Elon Musk is popular for his eccentric persona and genius innovations in the technology space. After having a seemingly impossible dream of commercial space flight, he started off attempting what turned out to be a real impossibility: purchasing a space vehicle from the Russians. It turned out that building his own rocket would be a lot cheaper and in the ensuing years he made his vision a reality, with stakeholders and observers alike waiting with bated breath and fingers crossed to see what the outcome would be.
After a series of failed required tests and years of research, it seemed like accomplishing the dream itself would be impossible, but more recently his tests have been successful. The first opportunity for individuals outside of international space programs to enter and observe space seems much closer than anyone could have imagined before Elon Musk decided to practically pursue his dream.
He credits his strategic partnerships and his team with the success of his company, SpaceX. His company has earned its place in the aeronautical elite and has actually made some of the biggest achievements in research and development within the space. It also made successful launches to the international space station. His collaborations with established organizations over the years have added legitimacy to his pursuits.
We get to find out more about Elon's personality, his motivations, and his inspirations. The feature delves into the challenges he faced getting his companies off the ground and the personal, professional and financial toll it took on him and his family.
This documentary is for persons fascinated with space and curious about the people who are actually actively working towards making the idea of settling on other planets a reality. It is a recommended watch for others who can simply appreciate the tenacity it takes for someone to work hard at their dream and finally accomplish it.
After a series of failed required tests and years of research, it seemed like accomplishing the dream itself would be impossible, but more recently his tests have been successful. The first opportunity for individuals outside of international space programs to enter and observe space seems much closer than anyone could have imagined before Elon Musk decided to practically pursue his dream.
He credits his strategic partnerships and his team with the success of his company, SpaceX. His company has earned its place in the aeronautical elite and has actually made some of the biggest achievements in research and development within the space. It also made successful launches to the international space station. His collaborations with established organizations over the years have added legitimacy to his pursuits.
We get to find out more about Elon's personality, his motivations, and his inspirations. The feature delves into the challenges he faced getting his companies off the ground and the personal, professional and financial toll it took on him and his family.
This documentary is for persons fascinated with space and curious about the people who are actually actively working towards making the idea of settling on other planets a reality. It is a recommended watch for others who can simply appreciate the tenacity it takes for someone to work hard at their dream and finally accomplish it.
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TVTranscript
00:00Hi, welcome to the first episode of Ritamon.
00:05We want the exciting things that we see in sci-fi and sci-fi movies and books, we want
00:09that to come true one day.
00:11A rapidly reusable rocket is basically the holy grail of space, Elon Musk said.
00:18To accomplish this, he put his heart and soul in a crazy journey.
00:223 minus 3, 2, 1, zero, ignition.
00:30In fact, I think hardly anyone in the public knows that this is happening.
00:48Like, how do you get this message across, hey, really cool stuff's happening, you know,
00:54tune in.
00:59SpaceX is like no other rocket company.
01:02They're in an unglamorous building in the middle of nowhere, in kind of an industrial
01:07zone.
01:08But when you walk into the doors, and all of a sudden you see, they're making these
01:14pristine gorgeous rockets.
01:18It feels like you've walked into a factory on another planet.
01:40No one has ever really contemplated this in a serious way.
01:46In the beginning, we thought, this is so crazy, what are we doing trying to come up with something
01:54like this?
01:55And then over time, we're like, yeah, it can definitely be done.
01:58And now we're just kind of arguing over the details.
02:06I went to Russia to look at buying a refurbished ICBM, which is a very trippy experience.
02:15It was very bizarre.
02:18And when I tell people that, they're like, what?
02:22I went to Russia three times to look at buying a refurbished ICBM.
02:30Because that was the best deal.
02:35And I can tell you, it was very weird going there in late 2001, 2002, going to the Russian
02:43rocket forces and saying, I'd like to buy two of your biggest rockets.
02:47But you can keep the nuke.
02:50Musk made three trips to Russia, trying to buy an intercontinental ballistic missile
02:55called the Dnieper.
03:00Turns out the rocket was so expensive, his idea never flew.
03:04So Musk decided that the only way to get an affordable rocket was to build it himself.
03:10So he started SpaceX.
03:13The odds of me coming into the rocket business, not knowing anything about rockets, not having
03:16ever built anything, I mean, I would have to be insane if I thought the odds were in
03:20my favor.
03:21How did you get the expertise to be the chief technology officer of a rocket ship company?
03:27Well, I do have a physics background.
03:29That's helpful as a foundation.
03:31And then I read a lot of books and talked to a lot of smart people.
03:35You're self-taught?
03:36Yeah.
03:37Well, self-taught, yes, meaning I don't have an aerospace degree.
03:41So how did you go about acquiring the knowledge?
