Sterling Terrell

recovering economist

Interplanetary Species

Interplanetary Species

Musk seems like a decent guy about most things.

I guess I have no reason to think he is not until proven otherwise…

But he loses me a little here.

I like the ambition of it all, but there are many more problems to be solved here and now.

It does sound silly, imo.

Musk speaks about the cars, solar panels, and batteries with such passion that it’s easy to forget they are more or less sideline projects. He believes in the technologies to the extent that he thinks they’re the right things to pursue for the betterment of mankind. They’ve also brought him fame and fortune. Musk’s ultimate goal, though, remains turning humans into an interplanetary species. This may sound silly to some, but there can be no doubt that this is Musk’s raison d’être. Musk has decided that man’s survival depends on setting up another colony on another planet and that he should dedicate his life to making this happen.

-Ashley Vance, Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future (Amazon)

Space Tourism Pass

Space Tourism Pass

This space tourism bit is, of course, in regard to SpaceX.

But you can count me out right here.

I mean, I love sitting in first class and sipping on ginger ale and all…

However, my desire to participate in low-level space tourism is approaching zero.

I would simply rather be on a family vacation in Switzerland.

The company also expected to participate in an expanding market for human flights. SpaceX has never had any interest in doing the five-minute tourist flights to low Earth orbit like Virgin Galactic and XCOR. It does, however, have the ability to carry researchers to orbiting habitats being built by Bigelow Aerospace and to orbiting science labs being constructed by various countries.

-Ashley Vance, Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future (Amazon)

Sterling Terrell