Does Musk Own the Future?

[Jim Tucker]

The man has started several companies - Paypal, TESLA Motors, and SpaceX. His vision with SpaceX is so enormous he may end up being the most influential business man in the history of the world. Hyperbole?

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The goal of Elon Musk's SpaceX is to help people live on other planets. First, he'd like a shot at a more straightforward Air Force rocket contract.


SpaceX on Monday filed a lawsuit challenging a contract awarded to a joint venture between Chicago-based Boeing Co. and Bethesda, Maryland-based Lockheed Martin Corp. to supply 36 rocket cores to the Air Force to send national security equipment into space.


SpaceX says the contract should have been open to other bidders. The lawsuit calls for certain launches to be open to competition.


Musk is SpaceX's CEO. He says his company could save the Air Force and taxpayers $300 million per launch.


The joint venture notes its rocket is the only one certified for the Air Force missions and "disciplined" oversight has helped save the program $4 billion.

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Video of Falcon 9 Reusable (F9R) taking its first test flight at our rocket development facility. F9R lifts off from a launch mount to a height of approximately 250m, hovers and then returns for landing just next to the launch stand. Early flights of F9R will take off with legs fixed in the down position. However, we will soon be transitioning to liftoff with legs stowed against the side of the rocket and then extending them just before landing.


The F9R testing program is the next step towards reusability following completion of the Grasshopper program last year (Grasshopper can be seen in the background of this video). Future testing, including that in New Mexico, will be conducted using the first stage of a F9R as shown here, which is essentially a Falcon 9 v1.1 first stage with legs. F9R test flights in New Mexico will allow us to test at higher altitudes than we are permitted for at our test site in Texas, to do more with unpowered guidance and to prove out landing cases that are more-flight like.

[video=youtube_share;0UjWqQPWmsY]http://youtu.be/0UjWqQPWmsY[/video]

 

[Lake View Too]

I saw a profile of him on Sixties Minutes and was thoroughly impressed. He has an engineering background, so all of his visions have a basis in practicality. There is a video of the Tesla manufacturing plant and the robotics are fantastic. His vision isn't about making money. It has more to do with making a better world.

 

[Leader of the Banned]

Yeah, but Sarah Palin said he's a loser.....

 

[Lake View Too]

Maybe Russia should annex Alaska next.

 

[Leader of the Banned]

I wish more multi-millionaires (like Musk) would realize they are so freaking rich they can quit worrying about making money. Doesn't seem to happen often enough.

 

[Lake View Too]

Musk put all his resources into Tesla because he was concerned about global warming, not necessarily to make money.(But, of course, it's nice to make money). When Tesla didn't launch as well as hoped, he came very near to bankruptcy, divorce, and mental breakdown. But Tesla worked, and instead of just riding on that, he invented Space X, which seems to be working as well. I guess he could have become a hedge fund manager, but that doesn't save the world, does it.

 

[carson]

I wish more multi-millionaires (like Musk) would realize they are so freaking rich they can quit worrying about making money. Doesn't seem to happen often enough.

I hate when you make so much money you have to create a billionaire fraternity like the Giving Pledge. 70 billionaires...including Musk..committed to giving away 600 billion dollars of their personal wealth to charity. The members creating such petty things as cell service, cable television, computer operating systems, alternative energy resources, excellent movies, social media, cheap pizza and many more heinous things does tend to make that person and their company money. The byproduct of innovation I suppose. What they choose to do with it is their legacy. And to top it off those bastards at wal mart
Corporately gave 958 million to charity in 2012 and the Walton family also gave another 432 million the same year. The comany and family have funded one in four inner city charter school start ups.

 

[Leader of the Banned]

Musk put all his resources into Tesla because he was concerned about global warming, not necessarily to make money.(But, of course, it's nice to make money). When Tesla didn't launch as well as hoped, he came very near to bankruptcy, divorce, and mental breakdown. But Tesla worked, and instead of just riding on that, he invented Space X, which seems to be working as well. I guess he could have become a hedge fund manager, but that doesn't save the world, does it.

That's what I was saying. Should have phrased it differently. I wish there were more like him. They know that no matter what, they are going to live very well. They are willing to forgo some profit and put out a good product instead of spewing out junk to make a quick buck.

 

[Jim Tucker]

I hate when you make so much money you have to create a billionaire fraternity like the Giving Pledge. 70 billionaires...including Musk..committed to giving away 600 billion dollars of their personal wealth to charity. The members creating such petty things as cell service, cable television, computer operating systems, alternative energy resources, excellent movies, social media, cheap pizza and many more heinous things does tend to make that person and their company money. The byproduct of innovation I suppose. What they choose to do with it is their legacy. And to top it off those bastards at wal mart
Corporately gave 958 million to charity in 2012 and the Walton family also gave another 432 million the same year. The comany and family have funded one in four inner city charter school start ups.

Sarcasm? Not sure what you are trying to say and not familiar with the group. Philanthropy from progressive and intelligent people tend to go towards the best bang for the buck. Providing means for people to educate themselves and connect with the world makes the world a better place. Also Gates and somw of his peers are tackling some of the basic healthcare and staples like clean water that the 3rd world needs to be lifted from the most dire conditions.

 

[poppy]

I hate when you make so much money you have to create a billionaire fraternity like the Giving Pledge. 70 billionaires...including Musk..committed to giving away 600 billion dollars of their personal wealth to charity. The members creating such petty things as cell service, cable television, computer operating systems, alternative energy resources, excellent movies, social media, cheap pizza and many more heinous things does tend to make that person and their company money. The byproduct of innovation I suppose. What they choose to do with it is their legacy. And to top it off those bastards at wal mart
Corporately gave 958 million to charity in 2012 and the Walton family also gave another 432 million the same year. The comany and family have funded one in four inner city charter school start ups.

The Walton family even started a food drive for their associates to donate food items to help feed their own hungry workers because they pay such low wages that it costs U.S. taxpayers an estimated $6.2 billion in public assistance including food stamps, Medicaid and subsidized housing. What a bargain!