03:44Well, I read a lot of books, talked to a lot of people, and have a great team.
03:49Raw metal comes in, and then we build the engines, the airframe, the electronics, and
03:54we integrate all of that together.
03:56And that's all done more or less under one roof.
04:00Metal comes in one end of this factory.
04:02Yeah.
04:03Spaceships come out the other.
04:04Yes.
04:05You know, there are American heroes who don't like this idea.
04:09Neil Armstrong, Gene Cernan have both testified against commercial spaceflight and the way
04:15that you're developing it.
04:16And I wonder what you think of that.
04:18Their statements are saying NASA should be more involved in spaceflight and not rely
04:22so much on private contractors.
04:26Now is the time to overrule this administration's pledge to mediocrity.
04:32I was very sad to see that because those guys are, yeah, you know, those guys are heroes
04:39of mine, so it's really tough.
04:41They inspired you to do this, didn't they?
04:43Yes.
04:47And to see them casting stones in your direction.
04:53It's difficult.
04:55But, you know, like, creating a company is almost like having a child.
04:59So it's sort of like, how do you say, your child should not have food.
05:05So once you have the company, you have to feed it and nurse it and take care of it,
05:12even if it ruins you.
05:15In 2008, the rocket company is not going well.
05:21You've had three failures.
05:23Great.
05:24The car company is hemorrhaging money.
05:27Yeah.
05:28And the American economy has tanked in the worst recession since the Great Depression.
05:34Right.
05:35What was that year like for you?
05:37And I'm getting divorced, by the way, to add to that.
05:40That was definitely the worst year of my life.
05:43But at the age of 37, he hit rock bottom.
05:47His first rockets failed to reach orbit.
05:51End of 2008.
05:53How did you get through that period of crisis?
05:57Yeah.
06:00Can we just break for a second?
06:01Sure, sure.
06:02Of course.
06:04I remember waking up the Sunday before Christmas in 2008 and thinking to myself,
06:11man, I never thought I was someone who could ever be capable of a nervous breakdown.
06:16But I felt this was the closest I've ever come, because it seemed pretty dark.
06:24We were running on fumes at that point.
06:26We had virtually no money.
06:27So a fourth failure.
06:29A fourth failure would have been absolutely game over.
06:31Done.
06:32Done.
06:33SpaceX bankrupt.
06:36Yes.
06:37It's bad enough to have three strikes.
06:38Having four strikes is really kaput.
06:41But flight four was flawless.
06:47Stage separation.
06:49In Musk's world, it lit the darkness.
06:57NASA called and told us that we'd won a $1.5 billion contract.
07:01And I couldn't even hold the phone.
07:03I just blurted out, I love you guys.
07:07They saved you.
07:08Yeah, they did.
07:10Only four entities have launched a space capsule into orbit and successfully brought it back.
07:16The United States.
07:18Russia.
07:20China.
07:22And Elon Musk.
07:23But when critics say you can't do this, your answer to them is, we've done it.
07:27But the big prize is winning the NASA contract to build America's next manned spacecraft.
07:33And Elon Musk is facing stiff competition.
07:38SpaceX is also testing a rocket that can be reused, softly landing on a column of flame.
07:45Another step on a longer journey.
07:48Just a very tough engineering problem.
07:52In the last 12 months or so, I've come to the conclusion that it can be solved.
07:56And I think SpaceX is going to try to do it.
08:00Falcon 9 is essentially standing on the shoulders of Titans, as they like to say in literature.
08:10We've built upon a lot of those lessons, the things that NASA has learned.
08:14We've taken that, but used kind of a clean sheet of paper that says,
08:18how can you build a rocket knowing that we want to do things that have not been done before?
08:24After years of designing and testing the Falcon 9,
08:27in 2015, SpaceX set out to make history
08:32by attempting the first ever landing of a first stage orbital rocket.
08:39I've heard it described as you're standing on the top of the Empire State Building
08:43and you drop a pencil off and you have to land the pencil on its eraser on a postage stamp.
08:58Okay, this is bad.
09:02This is bad.
09:15It's standing up.
09:16It's standing up.
09:18Look at this.
09:19Look at this.
09:20It's just sitting there.
09:21Look at that.
09:23What?
09:24Holy smokes, man.
09:28Wow.
09:29This thing actually landed intact.
09:31Amazing.
09:32That was crazy.
09:35Heavy lift capability is the critical technology needed to enable human missions to Mars.
09:41And a reusable heavy lift vehicle is the critical technology needed to settle Mars.
09:46In the need for an urgent abort, operators shall call hold, hold, hold on the primary countdown net.
09:51Combat secure for T-088.3 degrees.
09:54Reminder, side booster engine startup is at T-7 seconds.
