Think Tank: Transcript For "Elon Musk And The Frontier Of ... - Pbs

1. Video released by spacecraft maker Area, X commemorating its Dragon pill, which on May 25, 2012, became the first business spacecraft to dock with the International Space Station. Space, X (A Britannica Publishing Partner), (born June 28, 1971, Pretoria, South Africa), South African-born American entrepreneur who cofounded the electronic-payment company Pay, Buddy and formed Space, X, maker of launch vehicles and spacecraft. He was also among the very first considerable financiers in, as well as ceo of, the electrical cars and truck producer Tesla. Leading Questions, Elon Musk was born upon June 28, 1971. Elon Musk cofounded the electronic payment company Pay, Friend and founded the spacecraft business Area, X. Elon Musk established Area, X, a company that makes rockets and spacecraft. He ended up being the chief executive officer and a significant funder of Tesla, which makes electrical vehicles. Musk was born to a South African father and a Canadian mother. He displayed an early skill for computer systems and entrepreneurship. At age 12 he created a computer game and sold it to a computer magazine. In 1988, after getting a Canadian passport, Musk left South Africa because he hesitated to support apartheid through required military service and since he looked for the higher economic chances readily available in the United States. Musk attended Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, and in 1992 he transferred to the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, where he got bachelor's degrees in physics and economics in 1997. In 1995 he established Zip2, a business that supplied maps and business directory sites to online newspapers. In 1999 Zip2 was purchased by the computer producer Compaq for $307 million, and Musk then founded an online monetary services company, X.com, which later became Pay, Buddy, which concentrated on moving cash online. The online auction e, Bay purchased Pay, Pal in 2002 for $1. 5 billion. Musk was long persuaded that for life to make it through, humankind needs to end up being a multiplanet types. However, he was dissatisfied with the terrific expenditure of rocket launchers. In 2002 he established Space Exploration Technologies (Space, X) to make more budget friendly rockets. A third rocket, the Falcon Heavy (first released in 2018), was developed to carry 117,000 pounds (53,000 kg) to orbit, almost two times as much as its biggest rival, the Boeing Business's Delta IV Heavy, for one-third the cost. Space, X has actually announced the follower to the Falcon 9 and the Falcon Heavy: the Super Heavy, Starship system. The Super Heavy very first phase would be capable of raising 100,000 kg (220,000 pounds) to low Earth orbit. The payload would be the Starship, a spacecraft developed for providing quick transportation between cities in the world and building bases on the Moon and Mars. Dragon can bring as numerous as 7 astronauts, and it had a crewed flight bring astronauts Doug Hurley and Robert Behnken to the ISS in 2020. Musk sought to reduce the expense of spaceflight by developing a completely recyclable rocket that could take off and go back to the pad it released from. Starting in 2012, Area, X's Insect rocket made a number of short flights to check such innovation. In addition to being CEO of Space, X, Musk was also primary designer in constructing the Falcon rockets, Dragon, and Grasshopper. Get a Britannica Premium membership and gain access to special content. Subscribe Now Musk had actually long had an interest in the possibilities of electric cars, and in 2004 he turned into one of the major funders of Tesla Motors (later relabelled Tesla), an electric vehicle company established by business owners Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning.