The Rise of SpaceX Elon Musk's Engineering Masterpiece

[spacenut]

There is a huge difference in working hard or long hours because you have to than if you do it for your passion.   

[deadman1204]

In his interview with the World Government summit which was posted onto social media yesterday, Elon, in response to a question about UFO’s, said that he doesn’t think there is anyone on Earth who knows more about Space Technology than himself at this point in time.

Dunning–Kruger

Who knows more about current space technology than the chief engineer of SpaceX? Give an example. (Note we aren’t talking people who are smarter or better technically skilled… there are lots of people with higher IQ than Elon. This is about knowledge of current space tech.)

I'm gonna go with the legion of actual engineers who design and run the stuff. Not the CEO who has spent the last 5 months tanking twitter, and somehow also runs Tesla too? The very idea that he can waltz into a meating and know what it took other 10-20 years of study and experience to learn is ludicrous.

Don't forget, "cheif engineer" is a bs title given to placate the guy who fires people when they disagree with him (well documented, it happened again just last week). Show me his phd in:
1. metalurgy
2. orbital mechanics
3. electrical engineering
4. mechanical engineering
5. Aerospace engineering
Or his lifetime of practice using these skills and learning. He has none of these, because he doesn't NEED them (and its also not possible). His job is to direct the company.
He sounds knowledgable because like EVERY CEO, he has people to coach him on what to say. This is an open secret in business, lots of people do it.

[RedLineTrain]

He sounds knowledgable because like EVERY CEO, he has people to coach him on what to say.

Unsubstantiated.

[steveleach]

In his interview with the World Government summit which was posted onto social media yesterday, Elon, in response to a question about UFO’s, said that he doesn’t think there is anyone on Earth who knows more about Space Technology than himself at this point in time.

Dunning–Kruger

Who knows more about current space technology than the chief engineer of SpaceX? Give an example. (Note we aren’t talking people who are smarter or better technically skilled… there are lots of people with higher IQ than Elon. This is about knowledge of current space tech.)

I'm gonna go with the legion of actual engineers who design and run the stuff. Not the CEO who has spent the last 5 months tanking twitter, and somehow also runs Tesla too? The very idea that he can waltz into a meating and know what it took other 10-20 years of study and experience to learn is ludicrous.

Don't forget, "cheif engineer" is a bs title given to placate the guy who fires people when they disagree with him (well documented, it happened again just last week). Show me his phd in:
1. metalurgy
2. orbital mechanics
3. electrical engineering
4. mechanical engineering
5. Aerospace engineering
Or his lifetime of practice using these skills and learning. He has none of these, because he doesn't NEED them (and its also not possible). His job is to direct the company.
He sounds knowledgable because like EVERY CEO, he has people to coach him on what to say. This is an open secret in business, lots of people do it.

I think you are probably misunderstanding what makes Elon Musk unique (and frustrating). He dives into the detail on all important decisions, and he is a very hands-on chief engineer. He is not like "every CEO", and has demonstrated that more times than I could list. He is an engineer first, and a CEO second.

And let's not get into whether you need a PhD in something to be an expert. Academic qualifications are one way to demonstrate deep knowledge, but by no means the only one. And he does have a lifetime (at least career-wise) of learning and practice, of course.

[Robotbeat]

Peter Beck didn’t even go to college, but he’s a very competent and knowledgeable engineering leader.

[greybeardengineer]

In his interview with the World Government summit which was posted onto social media yesterday, Elon, in response to a question about UFO’s, said that he doesn’t think there is anyone on Earth who knows more about Space Technology than himself at this point in time.

Dunning–Kruger

Who knows more about current space technology than the chief engineer of SpaceX? Give an example. (Note we aren’t talking people who are smarter or better technically skilled… there are lots of people with higher IQ than Elon. This is about knowledge of current space tech.)

I'm gonna go with the legion of actual engineers who design and run the stuff. Not the CEO who has spent the last 5 months tanking twitter, and somehow also runs Tesla too? The very idea that he can waltz into a meating and know what it took other 10-20 years of study and experience to learn is ludicrous.

Don't forget, "cheif engineer" is a bs title given to placate the guy who fires people when they disagree with him (well documented, it happened again just last week). Show me his phd in:
1. metalurgy
2. orbital mechanics
3. electrical engineering
4. mechanical engineering
5. Aerospace engineering
Or his lifetime of practice using these skills and learning. He has none of these, because he doesn't NEED them (and its also not possible). His job is to direct the company.
He sounds knowledgable because like EVERY CEO, he has people to coach him on what to say. This is an open secret in business, lots of people do it.

Throughout my career very, very few of the engineers I have worked with had a PhD and a small minority had a MSc like myself. A PhD is a strong sign someone is interested primarily in pursuing an academic career rather than work in industry at the forefront of innovation. Some of the best engineers I worked with didn't have engineering degrees but backgrounds in physics (like Elon Musk) or math.

