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Before Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos had space programs, there was this guy who was building rockets in his backyard. Saratoga, 1980s. Robert Truax was a rocket engineer and inventor best known for his pioneering work in both military rocketry and the early private spaceflight movement. He played a...

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The Sea Dragon was the largest rocket ever conceived. Created in the 1960s by Aerojet engineer Robert Truax, Sea Dragon was an enormous ocean-launched rocket designed to haul up to 550 tons into low Earth orbit—far beyond the capacity of any rocket ever built. The plan relied on low-cost shipyard construction, sea launch by buoyancy, and a simple ignition system to dramatically cut launch costs. Although it was never constructed, Sea Dragon remains one of the most audacious concepts in spaceflight history. Developed under Aerojet, it stands as a powerful example of how visionary engineering ideas can push the boundaries of what humanity believes is possible.
0:23

The Sea Dragon was the largest rocket ever conceived. Created in the 1960s by Aerojet engineer Robert Truax, Sea Dragon was an enormous ocean-launched rocket designed to haul up to 550 tons into low Earth orbit—far beyond the capacity of any rocket ever built. The plan relied on low-cost shipyard construction, sea launch by buoyancy, and a simple ignition system to dramatically cut launch costs. Although it was never constructed, Sea Dragon remains one of the most audacious concepts in spaceflight history. Developed under Aerojet, it stands as a powerful example of how visionary engineering ideas can push the boundaries of what humanity believes is possible.

Historic Vids

1,054,234 views • 6 months ago

How a single, obvious question led Elon Musk to create SpaceX and changed space travel forever: “I came to the conclusion that there wasn’t really a good reason for rockets to be so expensive, and that they could be a lot less Even in an expendable format they could be less" From day one, Elon's mission has been crystal clear: make rockets fully reusable, just like commercial airplanes "The cost of space travel would drop dramatically, because the cost of the fuel was maybe anywhere from 0.2 to 0.5 percent of the cost of the rocket But nobody had really been able to make a reusable rocket work. So I thought, ‘Okay, if we can do that, then that would really be the key breakthrough for space travel’”
0:53

How a single, obvious question led Elon Musk to create SpaceX and changed space travel forever: “I came to the conclusion that there wasn’t really a good reason for rockets to be so expensive, and that they could be a lot less Even in an expendable format they could be less" From day one, Elon's mission has been crystal clear: make rockets fully reusable, just like commercial airplanes "The cost of space travel would drop dramatically, because the cost of the fuel was maybe anywhere from 0.2 to 0.5 percent of the cost of the rocket But nobody had really been able to make a reusable rocket work. So I thought, ‘Okay, if we can do that, then that would really be the key breakthrough for space travel’”

X Freeze

14,066 views • 5 months ago

🚀 India just made space history. Skyroot Aerospace’s Vikram-1 successfully reached orbit on its very first orbital launch attempt from ISRO’s Satish Dhawan Space Centre. Think about how difficult that is. Most new orbital rockets don’t make it on their maiden flight. Skyroot just went from development to orbit on attempt #1. And this isn’t just a win for Skyroot. 🇮🇳 India is now the 3rd country in the world. after the United States and China, to have a private company successfully demonstrate orbital launch capability. Vikram-1 reached an orbit of roughly 450 km and completed its mission in under 20 minutes. A privately developed Indian rocket, designed and built in India, reaching orbit on its first try. That’s a massive milestone for India’s private space industry. The era of Indian private spaceflight has officially arrived. 🇮🇳🚀
1:26

🚀 India just made space history. Skyroot Aerospace’s Vikram-1 successfully reached orbit on its very first orbital launch attempt from ISRO’s Satish Dhawan Space Centre. Think about how difficult that is. Most new orbital rockets don’t make it on their maiden flight. Skyroot just went from development to orbit on attempt #1. And this isn’t just a win for Skyroot. 🇮🇳 India is now the 3rd country in the world. after the United States and China, to have a private company successfully demonstrate orbital launch capability. Vikram-1 reached an orbit of roughly 450 km and completed its mission in under 20 minutes. A privately developed Indian rocket, designed and built in India, reaching orbit on its first try. That’s a massive milestone for India’s private space industry. The era of Indian private spaceflight has officially arrived. 🇮🇳🚀

