Elon Musk : Biography, SpaceX, Net worth and Facts

Elon Musk

Elon Musk is one of the genius minds of our time. From inventions such as the 'Musk Electrical Jet' to establishing electronic payment firms like 'PayPal,' Musk has contributed to the technological advancement we use today. 

Early Life

Elon Musk, or Elon Reeve Musk, according to his birth name, was born in the city of Pretoria, South Africa, on the 28th of June, 1971. Musk is well known for being a self-made billionaire. His father, Errol Musk, is a South African Entrepreneur who comes from a long line of South African immigrants from England. On the other hand, his mother, Maye Musk, is a Canadian Model and Dietitian. Back in 1988 the age of 12, Musk built a video game and sold it to some Computer magazines. 

Later at the age of 17, he moved to Ontario, Canada, after easily obtaining a Canadian passport thanks to his mother's nationality. He finished his bachelor's of Physics and Economics there at "Queen's University" before moving to the US for further Studies. However, he dropped his Master's degree after two years and went out to start his own business, a web software company called the 'Zip2', in 1999. Around the same time, he co-founded another company called X.com, and finally, in 2002, he founded PayPal. 

Inventions and Achievements:

Elon Musk stepped his foot into fame and was regarded as a celebrity when Tesla introduced their first electrical sports car. In 2006 Musk invented this exceptional electrical sports car that, on one charge, could go 394-kilo meters. People automatically liked the new fast features of the car since it was very different from the older models of Tesla and soon gained popularity. Elon Musk is known as one of the first investors of Tesla. After joining the company, he created his brunch called 'Tesla Motors,' under which he invented "Roadster," the electric sports car.

From here on, Musk's career went off; in 2015 'Tesla Motors' built another car called the 'Model X luxury SUV' which took the car industry by a tornado. There was a huge scale of sales for this SUV before the company introduced yet another model called 'Model 3' in 2017, which eventually became the best-selling electric car of all time. The 'Model 3' version is less expensive than the former 'Model X,' which caused Musk to divulge ideas that could ensure more production with lesser investments.

In 2013, Musk came up with the idea of building a Pod capable of carrying 28 passengers, which would travel at a high speed of 1220 kilometers per hour from Los Angeles to San Francisco. This was initially from the failed plan of a high-speed Rail system that would have cost over 67 billion USD. 

So, Musk introduced a new idea, 'The Hyperloop,' a substitution for a High-speed rail system that would carry millions of passengers every day. According to Musk, the 'Hyperloop' system would only cost a little over 6 million USD, which would be way more cost-efficient in the long run. In November of 2020, the first human trial of the "Virgin Hyperloop" was conducted at a Las Vegas test site which concluded the highest speed that could be reached through this project to be 172-kilo meters per hour.

SpaceX and Mars:

Elon Musk has always shown talent accompanied by patience and consistency. His famous quote, "When Something is important enough. You do it even if the odds aren't in your favor", shows his strength of mind to make his work valuable. Like any other "Tech-Geek," Elon has also always been into rockets and Spacecrafts. 

Elon Musk is the Founder and CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, an American engineering company specializing in space launchers and satellite communication. Musk plans to build a "SpaceX city on Mars" that would be suitable to sustain human life. The major global warming crisis has always been the most debated topic amongst scientists and researchers. In the next 50 years, the earth would be almost impossible to habitat as the living conditions would be at their lowest. Through multiple interviews and SpaceX podcasts, Musk has talked about "Life on Mars." However, it's not as easy as it may sound. 

The landscape of Mars is in terrible conditions to accommodate any human life without makeshift resources. The planet of Mars is not like the green ecosystem of earth. With mass amounts of nuclear waste, low gravity, and a shortage of filtered oxygen, it's almost impossible to live on Mars. But Elon Musk plans to change that. 

SpaceX has been working on 'Starships,' which are reusable rockets, for years. Their most recent invention of such rockets, called the Falcon 9, was successful at the test landing that took place in Florida. But Musk is trying to build a 'Starships' that would be capable of landing 10 tons of mass, including Humans and Cargo, on Mars. It would use liquid oxygen and methane as fuel instead of rocket propellant. This is how Musk aspires to send humans to Mars and build a city suitable to sustain human life in the future.