Elon Musk: The Real-Life Tony Stark
Elon Musk knows how to grab people’s attention. Whether it’s by sharing the secret of Tesla’s battery technology with anybody that wants it, or by building the single largest solar panel production plant in the world, Musk is an expert at marketing his ideas to the general public and getting them accepted.
And what he did yesterday is quite possibly his greatest advertising ploy yet.
What’s in a Tweet?
About time to unveil the D and something else pic.twitter.com/qp23yi59i6
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 2, 2014
Along with tweeting out an image featuring the bottom half of a car with the date of October 9th printed underneath it, Musk wrote: “About time to unveil the D and something else.” To call this tweet ambiguous would be an understatement.
While most people are assuming the D will be Tesla’s next automobile, it still didn’t stop the Twittersphere from chuckling at the double entendre and making crude jokes all day. But there’s another part of Musk’s cryptic message that deserves some serious attention: What exactly is the something else?
Speculation about what Musk’s secret ranges from a new battery megaplant to a much cheaper version of a Tesla. But what most people are forgetting is that Musk is not only in the automotive business; he’s also CEO and CTO of SpaceX – a space transportation company that is rapidly advancing the future.
The something else could very well have nothing to do with cars at all, but with space travel.
SpaceX: The Tesla of Outer Space
Will this spacecraft send people to Mars?
Headquartered next door to Hawthorne Municipal Airport and only a few miles from LAX, SpaceX has been designing and manufacturing advanced spacecraft since 2002. This may not seem like a big deal until you realize that the ultimate goal of SpaceX is to enable people to live on other planets; most notably, Mars.
With catchy names for its rockets like Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy; SpaceX has managed to become the only private company to ever return a spacecraft from low-Earth orbit. The possibility of space travel has never seemed more real thanks to Musk’s efforts and the something else he’s referring to could make it come true sooner than expected.
In a recent interview with the digital magazine Aeon, Musk made some interesting comments that add even more mystery to his tweet.
“F*** Earth! Who cares about Earth? I think there is a strong humanitarian argument for making life multi-planetary in order to safeguard the existence of humanity in the event that something catastrophic were to happen, in which case being poor or having a disease would be irrelevant, because humanity would be extinct. It would be like, ‘Good news, the problems of poverty and disease have been solved, but the bad news is there aren’t any humans left.”
– Elon Musk
Musk has long been an avid proponent of colonizing the Red Planet and went into great detail about how he plans to accomplish this. He believes that in order to save the human race, it would require one million people willing to colonize Mars and start anew. Obviously, this won’t be easy but it’s something Musk believes is doable.
By sending 100 people at a time, Musk thinks he can have 1 million people living on Mars in exactly 10,000 trips. He also estimates the cargo to person ratio would be 10 to 1, raising the grand total of trips to 100,000. It may take a while for this to happen, but it’s not as far off as you may think.
D is for Dragon
Last month, NASA selected SpaceX as the first private company to launch astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS). Under a massive $1.6 billion contract and a $440 million agreement, SpaceX now has the funds to send its Dragon free-flying spacecraft into orbit.
Dragon Overview
- Total Launch Payload Mass: 13,228 lbs
- Total Launch Payload Volume: 8883 ft3
- Total Return Payload Mass: 6,614 lbs
- Total Return Payload Volume: 388 ft3
- Spacecraft Payload Volume: 388 ft3
- Trunk Payload Volume: 494 ft3
- Height with Trunk: 23.6ft
- Diameter: 12ft
- Sidewall Angle: 15°
- Orbit Duration: 2 Years
The Dragon is able to conform into three configurations to accommodate cargo, crew, or laboratory. This means it can be used for delivery services, human transportation, or conducting research. The first manned test flight isn’t expected to happen until two years from now, but Musk’s tweet about the D makes me wonder: Could the Dragon be the D Musk is referring to?
I hope so.
I don’t know if the Dragon is the D or something else, but I do know NASA hasn’t sent a human being into outer space in three years. It’s also becoming evident it will take someone like Musk to make intergalactic travel a reality. Sending one million people to Mars may not be necessary, but human spaceflight does have great potential for furthering technology.
I guess we’ll have to wait until October 9 to find out what happens next.
What do you think Elon Musk is keeping secret? Do you think SpaceX will ever send people to Mars? Are you willing to be one of the one million people Musk sends into outer space? Let us know in the comments below!