JIX5A

18,645 views • 21 days ago

So did Neil deGrasse Tyson’s mentor, Carl Sagan prefer non-government exploration and colonization of space? A robust and emphatic, yes. But Neil has somehow concluded a private company funding to space is of no financial value and should be done through government programs that has kept humans grounded since Apollo. Neil has done significant damage to himself and popularization of science in general and I am more than disappointed. So I am speaking up. Here are the receipts: Sailing The Seas Of The Cosmic Oceans The Planetary Society’s Solar Sail Launch was a private funded space launch. I know Nevis not only did I donate to make this happen a number of us met with the team to think out the process. Carl Sagan, the renowned astrophysicist, cosmologist, and science communicator, made significant waves in the scientific and space exploration communities when he announced his intention to pursue the development of solar sail technology using private funds in collaboration with Russian spaceflight capabilities. Solar sails, which harness the momentum of photons from sunlight to propel spacecraft, had long been a topic of interest for Sagan, who recognized their potential for enabling long-term, low-cost exploration of the solar system and beyond. The concept of solar sailing dates back to the early 20th century, but it gained public attention during the 1970s and 1980s, thanks in part to Sagan’s advocacy. He often discussed the promise of solar sails in making space exploration more sustainable and accessible. His vision for a solar sail program crystallized in the 1990s, during a period of renewed interest in private-public partnerships and international collaboration in space exploration. Sagan’s announcement marked a major turning point in the movement to make solar sail technology a reality. In the early 1990s, Sagan began to explore the idea of privately funding a solar sail spacecraft. At the time, NASA and other national space agencies were constrained by tight budgets, making it difficult to prioritize experimental technologies like solar sails. Sagan and supporters, proposed that private financing could circumvent these limitations and accelerate progress. Sagan reached out to Russian space agencies, which had decades of expertise in rocketry and a surplus of launch vehicles following the dissolution of the Soviet Union. By 1994, Sagan had partnered with the Planetary Society, an organization he co-founded in 1980, to spearhead the development of a solar sail mission. The project: a lightweight spacecraft equipped with reflective sails that could demonstrate the feasibility of solar propulsion. With funding secured from private donors and philanthropic organizations, the program quickly gained momentum. In parallel, Sagan and his team negotiated with Russian aerospace contractors to secure a launch vehicle. The Russian space program, eager to find new applications for its technology, agreed to provide a converted missile as the launch platform for the solar sail mission. By 1995, initial designs for the solar sail spacecraft had been completed. The spacecraft, later named "Cosmos 1," was designed to use ultra-thin reflective materials to capture the momentum of sunlight. Testing of the sail and deployment mechanisms took place in the mid-1990s. Tragically, Carl Sagan passed away in December 1996, before he could see the project come to fruition. By 1999, construction of the Cosmos 1 spacecraft was completed, and the launch was scheduled to take place in 2001 using a Russian Volna rocket. While the initial launch attempt failed due to a malfunction in the rocket’s booster, the project inspired further advancements in solar sail technology with successful missions by organizations like NASA and JAXA in subsequent years. Carl’s vision lives on with the private funding efforts of Elon Musk. We endeavor to be bold to venture past humanity’s largest mountain on promethean fire. With Godspeed…
1:39

So did Neil deGrasse Tyson’s mentor, Carl Sagan prefer non-government exploration and colonization of space? A robust and emphatic, yes. But Neil has somehow concluded a private company funding to space is of no financial value and should be done through government programs that has kept humans grounded since Apollo. Neil has done significant damage to himself and popularization of science in general and I am more than disappointed. So I am speaking up. Here are the receipts: Sailing The Seas Of The Cosmic Oceans The Planetary Society’s Solar Sail Launch was a private funded space launch. I know Nevis not only did I donate to make this happen a number of us met with the team to think out the process. Carl Sagan, the renowned astrophysicist, cosmologist, and science communicator, made significant waves in the scientific and space exploration communities when he announced his intention to pursue the development of solar sail technology using private funds in collaboration with Russian spaceflight capabilities. Solar sails, which harness the momentum of photons from sunlight to propel spacecraft, had long been a topic of interest for Sagan, who recognized their potential for enabling long-term, low-cost exploration of the solar system and beyond. The concept of solar sailing dates back to the early 20th century, but it gained public attention during the 1970s and 1980s, thanks in part to Sagan’s advocacy. He often discussed the promise of solar sails in making space exploration more sustainable and accessible. His vision for a solar sail program crystallized in the 1990s, during a period of renewed interest in private-public partnerships and international collaboration in space exploration. Sagan’s announcement marked a major turning point in the movement to make solar sail technology a reality. In the early 1990s, Sagan began to explore the idea of privately funding a solar sail spacecraft. At the time, NASA and other national space agencies were constrained by tight budgets, making it difficult to prioritize experimental technologies like solar sails. Sagan and supporters, proposed that private financing could circumvent these limitations and accelerate progress. Sagan reached out to Russian space agencies, which had decades of expertise in rocketry and a surplus of launch vehicles following the dissolution of the Soviet Union. By 1994, Sagan had partnered with the Planetary Society, an organization he co-founded in 1980, to spearhead the development of a solar sail mission. The project: a lightweight spacecraft equipped with reflective sails that could demonstrate the feasibility of solar propulsion. With funding secured from private donors and philanthropic organizations, the program quickly gained momentum. In parallel, Sagan and his team negotiated with Russian aerospace contractors to secure a launch vehicle. The Russian space program, eager to find new applications for its technology, agreed to provide a converted missile as the launch platform for the solar sail mission. By 1995, initial designs for the solar sail spacecraft had been completed. The spacecraft, later named "Cosmos 1," was designed to use ultra-thin reflective materials to capture the momentum of sunlight. Testing of the sail and deployment mechanisms took place in the mid-1990s. Tragically, Carl Sagan passed away in December 1996, before he could see the project come to fruition. By 1999, construction of the Cosmos 1 spacecraft was completed, and the launch was scheduled to take place in 2001 using a Russian Volna rocket. While the initial launch attempt failed due to a malfunction in the rocket’s booster, the project inspired further advancements in solar sail technology with successful missions by organizations like NASA and JAXA in subsequent years. Carl’s vision lives on with the private funding efforts of Elon Musk. We endeavor to be bold to venture past humanity’s largest mountain on promethean fire. With Godspeed…

