So a guy as driven as Musk isn’t doing this for PR, just... because he likes it? I’m sure it’s also totally unrelated to firing 1% of a 30k workforce?
When an AMA is held on Tesla, then I might be interested in that, but I'm interested in more technical details of upcoming SpaceX rockets.
If NASA had an AMA about the Space Shuttle, do you want the thread polluted with questions about NASA's opinion on the F-35? Or on Obamacare? Is NASA "advertising"?
Musk frequently engages people on Twitter. He's obviously a tech-nerd, and loves talking about rockets and mars, it's an obsession. No one would bet their money on an uneconomical plan to colonize Mars. He literally cried on 60 minutes when confronted with Aldrin's support of ULA.
It's a pretty cheap shop to chalk this up to some advertising campaign, rather than personal ego.
Advertising what? Buying seats on a BFR rocket?
He hasnt, he’s betting money on rockets which are useful for highly lucrative activities, while talking aboutna currently far fetched vision of Martian colonization. Apparently though all it takes to disable the critical thinking of many is wanting to believe, and in your case, tears.
If you knew even the first thing about the Space industry you would know that these sorts of rockets are super high risk and even now the demand for such rockets is highly questioned even should they manage to build it.
There are really not so many "highly lucrative activities" even if they manage to achieve technical breakthroughs on rocket designed. Also, the rocket and space ship very clearly are designed around Mars, every design choice is informed by that.
If he had wanted to make the most possible profitable rocket to do 'highly lucrative activities' he would have build a different rocket.
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if you knew even the first thing...
If Musk wanted high ROI, he wouldn't have bet on SpaceX. He's obviously doing it not because it's easy money, but because he's interested in space as a hobby.
The first think he tried to do with his PayPal money was to buy an ICBM to fly a greenhouse to Mars. Does that sound like something that's a good investment?
I don't think you're convincing very many people that Musk is doing this for advertising purposes. What's next, Musk gives a space talk to middle school students, and you accuse him of trying to recruit cheap future employees?