to read later

Elon Musk believes in going to Mars so much that he's willing to be up front about the fact that he believes some people will die in our build-up to making that real:

Steve Jobs made gadgets; Elon Musk is making cars and rockets. And though Jobs might have relished inspiring people to wait on long lines to avail themselves of his vision, he never dared speak of inspiring them to die.

Musk does. He has to; Mars is far away. Mars is tens of millions of miles away from Earth at its closest orbit and hundreds of millions of miles away at its most distant. It exists to the human eye not as a sphere but as a colored star, as part of the endless outnumbering firmament, as the nightly whispered message that we may not reach what awe inspires us to grasp. And so although Musk, as he eats, repeats the mantra that has won him not only investors and employees but followers — he says that his goal is to "make humanity interplanetary" as a way of increasing the odds that human consciousness survives in the universe — he has to admit the possibility that just as a lot of people had to die in order to settle the New World, a lot would have to die in order to settle the red one.

It is both an awe-inspiring and awful thought that we will need to make such sacrifices to make it to Mars.

 I dislike the Steve made gadgets line.Steve, Bill, and hundreds and thousands of others helped push the devices and software that power companies like Tesla and SpaceX. 

But of course, that line was written by somebody who probably has only *gasp* written words. 

Not everything is a comparison, folks.

I'm not sure how I feel about the Mars mission; it doesn't seem that useful. But relative terms it won't cost that much, so why not?

Relative terms is that going to Mars will cost a lot of lives.

Which means that we should pause and decide if it is truly worth doing.

Why do we climb everest? 

"Because it's there."

If people want to risk their lives climbing Everest, they are more than welcome too.

Ditto for Mars. It won't cost "us" lives; as in, it's not a conscription where people are being forced to go.

I'm fine with the idea of volunteers willingly sending themselves to Mars. I'm sad at the prospect of the loss of human life, but if they are willing, it is worth doing.

Well, then you'll like this characterization of Elon:

"It would take six months to get to Mars if you go there slowly, with optimal energy cost," he says. "Then it would take eighteen months for the planets to realign. Then it would take six months to get back, though I can see getting the travel time down to three months pretty quickly." It is, in his words, entirely manageable — "if America has the will."

And that is the key to Elon Musk. He has the will. "Elon is not afraid of breaking things — he will break himself if he has to," says Justine Musk, his first wife and the mother of his five children.

Also, the article has this interesting tidbit:

Musk divorced his second wife , Talulah Riley, in January. By early fall, she was back in his life, making sure that he doesn't go "king-crazy."

Attractive and young. No surprise: http://pandawhale.com/convo/9114/ok-cupid-an-exploration-into-just-how-low-some-guys-will-go

I just think it's funny that she's trying to help him not go "King-Crazy". :)

 I literally googled that. What does that even mean? :) 

 I think Tony Stark is "King Crazy" too but he has Pepper to keep him in check ;)

Pepper does keep him in check!

"King Crazy" is what happens when someone has no checks and balances, Ottway.

 how is having a woman he already divorced keeping him in check?