Brian Roemmele

669,665 views • 1 year ago

Elon Musk reveals why he launched his Tesla Roadster into space. "I fully expected this flight to fail." Musk was talking about Falcon Heavy's first flight. Since he thought the rocket might fail, he didn't want to put something boring on top of it. Instead, SpaceX launched his personal Tesla Roadster with Starman sitting in the driver's seat. The car is now traveling in an orbit that takes it between Earth and Mars. And according to Musk, it could remain up there for around 10 million years. Imagine taking your everyday car and accidentally turning it into a piece of space history.
0:43

Elon Musk reveals why he launched his Tesla Roadster into space. "I fully expected this flight to fail." Musk was talking about Falcon Heavy's first flight. Since he thought the rocket might fail, he didn't want to put something boring on top of it. Instead, SpaceX launched his personal Tesla Roadster with Starman sitting in the driver's seat. The car is now traveling in an orbit that takes it between Earth and Mars. And according to Musk, it could remain up there for around 10 million years. Imagine taking your everyday car and accidentally turning it into a piece of space history.

Tesla Owners Silicon Valley

7,766,902 views • 5 days ago

Elon Musk started SpaceX because Neil Armstrong inspired him. Years later, his hero went to Congress and testified against him. Three rockets exploded. SpaceX was running out of money. He bet everything on a fourth launch in 2008, and it worked, making SpaceX the first private company to reach orbit. In 2010, the two men who made Elon dream about space in the first place, Neil Armstrong and Gene Cernan, told the US government that commercial spaceflight was a mistake. Watch his face in this interview. He's not angry. He's hurt. His voice breaks when he says "those guys are heroes of mine." He didn't quit. SpaceX now launches more rockets than any country on Earth. The same program Armstrong said would fail is the only American way to get astronauts to the ISS today. Your heroes won't always cheer for you. Sometimes they're the reason you need to keep going anyway.
2:43

Elon Musk started SpaceX because Neil Armstrong inspired him. Years later, his hero went to Congress and testified against him. Three rockets exploded. SpaceX was running out of money. He bet everything on a fourth launch in 2008, and it worked, making SpaceX the first private company to reach orbit. In 2010, the two men who made Elon dream about space in the first place, Neil Armstrong and Gene Cernan, told the US government that commercial spaceflight was a mistake. Watch his face in this interview. He's not angry. He's hurt. His voice breaks when he says "those guys are heroes of mine." He didn't quit. SpaceX now launches more rockets than any country on Earth. The same program Armstrong said would fail is the only American way to get astronauts to the ISS today. Your heroes won't always cheer for you. Sometimes they're the reason you need to keep going anyway.

Shruti

27,636 views • 2 months ago

China is set to debut its commercial crewed spacecraft in 2028, with the first batch of 20 self-funded space tourists booking the tickets for the CYZ1 spaceship. Among them are an 85-year-old scientist, high-tech company CEOs, a female poet, and a well-known male actor. The company behind CYZ1, interstellOr, was founded in January 2023 and specializes in developing reusable manned spacecraft and operating space tourism services. In China, there are around 600 private aerospace firms like interstellOr, but they still lag behind the American counterpart SpaceX. In 2025, China carried out nearly 100 orbital launches, with only 16 handled by private companies (by contrast SpaceX was responsible for over 160 launches among 180 executed in total). The scheduled launch, however, may change the landscape of global commercial space programs. Chinese space enthusiasts are on the edge of their seats for a venture on the home-made spacecraft, and even spacewalks and moon-landings are within reach.
0:35

