Returning Human Spaceflight to the United States
SpaceX is targeting Saturday, May 30 for Falcon 9’s launch of Crew Dragon’s second demonstration (Demo-2) mission from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. This test flight with NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley on board the Dragon spacecraft will return human spaceflight to the United States.
The instantaneous launch window opens at 3:22 p.m. EDT, or 19:22 UTC, with a backup instantaneous launch opportunity available on Sunday, May 31 at 3:00 p.m. EDT, or 19:00 UTC. Tune in here to watch the launch webcast. Coverage will begin about 4 hours before liftoff.
Demo-2 is the final major test for SpaceX’s human spaceflight system to be certified by NASA for operational crew missions to and from the International Space Station. SpaceX is returning human spaceflight to the United States with one of the safest, most advanced systems ever built, and NASA’s Commercial Crew Program is a turning point for America’s future in space exploration that lays the groundwork for future missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.
The Man Behind SpaceX, Telsa, The Boring Company and more…
Elon Reeve Musk FRS (/ˈiːlɒn/; born June 28, 1971) is an engineer, industrial designer and technology entrepreneur.[2][3][4] He is a citizen of South Africa, Canada, and the United States. He is the founder, CEO and chief engineer/designer of SpaceX;[5] early investor[6][note 1], CEO and product architect of Tesla, Inc.;[9][10] founder of The Boring Company;[11] co-founder of Neuralink; and co-founder and initial co-chairman of OpenAI.[12] He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 2018.[13][14] In December 2016, he was ranked 21st on the Forbes list of The World’s Most Powerful People,[15] and was ranked joint-first on the Forbes list of the Most Innovative Leaders of 2019.[16] As of May 2020, he has a net worth of $36.5 billion and is listed by Forbes as the 31st-richest person in the world.[17][1] He is the longest tenured CEO of any automotive manufacturer globally.[18]
Born and raised in Pretoria, South Africa, Musk briefly attended the University of Pretoria before moving to Canada when he was 17 to attend Queen’s University. He transferred to the University of Pennsylvania two years later, where he received a bachelor’s degree in economics from the Wharton School and a bachelor’s degree in physics from the College of Arts and Sciences. He began a Ph.D. in applied physics and material sciences at Stanford University in 1995 but dropped out after two days to pursue a business career. He subsequently co-founded (with his brother Kimbal) Zip2, a web software company, which was acquired by Compaq for $340 million in 1999. Musk then founded X.com, an online bank. It merged with Confinity in 2000, which had launched PayPal the previous year and was subsequently bought by eBay for $1.5 billion in October 2002.[9][19][20][21]
In May 2002, Musk founded SpaceX, an aerospace manufacturer and space transport services company, of which he is CEO and lead designer. He joined Tesla Motors, Inc. (now Tesla, Inc.), an electric vehicle manufacturer, in 2004, the year after it was founded,[9] and became its CEO and product architect. In 2006, he helped create SolarCity, a solar energy services company (now a subsidiary of Tesla). In 2015, Musk co-founded OpenAI, a nonprofit research company that aims to promote friendly artificial intelligence. In July 2016, he co-founded Neuralink, a neurotechnology company focused on developing brain–computer interfaces. In December 2016, Musk founded The Boring Company, an infrastructure and tunnel construction company focused on tunnels optimized for electric vehicles.
In addition to his primary business pursuits, Musk has envisioned a high-speed transportation system known as the Hyperloop. Musk has said the goals of SpaceX, Tesla, and SolarCity revolve around his vision to “change the world and help humanity”.[22] His goals include reducing global warming through sustainable energy production and consumption, and lessening the risk of human extinction by establishing a human colony on Mars.
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