Elon Musk didn't become a billionaire by thinking small. For nearly a decade, the Silicon Valley pioneer and futurist has put much of his considerable resources behind SpaceX, a reusable rocket program that has already played a key role in resupplying the International Space Station.
But Musk's ambitions go far beyond picking up the slack NASA left behind when it ceded the commercial end of rocketry to the private sector.
During a recent speech before the International Astronautical Congress meeting in Australia, Musk reiterated his plan to get life support, construction and mining equipment to Mars within five years. All of this is very exciting, but there is reason to be skeptical that Musk's timeline, especially as it pertains to Mars, is even possible.
Still, the world needs dreamers like Elon Musk. The most audacious explorers always come across as unrealistic until they succeed in doing what was previously thought impossible. If interplanetary travel is part of the next stage in human evolution, Musk will likely have some role in it.
Editorial on 10/05/2017