China is set to debut its commercial crewed spacecraft in 2028, with the first batch of 20 self-funded space tourists booking the tickets for the CYZ1 spaceship. Among them are an 85-year-old scientist, high-tech company CEOs, a female poet, and a well-known male actor. The company behind CYZ1, interstellOr, was founded in January 2023 and specializes in developing reusable manned spacecraft and operating space tourism services. In China, there are around 600 private aerospace firms like interstellOr, but they still lag behind the American counterpart SpaceX. In 2025, China carried out nearly 100 orbital launches, with only 16 handled by private companies (by contrast SpaceX was responsible for over 160 launches among 180 executed in total). The scheduled launch, however, may change the landscape of global commercial space programs. Chinese space enthusiasts are on the edge of their seats for a venture on the home-made spacecraft, and even spacewalks and moon-landings are within reach.

Sinical

162,842 views • 7 months ago

"I want to emphasize Elon Musk and what he has done for the world. I was working in the White House in 2020 when the space shuttle program had been scuttled since 2011 and I went and stood alongside President Trump when SpaceX was the first time that we launched a rocket to the moon in 10 years. It was SpaceX when Butch Wilmore was stranded in space. Who saved them? No, it was not the public sector, it was the private sector. It was SpaceX. Neuralink is saving people from paralysis, going to create a method where people with paralysis can actually communicate. That is Elon Musk." — Kayleigh McEnany
0:45

"I want to emphasize Elon Musk and what he has done for the world. I was working in the White House in 2020 when the space shuttle program had been scuttled since 2011 and I went and stood alongside President Trump when SpaceX was the first time that we launched a rocket to the moon in 10 years. It was SpaceX when Butch Wilmore was stranded in space. Who saved them? No, it was not the public sector, it was the private sector. It was SpaceX. Neuralink is saving people from paralysis, going to create a method where people with paralysis can actually communicate. That is Elon Musk." — Kayleigh McEnany

DogeDesigner

63,549 views • 2 months ago

Ten years ago, building and launching a private orbital rocket from India may have felt almost impossible. Orbital launch was the domain of governments alone, until Elon Musk and SpaceX proved a private company could get there too. Today, a young Indian team has done it successfully on its first attempt, and India now joins that rare club. I enjoyed speaking with Pawan about the years of work behind Vikram-1, the fear of failure before the launch, and the support Skyroot received from the government, IN-SPACe, and the wider ecosystem. What excites me most is what this signals to the world: India can build high-precision, highly reliable, deep-technology products for global customers. Neil Armstrong once described a single step as a giant leap for mankind. For India's private space journey, this is exactly that kind of leap. A historic beginning for Skyroot and an important moment for every Indian entrepreneur building for the world.
3:54

Ten years ago, building and launching a private orbital rocket from India may have felt almost impossible. Orbital launch was the domain of governments alone, until Elon Musk and SpaceX proved a private company could get there too. Today, a young Indian team has done it successfully on its first attempt, and India now joins that rare club. I enjoyed speaking with Pawan about the years of work behind Vikram-1, the fear of failure before the launch, and the support Skyroot received from the government, IN-SPACe, and the wider ecosystem. What excites me most is what this signals to the world: India can build high-precision, highly reliable, deep-technology products for global customers. Neil Armstrong once described a single step as a giant leap for mankind. For India's private space journey, this is exactly that kind of leap. A historic beginning for Skyroot and an important moment for every Indian entrepreneur building for the world.

Ritesh Agarwal

49,197 views • 1 month ago

Dr. Carol Rosin | Last Card “Aliens” The government will attempt to paint UFO’s as a threat. Dr. Carol Rosin was the first female corporate manager of Fairchild Industries and was spokesperson for Wehrner Von Braun in the last years of his life. She founded the Institute for security & Cooperation in Outer space in Washington DC & has testified before congress on many occasions about space-based weapons She was also present at meetings in the 70's when the scenario for the Gulf w^r of the 1990's was planned. Polish born German-American Wernher Magnus Maximilian Freiherr von Braun was an aerospace engineer and space architect He was the leading figure in the development of rocket technology in Germany and a pioneer of rocket technology and space science in the USA. Von Braun revealed to Dr. Rosin a clandestine plan to justify weapons in space based on a false extra-terrestrial threat. #UAPHearing
2:09

Dr. Carol Rosin | Last Card “Aliens” The government will attempt to paint UFO’s as a threat. Dr. Carol Rosin was the first female corporate manager of Fairchild Industries and was spokesperson for Wehrner Von Braun in the last years of his life. She founded the Institute for security & Cooperation in Outer space in Washington DC & has testified before congress on many occasions about space-based weapons She was also present at meetings in the 70's when the scenario for the Gulf w^r of the 1990's was planned. Polish born German-American Wernher Magnus Maximilian Freiherr von Braun was an aerospace engineer and space architect He was the leading figure in the development of rocket technology in Germany and a pioneer of rocket technology and space science in the USA. Von Braun revealed to Dr. Rosin a clandestine plan to justify weapons in space based on a false extra-terrestrial threat. #UAPHearing

