r/technology • u/Zarrakir • 1d ago

Space SpaceX has built the machine to build the machine. But what about the machine?

https://arstechnica.com/space/2025/08/spacex-has-built-the-machine-to-build-the-machine-but-what-about-the-machine/
26 Upvotes

62% Upvoted

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9

u/SwimmingLimpet 1d ago

Do the palm trees lean to the side when they're moving the rocket?

2

u/lab-gone-wrong 18h ago

At least they're fireproofed for when the rocket detonates

7

u/dark_frog 23h ago

There's a quote in the article with no indication of who said it.

"If you want to actually make something at reasonable volume, you have to build the machine that makes the machine, which mathematically is going to be vastly more complicated than the machine itself," he said. "The thing that makes the machine is not going to be simpler than the machine. It’s going to be much more complicated, by a lot."

4

u/lose_has_1_o 23h ago

The indication is in the previous paragraph:

During one of my visits to South Texas, in early 2020 just before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, SpaceX was building its first Starship rockets in football field-sized tents. At the time, SpaceX founder Elon Musk opined in an interview that building the factory might well be more difficult than building the rocket.

"If you want to actually make something at reasonable volume, you have to build the machine that makes the machine, which mathematically is going to be vastly more complicated than the machine itself," he said. "The thing that makes the machine is not going to be simpler than the machine. It’s going to be much more complicated, by a lot."

I’m sure Strunk and White would not approve. They also chose that paragraph break as the best place for an image of the factory, which only makes the relationship harder to track.

Still… we all knew who said it, right?

3

u/DynamicNostalgia 21h ago

Wait what’s wrong with that quote? 

1

u/lose_has_1_o 1h ago

I don’t think there’s anything wrong with the quote itself. It’s just that’s there’s an image with a caption between the 2 paragraphs I quoted. I think that’s why some people don’t connect them. I haven’t actually read any style guides, but I imagine they might encourage writers to put the citation closer to the quote. In the author’s defense, I’m sure they don’t choose where to put images in an article.

1

u/Specialist-Many-8432 22h ago

Reminds me of that rocket analogy of the rocket knows where to go but also knows where it is, once it gets to where it needs to go It also knows where it is not.

Probably butchered it.

3

u/The_Superhoo 22h ago

It know where it is, because it knows where it isnt.

1

u/DynamicNostalgia 21h ago

The amount of investment sure is impressive. That post image looks beautiful.