[TrevorMonty]

Both Tory and Peter are aerospace engineers who have actually physically built rockets and also managed the development of them.

Between Tory's LM and ULA careers would have very good knowledge of space systems a lot of which are highly classified.

[TrevorMonty]

Where would we be today in space related activities if it wasn't for Musk?  Also, no one would be mass producing electric cars.

Electric car industry was going to happen with or without Tesla but it has help shorten timeline. 
Nissan Leaf has been production since 2010 well before Tesla S and was lot more affordable.

[Robotbeat]

Both Tory and Peter are aerospace engineers who have actually physically built rockets and also managed the development of them.

Between Tory's LM and ULA careers would have very good knowledge of space systems a lot of which are highly classified.

Tory’s non-launch knowledge is relatively out of date, and ULA is prohibited from making satellites and they don’t make their own engines.

You can make a much better case for Peter Beck, as RocketLab is vertically integrated like SpaceX (they make their own engines from scratch) and also makes a bunch of satellites.

[Robotbeat]

Where would we be today in space related activities if it wasn't for Musk?  Also, no one would be mass producing electric cars.

Electric car industry was going to happen with or without Tesla but it has help shorten timeline. 
Nissan Leaf has been production since 2010 well before Tesla S and was lot more affordable.

I own both a Nissan Leaf and a Model S, both first generation from 2013 (that I bought used). Electric cars sucked, and were a huge compromise over conventional cars before Tesla (which got started with the Roadster… although it was Straubel, who Elon brought with him, who was the technical genius there, even though Elon was starting grad school to study supercapacitor energy storage before he quit to be an entrepreneur). It was not at all a given at the time that EVs would’ve mainstreamed. But yeah, that was Straubel (who Elon had already started collaborating with) in the early days who was the greatest technical person, not Musk and certainly not the other two co-founders.

The Volt was explicitly developed after the Tesla Roadster showed what was possible with electric cars. Wouldn’t be surprised if that applied to the Leaf, too, even though it’s much less impressive than the Volt.

[john smith 19]

I think you are probably misunderstanding what makes Elon Musk unique (and frustrating). He dives into the detail on all important decisions, and he is a very hands-on chief engineer. He is not like "every CEO", and has demonstrated that more times than I could list. He is an engineer first, and a CEO second.

And let's not get into whether you need a PhD in something to be an expert. Academic qualifications are one way to demonstrate deep knowledge, but by no means the only one. And he does have a lifetime (at least career-wise) of learning and practice, of course.

The same question could be asked of any CEO at a tech company.

The key questions of a successsful CEO are a)Can they understand the problem b)Can they understand the options for solving it c)Can they make a decision on how to solve that problem quickly?

Musk has demonstrated that he can do these things.

[nicp]

In my view, Elon is exceptionally good at spotting when ‘received/conventional wisdom’ is wrong. This is result, I believe of Elon knowing his physics.
You couldn’t possibly land a first stage without having a pathetic payload, a battery powered car would have no range. And so on.
I was certainly convinced of the impracticality of landing a booster usefully.
It takes imagination and courage to see when accepted wisdom is wrong, or incomplete.
Sure, Tom Mueller and others then provided data to prove what’s possible vs what is accepted, but for SpaceX Elon put up $100m, and came close to bankruptcy.
That took some balls.

[Robotbeat]

The interesting thing is that Blue Origin was pursuing VTVL before SpaceX was, and SpaceX was pursuing parachutes, still. But Elon was willing to change his mind when he saw a much better approach succeeding (by Masten Space Systems) while parachutes were failing for Falcon 1/9. Blue probably would’ve executed faster if Bezos were more intimately involved from the early days.

[Lar]

Let's make sure we keep this thread useful and collegial. Some of the back and forth was at best marginal on those two metrics.

Thanks!

[greybeardengineer]

I think you are probably misunderstanding what makes Elon Musk unique (and frustrating). He dives into the detail on all important decisions, and he is a very hands-on chief engineer. He is not like "every CEO", and has demonstrated that more times than I could list. He is an engineer first, and a CEO second.

This type of CEO is extremely rare but Elon is not unique. The CEO of my last employer before retirement was one of the first dozen employees of the company (Now >$1B/yr and hundreds of employees around the world) and the design engineer of the first hit product that put the company on the map and made lots of money. He has been management/CEO for more than two decades but is intimately involved in knowing what is going on in design development and debugging. He will often show in the lab and make very useful suggestions when the designers get stuck in debugging or finding work arounds. He occasionally imposed specific odd little choices/features in early new product architectural design that turn out later to be bacon savers. When he asked you something about what you're working on, even though you were the authority on it, you would never even consider trying BS or deflection away from issues, the guy would see through to the heart of the matter anyway. You would never want to anyway, he is still one of us. Funny thing he is actually a very good CEO too.

[RicertyRocket]

The interesting thing is that Blue Origin was pursuing VTVL before SpaceX was, and SpaceX was pursuing parachutes, still. But Elon was willing to change his mind when he saw a much better approach succeeding (by Masten Space Systems) while parachutes were failing for Falcon 1/9. Blue probably would’ve executed faster if Bezos were more intimately involved from the early days.