Zadok 💫

57,996 views • 1 year ago

CHARLIE HURT: “Elon Musk, a guy born in South Africa, traveled across the world through Canada to get to America because he believed in the future and in what you could do in America. “Of course, all of his efforts involved enormous failure that he had to push through. Everyone was always betting against him. “Yet he defied not only all the odds, but many of his own heroes who said, ‘No, you can’t do private space exploration.’ And he said, ‘Yeah, I think I can. I’m gonna do it.’”
0:36

CHARLIE HURT: “Elon Musk, a guy born in South Africa, traveled across the world through Canada to get to America because he believed in the future and in what you could do in America. “Of course, all of his efforts involved enormous failure that he had to push through. Everyone was always betting against him. “Yet he defied not only all the odds, but many of his own heroes who said, ‘No, you can’t do private space exploration.’ And he said, ‘Yeah, I think I can. I’m gonna do it.’”

Katie Miller

41,375 views • 2 months ago

A Blue Origin rocket exploded during a "hotfire test" at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Thursday night. Everyone has been accounted for and is safe, Jeff Bezos, the company's founder, said. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said he was aware of the incident, which he called an "anomaly," and the agency would provide information on any impacts to Artemis or Moon Base programs. "Spaceflight is unforgiving, and developing new heavy-lift launch capability is extraordinarily difficult. We will work with our partners to support a thorough investigation of this anomaly, assess near-term mission impacts, and get back to launching rockets," he said.
0:30

A Blue Origin rocket exploded during a "hotfire test" at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Thursday night. Everyone has been accounted for and is safe, Jeff Bezos, the company's founder, said. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said he was aware of the incident, which he called an "anomaly," and the agency would provide information on any impacts to Artemis or Moon Base programs. "Spaceflight is unforgiving, and developing new heavy-lift launch capability is extraordinarily difficult. We will work with our partners to support a thorough investigation of this anomaly, assess near-term mission impacts, and get back to launching rockets," he said.

Fox News

174,793 views • 3 months ago

Jeff Bezos just shared his honest thoughts on Elon Musk, and it’s a masterclass in mutual respect between industry titans. "I don't really know Elon very well... you can't know anyone by their public persona," Bezos admits. But when it comes to the sheer impact of what Musk has built? He doesn't hold back the praise: "Judging by the results, he must be a very capable leader. There's no way you could have Tesla and SpaceX without being a capable leader. It's impossible." The billionaire space race is almost always painted by the media as a bitter, ego-driven rivalry. But when Lex Fridman suggested the two of them shake hands and build a friendship to help tackle the grand challenges ahead for humanity, Bezos was all in. "I think in a lot of these endeavors we're very like-minded... I love that idea." Imagine what could happen if the two biggest pioneers of our generation actually aligned their visions for the future of space exploration. If this rivalry turns into a friendship, the sky isn't even the limit anymore.
1:29

Jeff Bezos just shared his honest thoughts on Elon Musk, and it’s a masterclass in mutual respect between industry titans. "I don't really know Elon very well... you can't know anyone by their public persona," Bezos admits. But when it comes to the sheer impact of what Musk has built? He doesn't hold back the praise: "Judging by the results, he must be a very capable leader. There's no way you could have Tesla and SpaceX without being a capable leader. It's impossible." The billionaire space race is almost always painted by the media as a bitter, ego-driven rivalry. But when Lex Fridman suggested the two of them shake hands and build a friendship to help tackle the grand challenges ahead for humanity, Bezos was all in. "I think in a lot of these endeavors we're very like-minded... I love that idea." Imagine what could happen if the two biggest pioneers of our generation actually aligned their visions for the future of space exploration. If this rivalry turns into a friendship, the sky isn't even the limit anymore.

Ian Miles Cheong

262,308 views • 4 months ago

ANTHONY POMPLIANO: DON’T BET AGAINST ELON BUILDING DATA CENTERS IN SPACE “Never ever bet against Elon Musk. He's the greatest entrepreneur of our generation. The man has averaged the creation of a multibillion-dollar company every five years for over 30 years. There's no one in history who has ever done this before. A huge reason why he is so competitive in the marketplace is because he is willing to take an enormous amount of risk and go after very ambitious things. Building data centers in space sounds crazy until you realize that he has already launched thousands of satellites. He's already built a reusable rocket. Putting the data centers in space may actually be a much less hard task to do than the things that he's already done. And so I definitely think that he's going to pull this off.” Source: Anthony Pompliano 🌪 on Elon Musk, Fox Business, February 8, 2026
0:35