09:58SpaceX Falcon Heavy, go for launch.
10:013, 2, 1.
10:24Go.
10:39Side boosters, deco.
10:48Successful separation.
10:52Jesus Christ.
10:55Yes, light.
10:56Light.
11:07What?
11:12LZ-1, LZ-2, these side boosters are in touchdown.
11:15Landing operators move on to the runabout 101, recovery 1 and recovery 2.
11:19Stage 2, AMTS has the name.
11:25Before SpaceX can launch crew, two major milestones must be completed without crew.
11:32First is the Demonstration 1 mission, or Demo 1,
11:36in which SpaceX must autonomously fly their Crew Dragon capsule
11:40to the International Space Station and back.
11:43The second test is called the Launch Escape Test, also known as the In-Flight Abort Test.
11:49If the rocket fails, the Dragon capsule's emergency abort system is triggered,
11:54ejecting the capsule safely away from the rocket.
11:58Then there is the third and final test, called the Demonstration 2 mission,
12:02or Demo 2, which will launch NASA astronauts Bob and Doug to the Space Station.
12:09Demonstration 1 mission, or the Demo 1 mission, is an uncrewed flight.
12:12We're sending the Dragon autonomously to Space Station to dock and come home.
12:17Today's launch marks the beginning of the Crew Dragon Demo 1 mission.
12:21This is one of SpaceX's most challenging milestones yet.
12:26A five-day uncrewed journey to the International Space Station.
12:31And back.
12:333, 2, 1, zero. Ignition, liftoff.
12:48You know, you're basically putting enough energy into the spacecraft
12:52such that it's equivalent to like a meteor.
12:54It's just like, it's difficult for people to even comprehend.
13:13Power and telemetry normal.
13:16The first one is going to be the main engine cutoff, or MECO.
13:19That's when the nine Merlin 1D engines that you can see on your screen right now
13:23will cut off shortly before a stage separation.
13:35For the first stage, it starts its engines back up.
13:39It flips itself around, and the whole first stage is re-entering the Earth's atmosphere
13:45and slowly making its way back down for a landing on a drone ship that is out in the Atlantic Ocean.
13:53Landing lights have deployed.
13:58And Falcon 9 has landed.
14:03After the first stage separation is complete,
14:06the crewed Dragon capsule is propelled into orbit by the second stage.
14:12The second stage is lighting up its engine, and it's taking the Dragon spacecraft into orbit.
14:20Once the second stage successfully gets Dragon into the orbit that it is intended to go,
14:25it separates Dragon and moves away.
14:29This is a pivotal moment.
14:31The separation of the second stage from the Dragon capsule is the final step of the launch sequence.
14:46The launch vehicle places in an orbit that's low Earth orbit.
14:50It's actually fairly below and behind the International Space Station,
14:54and it'll perform a number of burns or maneuvers where it'll catch up to the space station.
14:59And it's got to match that speed.
15:01And eventually, when it catches up to it, it's got to slow down.
15:04Now, if it goes too fast, it's going to go past the speeder.
15:07If it doesn't go fast enough, it'll eventually not be able to catch that speeder.
15:11So it's the same sort of process.
15:12This is a fairly critical operation because this is the first time this vehicle has ever flown,
15:18and we want to make sure it does not collide with the space station.
15:22Ultimately, the vehicle is fundamentally flying itself,
15:26but we also have ground control who's monitoring it and sending up a certain amount of commands.
15:30There's also a certain amount of access that people on the space station,
15:33they can see what's happening on Dragon and are in contact with the ground control at the same time.
15:38The Crew Dragon spacecraft uses an automated system that is able to sense the position of the space station
15:44relative to the capsule and is able to guide the capsule into dock with station.
15:49Orientation is expected. Vehicle is in the corridor, performing review.
15:54We stop within about 20 meters of the docking port that's on the International Space Station.
16:07And then the engineers at both NASA and SpaceX review the data from the spacecraft.
16:12They talk, they make sure that everything is going according to plan, and they're both happy.
16:17This is the first time that a commercial vehicle will dock to the space station.
16:21It's also the first use of the International Docking Adapter,
16:24which is the port on space station where commercial vehicles are going to come up and dock.
16:29And so we'll see both sides get used for the first time.
16:40Then Dragon is allowed at that point to autonomously move forward with the approach and docking to the space station.
16:48Dragon is resuming approach. Station copies.
16:50The Crew Dragon spacecraft uses its 16 Draco thrusters to maneuver into contact with the space station docking adapter.
16:58You've got to dock with the space station, and if something goes wrong, you're just in the void of space,
17:02and you're in a vacuum with nothing.
17:07We've got the spacesuits, we've got a lot of backup systems, but it's still a dicey situation.