Blue Origin with Bezos at the helm

[meekGee]

The interesting thing is that Blue Origin was pursuing VTVL before SpaceX was, and SpaceX was pursuing parachutes, still. But Elon was willing to change his mind when he saw a much better approach succeeding (by Masten Space Systems) while parachutes were failing for Falcon 1/9. Blue probably would’ve executed faster if Bezos were more intimately involved from the early days.

Blue Origin with Bezos at the helm

I'm guessing this post is in response to Lars'?

And, who's who in the drawing?

Lol.

SLP.  (Short Lived Post)

[TrevorMonty]

I think you are probably misunderstanding what makes Elon Musk unique (and frustrating). He dives into the detail on all important decisions, and he is a very hands-on chief engineer. He is not like "every CEO", and has demonstrated that more times than I could list. He is an engineer first, and a CEO second.

This type of CEO is extremely rare but Elon is not unique. The CEO of my last employer before retirement was one of the first dozen employees of the company (Now >$1B/yr and hundreds of employees around the world) and the design engineer of the first hit product that put the company on the map and made lots of money. He has been management/CEO for more than two decades but is intimately involved in knowing what is going on in design development and debugging. He will often show in the lab and make very useful suggestions when the designers get stuck in debugging or finding work arounds. He occasionally imposed specific odd little choices/features in early new product architectural design that turn out later to be bacon savers. When he asked you something about what you're working on, even though you were the authority on it, you would never even consider trying BS or deflection away from issues, the guy would see through to the heart of the matter anyway. You would never want to anyway, he is still one of us. Funny thing he is actually a very good CEO too.

One partner in my company was money man, start talking about technical and his eyes glazed over and left. Other partner was engineer, start talking technical and engineering stories would come out, had plenty of time for him. Unlike first who'd throw you under bus if there was money to be made.

[M.E.T.]

I think you are probably misunderstanding what makes Elon Musk unique (and frustrating). He dives into the detail on all important decisions, and he is a very hands-on chief engineer. He is not like "every CEO", and has demonstrated that more times than I could list. He is an engineer first, and a CEO second.

This type of CEO is extremely rare but Elon is not unique. The CEO of my last employer before retirement was one of the first dozen employees of the company (Now >$1B/yr and hundreds of employees around the world) and the design engineer of the first hit product that put the company on the map and made lots of money. He has been management/CEO for more than two decades but is intimately involved in knowing what is going on in design development and debugging. He will often show in the lab and make very useful suggestions when the designers get stuck in debugging or finding work arounds. He occasionally imposed specific odd little choices/features in early new product architectural design that turn out later to be bacon savers. When he asked you something about what you're working on, even though you were the authority on it, you would never even consider trying BS or deflection away from issues, the guy would see through to the heart of the matter anyway. You would never want to anyway, he is still one of us. Funny thing he is actually a very good CEO too.

One partner in my company was money man, start talking about technical and his eyes glazed over and left. Other partner was engineer, start talking technical and engineering stories would come out, had plenty of time for him. Unlike first who'd throw you under bus if there was money to be made.

But did the engineering guy understand the financial implications of his technical ideas? Surely a CEO that is a master of both fields is the Holy Grail. Which brings us nicely back to the person who is the topic of discussion.

[steveleach]

I think you are probably misunderstanding what makes Elon Musk unique (and frustrating). He dives into the detail on all important decisions, and he is a very hands-on chief engineer. He is not like "every CEO", and has demonstrated that more times than I could list. He is an engineer first, and a CEO second.

This type of CEO is extremely rare but Elon is not unique. The CEO of my last employer before retirement was one of the first dozen employees of the company (Now >$1B/yr and hundreds of employees around the world) and the design engineer of the first hit product that put the company on the map and made lots of money. He has been management/CEO for more than two decades but is intimately involved in knowing what is going on in design development and debugging. He will often show in the lab and make very useful suggestions when the designers get stuck in debugging or finding work arounds. He occasionally imposed specific odd little choices/features in early new product architectural design that turn out later to be bacon savers. When he asked you something about what you're working on, even though you were the authority on it, you would never even consider trying BS or deflection away from issues, the guy would see through to the heart of the matter anyway. You would never want to anyway, he is still one of us. Funny thing he is actually a very good CEO too.

One partner in my company was money man, start talking about technical and his eyes glazed over and left. Other partner was engineer, start talking technical and engineering stories would come out, had plenty of time for him. Unlike first who'd throw you under bus if there was money to be made.

But did the engineering guy understand the financial implications of his technical ideas? Surely a CEO that is a master of both fields is the Holy Grail. Which brings us nicely back to the person who is the topic of discussion.

Or maybe a technical CEO who finds that the market disruptions that their technical decisions result in often end up making them a huge amount of money, despite that not being the primary objective.