ANTHONY POMPLIANO: DON’T BET AGAINST ELON BUILDING DATA CENTERS IN SPACE “Never ever bet against Elon Musk. He's the greatest entrepreneur of our generation. The man has averaged the creation of a multibillion-dollar company every five years for over 30 years. There's no one in history who has ever done this before. A huge reason why he is so competitive in the marketplace is because he is willing to take an enormous amount of risk and go after very ambitious things. Building data centers in space sounds crazy until you realize that he has already launched thousands of satellites. He's already built a reusable rocket. Putting the data centers in space may actually be a much less hard task to do than the things that he's already done. And so I definitely think that he's going to pull this off.” Source: Anthony Pompliano 🌪 on Elon Musk, Fox Business, February 8, 2026

Mario Nawfal

33,789 views • 6 months ago

Elon Musk: I started reading about rockets to understand why they're so freaking expensive. “I started reading quite a bit about rockets to try to understand why they're so freaking expensive. Where does the $60 million go for the Delta II? Now Delta II, I think, is $100 million or something, some crazy number. And Delta II is a relatively small rocket. If you go to one of the bigger rockets, it's anywhere from $200 to $400 million. Anyway, so I came to the conclusion that there wasn't really a good reason for rockets to be so expensive, and that they could be a lot less. Even in an expendable format, they could be less. And that if one could make them reusable, like airplanes, then the cost of rocketry would drop dramatically, the cost of space travel would drop dramatically. Because the cost of the fuel was maybe anywhere from 0.2% to 0.5% of the cost of the rocket. It's like a plane. How much is the cost of the fuel in the plane versus the plane itself? It's at least a two-order-of-magnitude difference. But nobody had really been able to make a reusable rocket work. So I thought, if we can do that, then that would really be the key breakthrough for space travel.” Interview at the Computer History Museum, 2013
1:20

Elon Musk: I started reading about rockets to understand why they're so freaking expensive. “I started reading quite a bit about rockets to try to understand why they're so freaking expensive. Where does the $60 million go for the Delta II? Now Delta II, I think, is $100 million or something, some crazy number. And Delta II is a relatively small rocket. If you go to one of the bigger rockets, it's anywhere from $200 to $400 million. Anyway, so I came to the conclusion that there wasn't really a good reason for rockets to be so expensive, and that they could be a lot less. Even in an expendable format, they could be less. And that if one could make them reusable, like airplanes, then the cost of rocketry would drop dramatically, the cost of space travel would drop dramatically. Because the cost of the fuel was maybe anywhere from 0.2% to 0.5% of the cost of the rocket. It's like a plane. How much is the cost of the fuel in the plane versus the plane itself? It's at least a two-order-of-magnitude difference. But nobody had really been able to make a reusable rocket work. So I thought, if we can do that, then that would really be the key breakthrough for space travel.” Interview at the Computer History Museum, 2013

ELON CLIPS

1,208,721 views • 1 year ago

The man who invented modern fantasy didn't publish his first novel until he was forty-five. By that age, J.R.R. Tolkien had already built a respectable life. He was an Oxford professor, an expert in ancient languages, with a wife and four children and a settled academic career. He was exactly the kind of man who might reasonably have decided that the shape of his life was already fixed. The work he would be remembered for, he had not yet even begun... The story, which Tolkien told himself, is that one summer he was grading examination papers, when he turned a page and found that a student had left it blank. Without quite knowing why, he wrote a single sentence on it: "In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit." He did not know what a hobbit was. He had spent years inventing languages and mythologies as a private passion, and telling stories to his own children, never imagining any of it would reach the world. But that one line began to grow. It became a story, and then a book, and in 1937, at the age of forty-five, Tolkien published The Hobbit. It was a success, and his publisher asked for a sequel. Tolkien warned them it might take some time. It took 17 years... He wrote it in the margins of a demanding full-time job, revising endlessly, doubting it often. When The Lord of the Rings was finally published, in 1954 and 1955, he was in his early sixties. That book, begun as a middle-aged professor's private side project, went on to sell well over a hundred million copies, to invent modern fantasy as we know it, and to reshape the imagination of the entire world. Tolkien already had a full and respectable life behind him. And still, the thing he is remembered for, the thing that outlived him and reached hundreds of millions of people, was something he began at forty-five, at an age when it would have been the easiest thing in the world to tell himself he had already missed his chance. He didn't. It's never as late as it feels.
3:01

