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Elon Musk lays out bold vision for humanity as a spacefaring civilization

Published

8 years ago

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Elon Musk has published a lengthy dissertation detailing his vision for making humans a multi-planetary species in the online publishing house Liebert Pub.

Musk notes that the first step to accomplishing life outside of Earth, which he envisions to be Mars, is to establish reliable space transportation to and from the red planet. Once that building block is in place, work to establish a colony on the planet can commence.

To understand the process, we have to rewind the tape back to the underlying motivation behind Mars. Why do we need a colony of humans living on Mars? Musk believes, as does the greater scientific community, that if humanity remains on Earth, it will inevitably face extinction at the hands of an asteroid or other catastrophic event. Even with technology at our disposal, humanity would suffer a similar fate as the dinosaurs if a comparable asteroid was intent on meeting up with Earth.

Musk doesn’t want humanity to die off and believes that establishing a colony on Mars is the best backup plan for that eventuality. The red planet has an atmosphere and receives enough sunshine that it would be able to sustain life if we put a bit of planning and work into it. Gravity is less than Earth so our bodies and lifestyles would naturally have to evolve to the lower gravity. Much like Asa Butterfield who played a boy born on Mars in the movie “The Space Between Us“, we do not know what impact lower gravity would have or could have over long periods of time.

Dragon to Mars | Credit: SpaceX

Dragon to Mars | Credit: SpaceX

Plants could be cultivated on the planet and facts we’ve learned of Mars leads us to believe that establishing a colony there is possible. Musk believes that the we would need a significant number of people living on Mars for it to be self-sustaining. He specifically notes that “the threshold for a self-sustaining city on Mars or a civilization would be a million people,” which requires a reliable transportation system between Earth and Mars, a lot of money, and ultimately time. Enough time for Earth to host civilization until Mars became humanity’s new home.

Manufacturing, fuel production, food production, atmospheric conditioning, heating, clothing and the like would all need to be created from scratch on the planet. Until that is possible, those supplies would have to be shipped from Earth to the red planet which mandates that cost of travel needs to be affordable. “You cannot create a self-sustaining civilization if the ticket price is $10 billion per person,” Musk shared.

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Mars has been the focus of SpaceX from day-1 with every other task the company has taken acting as a mere stepping stone for the greater journey to come. Locking in contracts to supply the ISS funds rocket development. Rocket development tails into stage 1 booster reuse which is a massive step along the way towards cutting the cost of space travel. Reusing stage 1 lets the company focus on reusing fairings, stage 2 boosters and Dragon Capsules. Those cost efficiencies allow the company to increase the number of flights per year which is yet another advantage over its competition. This enables SpaceX to generate more revenue and accelerate the pace of development on new products like the Falcon Heavy rocket which is said to have 2.5x the capacity of Falcon 9.

A successful Falcon Heavy will lead to SpaceX’s Mars Vehicle which is expected to have 10x the capacity of Falcon Heavy.

While Mars is a bold enough vision for most, Musk is already looking beyond the planet, tempting the imaginations of those young and old with ideas straight out of science fiction. Musk envisions fueling depots scattered across planets that would enable humanity to truly become a spacefaring civilization. Let your imaginations soar, kiddos. The future is looking bright!

Source: Liebert Pub

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I'm passionate about clean technology, sustainability and life. I've worked in manufacturing, IT, project management and environmental...and enjoy unpacking complex topics in layman's terms. TSLA investor. Find more of my words on my website or follow me on Twitter for all the latest. Tesla Referral link: http://ts.la/kyle623

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Lifestyle

Elon Musk seemingly confirms Cybertruck gift to 13-year-old cancer fighter

Diagnosed in 2018 with a rare form of brain and spine cancer with no cure, the teen has undergone 13 surgeries by the time he was 12.

Published

2 months ago

on

March 6, 2025

By

Credit: Tesla

Elon Musk has seemingly confirmed that he will be sending a Tesla Cybertruck to 13-year-old Devarjaye “DJ” Daniel, a 13-year-old Houston boy fighting brain cancer. The teen was recognized as an honorary Secret Service member by U.S. President Donald Trump during his address to Congress on Tuesday. 

A Chance Meeting

The Tesla CEO’s Cybertruck pledge was mentioned during DJ’s short interview with CNN’s Kaitlan Collins. When Collins asked the 13-year-old what he told the Tesla CEO, DJ answered that he asked for a Cybertruck.

“I said, ‘can you do me a big favor, when you get back to Houston can you send us a Cybertruck down there?’” the cancer fighter stated.

Daniel noted that Musk responded positively to his request, which was highlighted by Collins in a post on X. Musk responded to the post with a heart emoji, suggesting that he really will be sending a Cybertruck to the 13-year-old cancer fighter.

