SpaceX founder Elon Musk participated in the 2021 Code Conference hosted by journalist Kara Swisher in Beverly Hills on Tuesday, September 28. They had a discussion on cryptocurrency, Tesla, SpaceX, among a variety of different subjects, including the world’s population, psychedelics, and whether or not life is a simulation. Video linked below.
During the 1-hour-long conversation, Swisher mentioned that SpaceX launched a “bunch of civilians into space,” in reference to the Inspiration4 mission that launched the world’s first civilian crew into a higher altitude than the International Space Station to orbit Earth for three days aboard Crew Dragon. –“… You did not send yourself up,” Swisher said. “No. I did not send myself up. I suppose I will at some point,” Musk replied, “But my goal is not to send myself. My goal is to open up space for humanity and ultimately set us on a path to becoming a spacefaring civilization and a multiplanet species,” he said. SpaceX is working on the development of Starship to enable hundreds to travel to the Moon and Mars.
“So, you do not want to go up yourself?” Swisher asked, “… Will go at some point,” he added. Swisher then proceeded to ask Musk what he thinks about suborbital space tourism. Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic both conducted their first space tourist suborbital trips to space this year. The companies launched their founder Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson, respectively.
“Suborbital is a step in the direction to orbit,” Musk joked and the audience laughed. “…To put things into perspective, you need about 100 times more energy to get to orbit versus suborbit,” he explained. “And then, to get back from orbit you need to burn off that energy. So, you need like a heavy-duty heat shield [be]cause you’re coming in like a meteor. […] Orbit is roughly two orders of magnitude more difficult than suborbit.” However, Musk acknowledged the effort –“it’s good to do something in space,” he added.
Swisher also asked Musk his thoughts about Branson and Bezos taking a brief trip to [suborbital] space. “I thought it was cool that they’re spending money on the advancement of space,” he said, “Ultimately, humanity… should want to be a spacefaring civilization and out there among the stars.” Musk mentioned that he hopes Sci-Fi becomes a reality. You can watch the full 1-hour 2021 Code Conference with Kara Swisher and Elon Musk in the video below.
Featured Image Source: SpaceX
About the Author
Evelyn Arevalo
Evelyn J. Arevalo joined Tesmanian in 2019 to cover news as a Space Journalist and SpaceX Starbase Texas Correspondent. Evelyn is specialized in rocketry and space exploration. The main topics she covers are SpaceX and NASA.