The man who invented modern fantasy didn't publish his first novel until he was forty-five. By that age, J.R.R. Tolkien had already built a respectable life. He was an Oxford professor, an expert in ancient languages, with a wife and four children and a settled academic career. He was exactly the kind of man who might reasonably have decided that the shape of his life was already fixed. The work he would be remembered for, he had not yet even begun... The story, which Tolkien told himself, is that one summer he was grading examination papers, when he turned a page and found that a student had left it blank. Without quite knowing why, he wrote a single sentence on it: "In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit." He did not know what a hobbit was. He had spent years inventing languages and mythologies as a private passion, and telling stories to his own children, never imagining any of it would reach the world. But that one line began to grow. It became a story, and then a book, and in 1937, at the age of forty-five, Tolkien published The Hobbit. It was a success, and his publisher asked for a sequel. Tolkien warned them it might take some time. It took 17 years... He wrote it in the margins of a demanding full-time job, revising endlessly, doubting it often. When The Lord of the Rings was finally published, in 1954 and 1955, he was in his early sixties. That book, begun as a middle-aged professor's private side project, went on to sell well over a hundred million copies, to invent modern fantasy as we know it, and to reshape the imagination of the entire world. Tolkien already had a full and respectable life behind him. And still, the thing he is remembered for, the thing that outlived him and reached hundreds of millions of people, was something he began at forty-five, at an age when it would have been the easiest thing in the world to tell himself he had already missed his chance. He didn't. It's never as late as it feels.

James Lucas

93,539 views • 1 month ago

Let me break this down for people like Elizabeth Warren and Graham Platner who just can't seem to understand how Elon Musk could become the world's first trillionaire without a rigged economy. They're saying a man who risked everything to RESET the space industry, inventing sustainable space travel with reusable rockets that land themselves, who stepped up and SAVED astronauts from space because Boeing and NASA couldn’t do it, doesn’t deserve his wealth? Or a man who pioneered electric vehicles while the rest of the auto industry said it could never happen, THEN GAVE HIS TECHNOLOGY AWAY FOR FREE, didn't earn that money? I don't see Pfizer doing that. Or a man who saved free speech and gave a voice to the voiceless across the world by buying Twitter and creating X? And who provided people in remote areas, totalitarian states, and warzones with access to the outside world through Starlink? That man should be punished with a wealth tax? Give me a break.
9:25

Let me break this down for people like Elizabeth Warren and Graham Platner who just can't seem to understand how Elon Musk could become the world's first trillionaire without a rigged economy. They're saying a man who risked everything to RESET the space industry, inventing sustainable space travel with reusable rockets that land themselves, who stepped up and SAVED astronauts from space because Boeing and NASA couldn’t do it, doesn’t deserve his wealth? Or a man who pioneered electric vehicles while the rest of the auto industry said it could never happen, THEN GAVE HIS TECHNOLOGY AWAY FOR FREE, didn't earn that money? I don't see Pfizer doing that. Or a man who saved free speech and gave a voice to the voiceless across the world by buying Twitter and creating X? And who provided people in remote areas, totalitarian states, and warzones with access to the outside world through Starlink? That man should be punished with a wealth tax? Give me a break.

Glenn Beck

153,694 views • 2 months ago

“The World Has Never Seen Anyone Like Elon Musk” Fixing the Government, “If not Elon Musk, then who? - The man launches over 90% of the world's tonnage into outer space each year - He owns the first new car company to start from scratch and obtain profitability in over a hundred years - He has pioneered full self-driving - He employs over 100,000 people - He launches a rocket into orbit every 2 1/2 days - SpaceX has created access to low cost broadband internet to anywhere in the world because we are very spoiled in the west (Most of the world does not have cable that runs to their homes like we do in the west) - He has literally reduced the cost of going into space x10 compared to what the federal government was doing with NASA showing extreme efficiency (And he did so as a private in the private sector, which no one thought was possible before) - SpaceX is the highest valued company in the US and maybe even the world at 350 billion - He started X AI only a year ago, and it's already valued at $78 billion and is the most advanced AI in the world connecting more Nvidia GPUs than anyone previously thought possible (Again, doing something that no one previously thought possible and he did all of this in about a sixth of a time that it took any of the magnificent seven or leading tech AI companies. So again, extreme efficiency) - He single-handedly saved free speech in the west by buying Twitter, and X is valued at 44 billion - He cut 80% of the X workforce and increased gross margins by 4x in profitability. Profitability by 2.5x (And yes, we all know that revenue declined because he stood for free speech. So he lost advertising dollars, but he saved free speech. So thanks) - This doesn't even touch Neuralink, which is valued at 8 billion - The boring company, which is valued at 7 billion - Tesla robots or the Hyperloop at Neuralink - He's literally working to cure blindness, paralysis and working to allow communication with people who were previously unable to communicate - He's solving traffic congestion and reimagining our transportation, making that again, more efficient And while he's doing all of this, he's literally Volunteering like 20 hours a day to help the American people. The world has never seen anyone like Elon Musk. I genuinely feel bad for those who are not intelligent enough to appreciate Elon Musk and what he's doing for society because accomplishing just one of the things that he's accomplished in a lifetime would far exceed everyone else on the face of this earth. And since it's so easy, why don't you do it all? So again, if not Elon, then who?”
3:01