Teen’s Cancer Battle Inspires

Diagnosed in 2018 with a rare form of brain and spine cancer with no cure, Daniel has undergone 13 surgeries by the time he was 12. During his speech, Trump highlighted the 13-year-old’s long battle with his disease. 

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“Joining us in the gallery tonight is a young man who truly loves our police. The doctors gave him five months at most to live. That was more than six years ago. Since that time, DJ and his dad have been on a quest to make his dream come true,” Trump stated.

Daniels officially received an honorary badge from U.S. Secret Service Director Sean Curran, to much applause during the event.

Surprisingly Partisan

While Daniels’ story has been inspiring, Trump’s focus on the 13-year-old cancer fighter has received its own fair share of criticism. MSNBC host Nicolle Wallace, while referencing Daniels’ love for law enforcement, noted that she is hoping the 13-year-old never has to defend the U.S. capitol against Trump supporters. “If he does, I hope he isn’t one of the six who loses his life to suicide,” Wallace stated.

Anti-Musk and Trump accounts on X have also thrown jokes at the cancer fighter’s honorary badge, with some dubbing the 13-year-old as a “DEI hire” that should be looked into by DOGE.

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Tesla owner highlights underrated benefit of FSD Supervised

Published

3 months ago

on

January 31, 2025

By

Credit: Tesla

Elon Musk has been pretty open about the idea of FSD being the difference maker for Tesla’s future.

If Tesla succeeds in achieving FSD, it could become the world’s most valuable company. If it doesn’t, then the company would not be able to reach its optimum potential.

FSD Supervised’s safety benefits:

  • But even if FSD is still not perfect today, FSD Supervised is already making a difference on the roads today.
  • This was highlighted in Tesla’s Q4 2024 Vehicle Safety Report.
  • As per Tesla, it recorded one crash for every 5.94 million miles driven in which drivers were using Autopilot technology.
  • For comparison, the most recent data available from the NHTSA and FHWA (from 2023) showed that there was one automobile crash every 702,000 miles in the United States. 

FSD user’s tale:

  • As per an FSD user’s post on social media platform X, FSD Supervised was able to help him drive a relative to a medical facility safely even if he was exhausted.
  • During the trip, the driver only had to monitor FSD Supervised’s performance to make sure the Tesla operated safely.
  • In a vehicle without FSD, such a trip with an exhausted driver would have been quite dangerous. 
  • “This morning, Tesla FSD proved to be an absolute godsend. I had to take my brother-in-law to the hospital in Sugar Land, TX, which is 40 miles away, at the ungodly hour of 4 AM. Both of us were exhausted, and he was understandably anxious about the surgery.
  • “The convenience of sending the hospital’s address directly from my iPhone to my Tesla while still inside my house, then just a single button press once inside, and 40 miles later we were precisely in front of the hospital’s admissions area.This experience really underscores just how transformative this technology can be for society,” Tesla owner JC Christopher noted in his post.

Don’t hesitate to contact us with news tips. Just send a message to simon@teslarati.com to give us a heads up.

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Tesla Optimus “stars” in incredible fanmade action short film

Published

3 months ago

on

January 14, 2025

By

Credit: @SoKrispyMedia/YouTube

There are few things that prove an enthusiast’s love towards a company more than a dedicated short film. This was highlighted recently when YouTube’s SoKrispyMedia posted a 10-minute action movie starring Optimus, Tesla’s humanoid robot, as well as several of the company’s most iconic products. 

The video: 

  • Shot like a Hollywood action flick, the video featured a rather humorous plot involving a group of thieves that mistakenly targeted a Tesla Model 3 driver. 
  • The Model 3 driver then ended up speaking to Tesla for assistance, and some high-octane and high-speed hijinks ensued.
  • While the short film featured several Tesla products like the Model 3, Superchargers, and the Cybertruck, it is Optimus that truly stole the show.
  • Optimus served several roles in the short film, from an assistant in a Tesla office to a “robocop” enforcer that helped out the Model 3 driver.

Cool inside jokes: 

  • The best Tesla videos are those that show an in-depth knowledge of the company, and SoKrispyMedia definitely had it. 
  • From the opening scenes alone, the video immediately poked fun at TSLA traders, the large number of gray Tesla owners, and the fact that many still do not understand Superchargers.
  • The video even poked fun at Tesla’s software updates, as well as how some Tesla drivers use Autopilot or other features without reading the fine print in the company’s release notes.
  • The video ended with a tour de force of references to Elon Musk products, from the Tesla Cybertruck to the Boring Company Not-a-Flamethrower, which was released back in 2018.

Check out SoKrispyMedia’s Tesla action short film in the video below.

Don’t hesitate to contact us with news tips. Just send a message to simon@teslarati.com to give us a heads up.

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