Billionaire Elon Musk - turning the dream of conquering space into reality
(Baonghean) - Elon Musk has attracted a lot of attention, both good and bad, especially for what he does at the technology company Tesla. But this time, the view of the billionaire has changed: His other company, SpaceX, is expected to launch two American astronauts into orbit this week - marking the first time a private spacecraft has launched people into space.
Aspiration to reach Mars
Elon Musk has never been shy about setting ambitious goals. In fact, the billionaire’s most ambitious goal is the one he talks about the most: landing on Mars. Musk’s desire isn’t just for people to someday go to Mars, but for people to live on the distant planet. The 48-year-old billionaire wants to build a city on the Red Planet, complete with iron foundries and even pizza ovens.
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| Elon Musk and SpaceX hope to conquer Mars with the Falcon spacecraft. Photo: Business Insider |
On Wednesday (May 27), Musk and his space exploration company SpaceX almost took another step toward that goal, launching a SpaceX spacecraft carrying two astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS). However, the launch had to be postponed at the last minute due to bad weather conditions.
SpaceX and NASA are expected to relaunch the mission this Saturday afternoon (May 30). If successful, the flight will not only demonstrate the US’ capabilities ahead of the Artemis program to send humans to the Moon in 2024, but also serve as a test for NASA’s collaboration with the private research sector.
For Elon Musk, a successful mission would be the answer to his quest to build a private aerospace company. The mission is considered half successful, because NASA's trust in allowing astronauts to board a rocket manufactured entirely by a private company has proven that SpaceX is a trustworthy and capable company.
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| SpaceX's Falcon rocket at NASA's Kennedy Space Center gets ready for a rescheduled launch on May 30. Photo: SpaceX.com |
Musk founded SpaceX with the goal of one day allowing ordinary people to reach and conquer Mars.
Musk founded SpaceX in 2002 (two years before he launched his electric car company Tesla) with the ultimate goal of building more affordable spacecraft so that ordinary people could one day reach and conquer Mars.
To achieve that goal, Musk and SpaceX must first demonstrate that reusable rockets (rockets that can be used for multiple missions rather than just one) can safely and efficiently carry humans into orbit. For that reason, a successful launch is a necessary stepping stone to Musk’s ultimate goal of sending humans into orbit and then to Mars. Elon Musk has laid out a fairly detailed roadmap, with the first step being to launch an unmanned spacecraft carrying cargo to Mars in 2022, followed two years later by a mission to transport humans to the Red Planet.
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| Elon Musk Musk in an interview with Bloomberg. Photo: Bloomberg |
“The Modern Thomas Edison”
Elon Musk’s ambition to send humans to Mars is still met with skepticism, but given what he has experienced and achieved, there is reason to be optimistic that it can be realized. Decades before he became a father of six and amassed a fortune of $38.2 billion, billionaire Elon Musk taught himself to code as a child in South Africa. At age 12, he sold the source code for his first game for $500.
“America is still the land of opportunity more than any other place”
Looking back on his success, Musk credits his 1992 move to the United States for giving him the opportunity to change his life. “America is still the land of opportunity, for sure, more than any other place,” Musk said in an interview with Bloomberg last week. At age 17, he arrived in North America with just $2,000, a backpack, and a suitcase full of books. He financed his life in a foreign land with student loans, scholarships, and part-time jobs, ending up with $100,000 in debt.
After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in physics and a degree in economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and transferring to Stanford to get his doctorate, Musk decided to drop out of school to start his own business. His first company, Zip2, started with $2,500 in capital, a computer, and a car for $1,400. All of the money was borrowed. Despite the challenges, Musk eventually succeeded.
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| A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket lifts off from the launch pad at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, on February 6, 2018. Photo: Reuters |
In 1999, Musk sold Zip2 to Compaq for about $300 million. He used the money to found X.com, an online financial services platform that merged with Confinity in 2000 and later became PayPal. In 2002, eBay bought PayPal for $1.5 billion. These successes paved the way for him to build SpaceX and Tesla…
Elon Musk reads a lot of books but is especially inspired by science fiction books. This genre has motivated him to create cleaner energy technology and spaceships for humans to reach further into space. Few people know that, to maintain SpaceX, Elon Musk has gone through extremely difficult times, especially when Tesla was on the verge of bankruptcy, Musk was still determined to keep the two companies.
“Musk's goal is to go to Mars rather than make money.”
The reality of a private space company is hard to imagine. Many rich people have dreamed of this idea but all gave up. Surprisingly, Musk has maintained the company for all these years, despite many failures but never gave up and now the company is valued at 36 billion USD. Aerospace consultant Jim Cantrell once revealed that "Musk's goal is to go to Mars rather than make money". Musk wants to find a "Plan B" for Earth and humanity in case of attack, epidemic or natural disaster. It sounds far-fetched and futuristic, but that prospect has the potential to become a reality.
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| President Donald Trump and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk attend a White House meeting of business leaders in 2017. Photo: Politico |
Perhaps because of his bold and unconventional ideas, Elon Musk is among the few tech billionaires admired by President Donald Trump. Trump called Musk “one of the great geniuses of the world, one of our very smart people, and we appreciate those people.”
Someone once called Elon Musk a “modern-day Thomas Edison.” He is a billionaire and will go down in history alongside Einstein and DaVinci. Aristotle once said, “There is no great genius without a touch of madness,” and Elon Musk is said to be the embodiment of the Greek philosopher’s saying./.
