquids in space...

Apparently the operation will be performed with both ships undergoing slight acceleration. This causes the liquid fuel to pool at the 'bottom' of the tank where the pump pick-up is located.

:)
Click to expand...

Given the apparent difficulty of pumping liquids around in microgravity, it suddenly seems rather remarkable that human bodies can survive in microgravity environments for years. That evolution "solved" so many pumping and flow requirements at so many different scales by accident, with no selective pressure rewarding survival without gravity*, strongly suggests that engineering solutions are also achievable.

*Well, up to a point. I suppose dropping dead of circulatory arrest due to a one-second free fall, or suffering kidney failure from neutral buoyancy during a 30-minute swim, wouldn't be very adaptive.
 
For the record, this is a map of Australia's railway infrastructure. Notice how little of the country it covers. It basically links only major towns and cities. It doesn't go to remote and regional towns or settlements, which still need goods.

There will always be a place for trucks in this country.

1765007278724.png
ETA: Source: Australian Government
 
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arthwollipot said:
True.

I'm not Australia, but okay.

Yes, I think it's a good use case. Driving a road train is a physically and mentally exhausting job. If the driver can be safely and economically eliminated from the equation, then I think that would be a good thing.

ETA: Also, railways don't go to all the places they need to in Australia. That's why road trains exist in the first place. The clue is in the name.
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Most of the places road trains go to, robots would be a joke....
in many cases, 'runarounds' around washouts and the like come and go on a regular basis- randomly- you can't just 'program a route'....
Worse, in many cases they run on dirt roads that LOOK identical to the surrounding dirt countryside- something I suspect would blow a robot trucks tiny mind...

And on road trains- you may notice that many have half a dozen or more spare tyres... whats that robot truck gunna do when its sitting on flat tyres??????
Nah- its going to be a bloody long time indeed before robotrucks become more than a tiny minority (if at all) in Australia- and I suspect most places....

Hell I been on roads like this- lol- all I got to do is drive out my gate to be on a dirt road......

Love Steve lol- he's a larrikin....
(its about three minutes long)

Yeah, I can really see a robotruck there...
ROTFL PMSL

and yeah, I'm serious about the rain can make life fun here....
Hell I sometimes struggle to GET to the dirt road- lucky I own a tilt-tray- cause the Hilux has been bogged in my own driveway....
1765008180893.png

As has the guy a few doors down....
1765008227375.png

In rainy weather- the school buses and the garbos literally refuse to leave the tar- its up to the parents to get their kids to the tar.... (and that can be tens of KM to do so....)

Oh and the road trains run right through the heart of town here- but they also run on the 'main road' out to my place- and this is it....
1765008490418.jpeg
That trailer is narrower than a roadtrain by about 15cm...., and it has literally about that much of tar either side of it on the road.....
You can go around a corner and be face to face with a double or triple train on that road.....
 
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Elon Musk
@elonmusk
The EU should be abolished and sovereignty returned to individual countries, so that governments can better represent their people
 
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