All entrepreneurs have an extraordinary passion for success, and Elon Musk is even more so.

He was not a native of the United States, his parents were South Africans, and the status of white South Africans in South Africa was similar to that of the emperor.

In the late eighties, with the turmoil in the political situation in South Africa, the security situation of white South Africans became more and more serious, and the Musk family, like most white South Africans, fled South Africa, came to Canada, and became Canadian citizens.

Although the Musk brothers' family is considered rich in South Africa and has some savings, they fled to North America after all, and their family is in the middle. Therefore, Elon Musk is more eager to succeed than others.

The first man to land on Mars?

Zhang Chen's question was completely unexpected by Elon Musk.

While asking Zhang Chen why he called them here, he also had several guesses in his heart, in his opinion, the most he could take at the moment was a total of 15% of the shares of ZIP2 between him and his younger brother.

Because of this, even if Zhang Chen simply rejected his invitation to join the shares, he still had a trace of luck, Zhang Chen didn't want this 15% of the shares, what else could he want?

Would you like to be the first to land on Mars?

What does that mean? Is this a test of your entrepreneurial passion? Well, it must be, going to Mars should be just a metaphor.

Musk's mind was in chaos, he was a conceited prodigy, and there were not many things that could really surprise him, but now, it was difficult for him to grasp Zhang Chen's true purpose for a while.

"When Armstrong stepped on the surface of the moon, everyone thought it was the first step of humanity out of Earth and into the solar system and beyond. But from 1969 to the present, 29 years have passed, not only have we not gone farther, even the moon has never set foot on the earth again, let alone from the earth. Zhang Chen's words interrupted the speculation of the Musk brothers.

"But we all know that the earth is not safe, or that it is very foolish for humans to pin their hopes for the survival of their own species on the earth. ”

"Asteroid impacts, supervolcano eruptions, magnetic field flips, tectonic plate shifts, and even a global infectious disease threaten to wipe out all of humanity. ”

"The greatest instinct of any creature is to continue the reproduction and safety of its own population as much as possible. Even rabbits know to dig a few more holes so that they can have a chance to avoid disaster when it comes. And we, the human race, now have the technology and civilization that can minimize the risk of the extinction of the race, but we are still obsessed with the internal friction within the race. ”

"It used to be part of NASA and used to be responsible for a lot of aerospace research tasks. Zhang Chen stood in front of the window and pointed as far as his eyes could see, "But since the end of the Cold War and the federal government's cuts to NASA's budget in the late eighties, this place has gradually lost its vitality." In just seven years, NASA's budget has been cut by 15 percent, from more than $15 billion to less than $13 billion, and the Crichton administration's budget plan for the next three years announced last year will reduce NASA's budget to less than $12 billion in 2002. ”

"If this continues, sooner or later, humanity will regret its short-sightedness. Zhang Chen's tone carried a hint of sadness.

Elon Musk listened attentively, Zhang Chen's views coincided with him, he has been full of yearning for space since he was a child, in addition to the reason of ideals, the most important reason is fear.

Fear that human civilization will end on Earth.

Since the birth of life on Earth, countless species have appeared, but 99.999 percent of these species have died out, and there is not even any evidence of their existence.

Murphy's Law says that as long as it is possible, it will happen.

Fears of asteroid impacts, rising sea levels, supervolcanic eruptions, and even alien invasions。。。。。。 Musk has no doubt that these possible things will happen one day, which is not unfounded, but the science of probability, which is a very simple logical deduction.

And at that time, will human beings still be able to continue their race and human civilization?

It's chilling to think about.

This is the fear engraved in the deepest part of the human DNA.

"I don't understand why you're talking to me about this. Elon Musk licked his slightly dry lips, "Does this have anything to do with the topic of our meeting today?"

Zhang Chen turned his head and smiled at the Musk brothers, "Of course, Elon." ”

"When we took over the office building of the Ames Research Center, we found something interesting, and you wrote this, right?" Zhang Chen pushed a folder in front of Elon Musk with three fingers.

Elon Musk pulled out a stack of papers from the folder with a puzzled face, and as soon as he read the title, he couldn't help but smile a little.

"The preliminary design and construction plan of the space elevator" is really nostalgic, Musk is like seeing his youth.

"I didn't expect to see this here. "Elon Musk is really a little excited.

Zhang Chen smiled at the corner of his mouth, he didn't expect that he had rented several buildings at the Ames Research Center and Moffett Airport, and actually found a lot of documents left behind by NASA and the US military.

None of these documents are confidential

Elon Musk is indeed a child prodigy, he taught himself to code at the age of 12, made a game similar to the Space Invaders himself, sold it for $500, and at the age of 13, he began to have a strong interest in the universe, so he began to study astronomy, and after a few years, he also became a semi-professional.

When Musk was 14 years old, he had a whim that if he could build an elevator to connect the earth and the moon, even if it was connected to the International Space Station in space, the efficiency of transporting materials and people would be increased countless times, and the cost would be reduced to an almost negligible level.

After some research, Elon Musk solemnly wrote a proposal to NASA, suggesting that NASA consider the feasibility of space elevator construction, and made a preliminary design of a space elevator in the proposal.

Of course, in retrospect, these designs are so absurd that they are completely infeasible.

"Little kids love to be whimsical. Elon Musk laughed at himself, "Now it seems that even in another hundred years, the space elevator will not be built." You agreed to meet me because of this child's nonsense?"

Zhang Chen smiled: "You are right, the space elevator is indeed not feasible at present, but I appreciate your exploration of new technologies and bold imagination very much, especially your pioneering spirit in the universe." ”

Zhang Chen paused and looked at Elon Musk with his eyes: "A month ago, I established a company called SpaceX, and this company has only one business scope - space, infinite space, are you interested?"

(End of chapter)