[2008] "Optimism, pessimism, fuck that; we're going to make it happen. As God is my bloody witness, I'm hell-bent on making it work." (<a href="http://www.wired.com/science/space/news/2008/08/musk_qa" rel="nofollow">http://www.wired.com/science/space/news/2008/08/musk_qa</a>)<p>Elon Musk doesn't seem like the easiest person to work with, but I'm having a hard time thinking of a more accomplished human.
I mentioned this yesterday, but I believe Reisman's quote really captures that feeling we are all having about SpaceX and particularly their first ISS mission:<p>Pelley: <i>"You know, I'm curious... you have so much background in engineering, you could have easily gotten a job at Boeing, or at Lockheed, but you came here..."</i><p>Reisman: <i>"If you had a chance to go back in time, and work with Howard Hughes when he was creating TWA, if you had a chance to be there, at that moment, when it was the dawn of a brand new era, wouldn't you want to do that? I mean, that's why I'm here."</i> [1][2]<p>[1] <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNwg8FvfuuU#t=425" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNwg8FvfuuU#t=425</a><p>[2] <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garrett_Reisman" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garrett_Reisman</a>
Here's an animated gif of it docking: <a href="http://dl.dropbox.com/u/123449/dragon/Dragon%20docking%20with%20ISS.gif" rel="nofollow">http://dl.dropbox.com/u/123449/dragon/Dragon%20docking%20wit...</a>
My favorite quote about this is from Don Pettit, right as the ISS grabbed the Dragon capsule.<p>"Looks like we've got a Dragon by the tail," station flight engineer Don Pettit said moments after grappling the craft over northwest Australia.<p><a href="http://www.spaceflightnow.com/falcon9/003/status.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.spaceflightnow.com/falcon9/003/status.html</a>
It's incredibly difficult to overstate the importance of this moment for science and humanity as a whole. The commercialization of space travel is the only way that we will ever see the stars, as no longer are we at the mercy of the fluctuating interest in space travel from the already over-extended tax payers of certain nations. This is a beautiful moment for humanity, and a damn awesome way to start the weekend!
I must say I was more excited when SpaceX did their first successful launch, but this is a lot of fun for essentially being parking. Can't wait for the future though. If there's one things that sets Elon Musk apart from other entrepreneurs it's his ability to make long-term plans. It seems like everything he (and his team) does leads up to somethings even greater.
Truly inspiring. Elon Musk has and certainly will continue to inspire me as an entrepreneur and technologist. I hope I can get the chance to meet him one day.<p>In his interviews, he seems like a very nice guy...I wonder what it is like to work for him.
Pass a law that whoever parks their pasty butt on the surface of another planet owns x square meters of it, but they have to land in person and affix a notary.<p>there has got to be a way to monitize seeding a civilization on mars.