His blind fanboyism and arrogance irritate so many people who work in space. I'm very surprised HN loves this guy.
> He is not a rocket scientist.
That might well be a pro, not a con. Rocket scientists' core competency is designing rockets, not teaching, and subject matter experts often make poor teachers. If this were a case of some kind of hucksterism, where he's an ignorant layperson making shit up and passing it off as true in his educational content, I'd say there was some concern, but while he's apparently said some dumb shit on Twitter, it doesn't seem like you or most other commenters are pointing to anything factually inaccurate _in this article_, nor indeed do people tend to on his researched, long-form stuff generally (vs. some off-the-cuff tweet). In that sense, it seems like this content is as good a place as any for laypeople to learn about this topic, that it doesn't obviously suffer from his lack of formal training, and maybe benefits if it means his better able to translate technical content to non-technical audiences.
I find it thoroughly fun to talk with subject matter experts. What I learn is amazing.
Frankly if there was a youtuber out there making high quality, good faith attempts at presenting weird networking stuff - I'd love it and probably link everyone that ever expressed mild interest to that stuff. The folks that make explainer videos well are far better than me at getting the important concepts across to neophytes, and then I can help them understand more if they are still curious. (also - if this exists and I just never came across it please link :D)
Subject: Something quantum mechanics.
Comment: "I'm not a physicist, but I think..." -- What do you think follows after such an opening? Exactly. It's fine though. I decided that the users decided that the site is at least 80% distraction and entertainment, and it still does so at a higher level than most others, so it's all good I think.
I do wish there were active equivalents for beyond software development.
Me and my colleagues joke about the weekly HN thread of people misunderstanding some physics article, or posing a nonsensical solution to a "trivial issue within physics".
If the people he interviews are humoring or correcting him, that's exactly what I would expect and is part of the value of the content really. He's giving them a platform and enthusiastic laymen a chance to ask dumb questions.
While not public, my friend was his liaison at Blue origin when he toured. He was extremely rude to the team at Blue. It actually surprised the media team how condescending he was.
In my personal experience, most people at my company don't like EDA. On the other hand they love Scott Manley. It's not about what you know it's about what kind of person you are.
It's of course unlikely that the engineering team wasn't already considering this, but it's also not like Dodd was suggesting anything, he was just asking a follow-up question. The way the conversations played out was Musk remembering to ask someone about it later to check the status of the plan or drive a decision, and later recalling that conversation when Dodd came by again.
He may be a fanboy but that fanboyism got him a trip to the moon.
SpaceX fans?
SpaceX has an effective monopoly on low cost launches for a reason. The closest company to it in terms of low cost capability is Blue Origin which hasn't even been to orbit yet. No one but ULA or Roscosmos is close in terms of reliable either. The Space Industry would still be launching single use overpriced rockets to LEO without SpaceX revolutionizing it.
With that said, if you find him irritating, then you find him irritating. Hard to argue with that.
He doesn't represent himself as one either. Between he and Scott Manley and others there are a lot of kids out there who are pumped about space in ways that I never felt as a kid. Is it wrong to be enthusiastic about something that is not one's own life-work, to be exited about anything headed pointy-end-up, flamey-end-down? Look at the mission statement:
Everyday Astronaut’s mission is to bring space down to Earth for everyday people. To celebrate and lift up those who are helping humanity explore the world we live on and our place amongst the stars. We believe the best way to get people excited about space exploration is through education. By breaking down complex topics, it helps give some perspective and insight into the decisions made every day through the industry. We help remove the barriers of intimidating subject matter to help foster an excited public to cheer on those who are pushing the boundaries and help inspire future generations. The point is, rocket science is awesome, and you don’t need to be a rocket scientist to be excited.