Elon Musk, as per usual, has been making headlines lately. We like to follow Musk as he is a great innovator and a very interesting example of amazing technology in action. We’ve seen a lot in the news lately though that has us scratching our heads a bit. He is a trailblazer –I’ll definitely give him that. But, is he spreading himself to thin?
Let’s start with the most recent event that’s continuing to make headlines –the fatal Tesla autopilot crash.
Back on May 7th, Joshua Brown was driving his Model S on a divided highway in Florida. He was using the autopilot function when a tractor-trailer drove across the highway perpendicular to his Model S. It is believed that the crash was caused due to the high ride height of the trailer and its positioning across the road. This caused the Model S to pass under the trailer with the point of impact with the bottom of the trailer being the windshield. The Model S has autopilot radar, but it did not notice the white side of the high ride tractor-trailer against the bright sky.
Talk is now swirling about Tesla, Musk, and the way the company and its owner handled the details of the crash. Tesla has informed drivers that its semi-autonomous technology is not perfect and that drivers should still always keep their hands on the wheel.
They did not publicly disclose the incident for almost two months though, and they are hearing backlash because of it. Which leads people to wonder if Musk’s brash attitude will hurt the Tesla brand.
Musk has also been in the news lately discussing a manned space mission to Mars that he has planned for 2024. Some are left wondering -has he banged his head on a rock? Is this like the JFK speech?
Although we are completely behind his technology and innovation, how many failed rocket landings were there? I’m not sure if I would want to be on that first trip to Mars at this point… Think of it this way, lots of people went across the Oregon Trail, but I don’t want to be a trailblazer. Let me know when those train tracks are laid.
The plan is for a ‘cargo route’ to the red planet. SpaceX will send probes to Mars every two years before landing humans in 2025. Not this human. But humans, nonetheless. He has plans of building a self sustaining city and frequent missions to enable more permanent structures to be created as well.
Musk to the Washington Post:
It’s a regular cargo route. You can count on it. It’s going to happen every 26 months. Like a train leaving the station […] It’s about having an architecture that would enable the creation of a self-sustaining city on Mars with the objective of being a multi-planet species and a true space-faring civilisation and one day being out there among the stars.
What do you think? Musk has big plans, huge plans even, and it’s not that I don’t think that he’ll make it. I think the process is going to be a lot longer and more arduous than he’s letting on or admitting to.
As always with Elon Musk, we’ll have to stay tuned. What are your thoughts on his current big news events? How do you think he handled the Model S crash? Should he have taken more accountability? Should they have disclosed sooner? What about this manned mission to Mars? Would you sign up for the first human shipment? What are your thoughts? Where is he heading next? Comment below!
