This February something amazing happened in the area of space travel. A private company called SpaceX, owned by Elon Musk launched the Falcon Heavy rocket. Elon Musk made his fortune by creating and then selling such companies as Zip2 and PayPal. He is currently sinking all of his money and passions into SpaceX, Tesla, and SolarCity in his attempt to change the world and shape humanity in a positive way. He has a stated goal of reducing global warming, increasing sustainable energy production and reducing the negative impact on Earth by establishing a human colony on Mars. These seem like lofty goals, but he seems to be well on his way. While a private company sending a spacecraft into orbit is fascinating, the topic that has received the most media attention is what is …show more content…
Elon Musk is also the co-founder and CEO of Tesla, Inc an electric vehicle and solar panel manufacturer. Mr. Musk chose to put a red Tesla Roadster on the Falcon Heavy rocket, complete with a fake driver affectionately named Starman. The goal of the Falcon Heavy was to intersect with an orbit that may have extended near the orbit of Mars. At this point the rocket has exceeded the Mars orbit an is going on to the Asteroid Belt. While there have been some misses, SpaceX is hesitant to call anything a failure. There is so much research and learning occurring with this mission. I chose this article because I have loved the Tesla Roadster and the Tesla company since I learned about them. I would love to drive one someday. There are so many interesting things about this event. First, I like that private enterprise can make huge advances in an area that has traditionally been reserved for the government and government contractors. This new form of space exploration is much