“The World Has Never Seen Anyone Like Elon Musk” Fixing the Government, “If not Elon Musk, then who? - The man launches over 90% of the world's tonnage into outer space each year - He owns the first new car company to start from scratch and obtain profitability in over a hundred years - He has pioneered full self-driving - He employs over 100,000 people - He launches a rocket into orbit every 2 1/2 days - SpaceX has created access to low cost broadband internet to anywhere in the world because we are very spoiled in the west (Most of the world does not have cable that runs to their homes like we do in the west) - He has literally reduced the cost of going into space x10 compared to what the federal government was doing with NASA showing extreme efficiency (And he did so as a private in the private sector, which no one thought was possible before) - SpaceX is the highest valued company in the US and maybe even the world at 350 billion - He started X AI only a year ago, and it's already valued at $78 billion and is the most advanced AI in the world connecting more Nvidia GPUs than anyone previously thought possible (Again, doing something that no one previously thought possible and he did all of this in about a sixth of a time that it took any of the magnificent seven or leading tech AI companies. So again, extreme efficiency) - He single-handedly saved free speech in the west by buying Twitter, and X is valued at 44 billion - He cut 80% of the X workforce and increased gross margins by 4x in profitability. Profitability by 2.5x (And yes, we all know that revenue declined because he stood for free speech. So he lost advertising dollars, but he saved free speech. So thanks) - This doesn't even touch Neuralink, which is valued at 8 billion - The boring company, which is valued at 7 billion - Tesla robots or the Hyperloop at Neuralink - He's literally working to cure blindness, paralysis and working to allow communication with people who were previously unable to communicate - He's solving traffic congestion and reimagining our transportation, making that again, more efficient And while he's doing all of this, he's literally Volunteering like 20 hours a day to help the American people. The world has never seen anyone like Elon Musk. I genuinely feel bad for those who are not intelligent enough to appreciate Elon Musk and what he's doing for society because accomplishing just one of the things that he's accomplished in a lifetime would far exceed everyone else on the face of this earth. And since it's so easy, why don't you do it all? So again, if not Elon, then who?”

Wall Street Apes

2,818,175 views • 1 year ago

Neil deGrasse Tyson responds to claims that he said SpaceX hasn't achieved anything that NASA hasn’t already done: "No I did not say that! That's clickbait; I said that private enterprise will do what nations have done and do it more cheaply. If there is occasion for private enterprise to do something that nations have never done before, that's a very serious conversation in the funding room; How would Elon get to send his rockets to Mars? From the playbook of the history of geopolitics. What will happen? The U.S. decides we need to send Astronauts to Mars; And then NASA looks around and says "we don't have a rocket to do that." And then Elon says "I have a rocket," and rolls out his rocket to Mars. Then we ride a SpaceX rocket to Mars. But I just want to make it clear it's not a mission initiated by a private company." OPINION: I think Neil is wrong on this. Elon is not in this for the money. Yes, he needs money to accomplish making life multi-planetary, but Starlink and his Tesla stock will pay for it (among other sources as well). Starship is designed to be super cheap to launch, so it's entirely possible Elon and his companies could fund missions to Mars just long enough to where a civilization and an economy could be created around it, thus government money wouldn't be needed (at least initially). Obviously the U.S. government will want to get involved at some point. Full video:
4:32

Neil deGrasse Tyson responds to claims that he said SpaceX hasn't achieved anything that NASA hasn’t already done: "No I did not say that! That's clickbait; I said that private enterprise will do what nations have done and do it more cheaply. If there is occasion for private enterprise to do something that nations have never done before, that's a very serious conversation in the funding room; How would Elon get to send his rockets to Mars? From the playbook of the history of geopolitics. What will happen? The U.S. decides we need to send Astronauts to Mars; And then NASA looks around and says "we don't have a rocket to do that." And then Elon says "I have a rocket," and rolls out his rocket to Mars. Then we ride a SpaceX rocket to Mars. But I just want to make it clear it's not a mission initiated by a private company." OPINION: I think Neil is wrong on this. Elon is not in this for the money. Yes, he needs money to accomplish making life multi-planetary, but Starlink and his Tesla stock will pay for it (among other sources as well). Starship is designed to be super cheap to launch, so it's entirely possible Elon and his companies could fund missions to Mars just long enough to where a civilization and an economy could be created around it, thus government money wouldn't be needed (at least initially). Obviously the U.S. government will want to get involved at some point. Full video:

Sawyer Merritt

274,376 views • 1 year ago