The CEO of Tesla has made it his mission to colonize the planet Mars in our lifetime.
Elon Musk is known for making wild promises and setting outrageous goals. It is one of the biggest criticisms of his opponents.
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But it is also one of the driving forces of the visionary entrepreneur. He thrives on setting goals that society generally considers unattainable. He loves nothing more than to have his back against the wall, the odds against him.
This was the case when he transformed the auto industry with Tesla (TSLA) – Get a free report. During the financial crisis, when Musk tried to convince governments and his rivals that electric vehicles were the future of the automobile, he was ridiculed.
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The automotive and aerospace industries are changing
Back then General Motors (GM) – Get free report and Chrysler (STLA) – Get Free Report had just filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the economy was in a black hole and the idea that consumers would change their habits and give a second look at electric vehicles – the development of which costs billions of dollars in investment – was laughable .
But years later, electric vehicles took over. Government agencies and automakers now swear by green vehicles, and consumers are increasingly adopting them. Tesla, an electric car pioneer, is now being rewarded by investors, who have currently made it the seventh largest company in the world by market value, $656 billion at last check. The disruptor made $12.6 billion last year, more than GM and Ford combined.
It’s important to remember that until three years ago, Tesla was mocked by rivals and financiers, who predicted that the car disruptor would almost certainly collapse.
At the time, the group was struggling to ramp up the production rate of the Model 3, the entry-level sedan with which the company aimed to reach the huge market of mid-sized car buyers.
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Musk often reminds people that Tesla was on the brink of bankruptcy between mid-2017 and mid-2019.
“The closest we got was about a month. The Model 3 ramp caused extreme stress and pain for a long time – from mid-2017 to mid-2019. Manufacturing and logistics hell,” Tesla’s CEO said on November 3, 2020.
Musk also challenged himself to transform the space industry by advocating for reusable launchers, rockets that can be used multiple times to carry people, satellites and other payloads into space.
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Delivering payloads into space is an expensive business, and the debate between reusable rockets and expendable rockets is at the heart of the industry. Single-use launchers or expendable launch vehicles are the most common today. They are discarded after completing their flights.
SpaceX (Falcon 9) and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin (New Shepard) are the pioneers of reusable rockets. These rockets can be launched, carry payloads to space, land safely back on Earth and be available again.
Proponents of this technology say it could significantly lower the price of missile systems and unleash new opportunities such as space tourism.
‘Possible’ humans on Mars in 5 years
Musk just set himself an ultra-ambitious new goal that will make his rivals jump. The billionaire promises that in five years people will be able to live on Mars, which he has promised to colonize in our time.
It all started with a thread on Twitter during a static fire test of Booster 7, the main stage of the Super Heavy launcher Starship, on Feb. 9.
Musk began with an innocent remark, one of those he’s been making for several months to keep the dream of living on the red planet intact in the collective imagination.
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“One day Starship will take us to Mars,” the Techno King, as he is known at Tesla, wrote over a video of the test.
Starship should eventually enable the transportation of 100 passengers on long interplanetary flights, particularly to the moon and Mars, the billionaire had said.
“Elon, when do you envision human existence on Mars?” a Twitter user asked him.
The entrepreneur replied with his usual brash approach.
“I have to admit that I’m optimistic by nature (SpaceX and Tesla wouldn’t exist otherwise),” he said. “But I think 5 years is possible and 10 years very likely.”
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The announcement caused astonishment on social networks.
“Five years is a LONG TIME. 2028. no. we can do this by 2024,” one user said in awe.
“5 – 10 years…that is just diabolical!” added another user.
“Mankind is so lucky with your optimism,” said another user.
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The Starship could finally make its test flight after several delays, according to Musk. Originally scheduled for 2021, SpaceX had to postpone it several times due to development difficulties, which is not surprising for a launch vehicle.
In addition to technical issues, SpaceX has not been licensed by the Federal Aviation Administration.
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But Booster 7 has been successfully tested, as has Ship 24, the top stage of Starship. These two prototypes have been subjected to several ground tests, which went well, as well as several static tests.
Ship 24 tested all engines simultaneously (six in total). The Booster 7 prototype tested no fewer than 14 of its 33 engines at the same time.
