Summer Slum/Elon Musk needs his own thread because he's in every damn thing/positive Elon Musk

So... Things are going well at xAI?

 

They've been replaced by Grok.

 

Also, in an all hands with xAI employees, Musk claimed that the departures weren't voluntary and that their departure is actually a good thing for xAI.

https://techcrunch.com/2026/02/11/senior-engineers-including-co-founders-exit-xai-amid-controversy/

 

Case in point: A friend of mine took a job at Tesla as an engineer. A year later she quit and decided to go into nursing. Always thought that was telling.

 

And Musk knows how to push their buttons. In the article I linked above, he apparently ended the part about the departures by saying that xAI "is “hiring aggressively” and closed with a quintessentially Musk pitch: “Join xAI if the idea of mass drivers on the Moon appeals to you.”"

 

Lasted a year, eh? Heh. My wife had a coworker that joined SpaceX, but was back at her work within 6 months.

 

Traffic on the moon. JFC

 

That's not what mass drivers are. It's an electro-magnetic rail system that launches objects off the moon instead of using chemicals rockets. That's one of the reasons why it is less expensive to launch from moon than earth.

 

Man. I really wish y'all wouldn't make me defend Musk. Anyways, the moon has a lot of metal oxides and frozen water that can be converted into oxygen. It's not easy and costs a lot of energy, but it can be done.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cd7nr8wv5r9o

 

It won’t be easy, but setting up on the moon vs an orbiting space station is not so drastic of a jump, when you are considering ops to Mars. Landing is tricky.

There are actually quite a few cool things we could do with a moon base, but humans would still be spending a matter months at a time and not a year or years, and they will probably have a maximum amount of days allowed in total for spending time off earth. It will have to largely be run by robots (like the rovers) and automation with as little human presence as possible.

 

This is AI sourced

Apollo 17 astronauts, particularly Harrison Schmitt, experienced "lunar hay fever"—a temporary, allergic-like reaction to inhaled, abrasive lunar dust characterized by sneezing, sore throat, and watery eyes. The dust, which coated the cabin, also caused eye and lung irritation. Additionally, Apollo astronauts faced risks from cosmic radiation and bone mineral loss.

• Lunar Dust Reactions: Harrison Schmitt reported that when returning to the Lunar Module and removing helmets, the cabin filled with dust. He described this as a "hay fever" reaction, noting that after breathing the dust, he developed a sore throat and congested sinuses.
• Physical Irritation: The dust is sharp and abrasive, not weathered like Earth dust. This caused congestion, coughing, and, in some cases, symptoms that lasted for days, which the crew termed "lunar hay fever".
• Long-Term Health Concerns: While the immediate symptoms for the crew were temporary, studies on Apollo-era exposure suggest that lunar dust could cause long-term, chronic inflammation, bronchitis, or potential lung tissue damage.
• Systemic Concerns: While not specific to Apollo 17 in isolation, studies of all Apollo moonwalkers have indicated a higher, long-term risk of cardiovascular disease, potentially linked to radiation exposure.
• Cabin Environment: The dust was noted to be a major inhibitor to operations because it is so fine, clings to everything, and is impossible to keep out of the living spaces.

 

One of the things I loved about the Star Trek Enterprise series was how seriously they took decontaminating after visiting another ship or planet. I don’t think they’ll be able to shower after going outside, for a whole host of reasons.

I would imagine that Mars has similar issues with dust and radiation, but the rovers there seem to have done OK. I really have no idea just how difficult the dust situation may or may not be for feasibility of human missions. That’s a concern I haven’t heard discussed much.

 

Attack of The Martian Dust Storms | National Air and Space Museum https://share.google/SAtD5HjUxekxTU3kX

 

It's actually worse because while the dust is just as fine and just as impossible to contain outside, Martian dust is actively poisonous to people.

 

Well aware of that. I’m not aware of dust storms ravaging the moon. The rovers were originally designed to last a few months, and they all lasted years. It was a remarkable achievement.

 

People aren’t going to Mars. I’m not that worried about it.

 

Go, (F)Elon, go.

 

Mars has a whole other host of issues.. The main issue being that the dust in Mars is toxic to humans and the high wind has ground the dirt down to extremely fine particles. Matt Damon would have been dead long before the Hermes crew came back to him if he had tried to grow potatoes in the dirt for real Mars and, even if he had survived the perchlorates in Mars's dirt, he would have gotten lung cancer from breathing in the dust from the Martian dirt he dragged into the habitat.

Not to mention the impact associated with living in low gravity for around 3 years (14-20 months flying to/from Mars and 18 months living on Mars) and suddenly being exposed to Earth gravity. Granted, that's nothing compared to how f**ked the rest of the Hermes would have been considering they were in zero gravity for all but a handful of days of those 3 years.

 

I don't have time to track it down now, but there was an article I read (maybe in SciAm) that talked about how these plans to go to the moon were stupid (my words) because nobody is accounting for how bad the dust is -- although NASA is trying to find a solution.