17:13Range is decreasing. Vehicle is centered.
17:17The capsule inches in towards the station.
17:20Vehicle is in the corridor. Orientation as expected.
17:25The Crew Dragon has a variety of safeties in place so that should anything go off nominal,
17:30the capsule will automatically retreat and keep the station safe.
17:34All video and overlays look nominal. All status fields are showing expected status.
17:42The station crew is ready for docking.
17:44This is the first time that a commercial vehicle has autonomously docked to the space station.
17:50Vehicle mode is approached to docking port.
17:57Primary range is decreasing.
18:03Vehicle is centered.
18:06Subcapture confirmed.
18:14Watching the Demo-1 vehicle dock with the space station was amazing.
18:19It was kind of terrifying, and it should be.
18:22This is the first time you do something, you should be pretty worried about how it's going to go.
18:26And it was amazing.
18:28Proceeding to open the hatch.
18:33On behalf of Ripley, Little Earth, myself and our crew, welcome to the Crew Dragon.
18:39Welcome to the new era in space flight.
18:43Dragon stayed docked with the space station for five days.
19:01It takes about six hours for Dragon once it leaves the space station to come home and splash down into the Atlantic Ocean.
19:07The 16 Draco thrusters are responsible for orienting the vehicle in the correct direction.
19:13They fire to slow the vehicle down to the point that it will come out of orbit and begin to re-enter the atmosphere.
19:21Re-entry is one of the most dangerous points in the mission.
19:25There is no way to stop re-entry once it starts.
19:28Traveling at about 17,000 miles per hour, when Dragon hits the atmosphere, its heat shield will be put to the test as the vehicle is enveloped in a giant hypersonic fireball.
19:42The atmosphere does the majority of the work to slow the vehicle down to a few hundred miles per hour.
19:47Now that the heat shield has passed its test and Dragon has safely slowed to below the speed of sound, it's ready to deploy its parachutes, which is the final step of re-entry.
20:17Key NASA and SpaceX officials have gathered in Firing Room 4, also known as Launch Control, at the Kennedy Space Center.
20:38They will oversee today's critical in-flight abort test.
20:42If this test fails, the Crew Dragon program will suffer a major design setback.
20:48Now as a reminder, the ground is not commanding this abort.
20:51It's up to the onboard computers to determine when to trigger the launch escape and do all the functions afterward.
20:58Once Dragon does trigger the launch escape, the first event will be commanding Falcon 9 to shut down its nine Merlin engines.
21:06Dragon will then separate from the Falcon using its eight Super Draco engines firing for about eight seconds.
21:12That carries Dragon capsule with the trunk up and away from Falcon.
21:17Now once they finish firing the Super Dracos, we coast, we jettison the trunk at Apogee, we reorient the capsule to come back for entry into the Earth's atmosphere.
21:27We deploy about two minutes after Apogee, the drogue chutes, and about a minute after that, the four main parachutes will be released.
21:35Dragon will then splash down softly into the Atlantic Ocean, about 35 kilometers offshore.
21:43Parachutes are way harder than they look.
21:46If you go back and look at the Apollo program, they had people quitting over how hard the parachutes were.
21:518, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, green light, green light, green light.
22:05We almost had people quit at SpaceX over how hard the parachutes were.
22:35Capsule touchdown.
23:06Take a quick look now at Crew Dragon.
23:10It stands almost 27 feet tall from the bottom of the trunk to the top of the nose cone.
23:15And Crew Dragon is composed of two main elements.
23:18The capsule, that top portion, is designed to hold crew and pressurized cargo, and it has an unpressurized section known as the trunk that's down below.
23:26For today's test, much of the exciting work is going to be done by the Dragon's eight Super Draco engines we talked about built directly into the capsule.
23:35Falcon 9 is in startup.
23:37Dragon is in countdown.
23:39FTS is armed.
23:41Go for launch.
23:433, 2, 1, zero.
23:46Ignition.
23:48Liftoff.
23:52When you watch a launch abort test, you're wondering, has everything been done to get this vehicle ready for an end-to-end test in one of the most stressful and dynamic scenarios you can imagine for spaceflight?
24:05Stage 1 for propulsion startup.
24:10Falcon power and telemetry nominal.
24:14MECO, Dragon launch escape initiated.
24:17Firing is looking good.
24:21Stage 1 cargo drop.
24:25Approximately 10 seconds after the abort was triggered by ground control, the Crew Dragon capsule jettisoned away.
24:32The force of the ejection made the rocket unstable and it exploded.
24:39But the Dragon capsule was already safely a mile away.
24:43Parachutes are triggered and deployed when the capsule reaches the correct altitude, and so at high altitude it will deploy the drobe parachutes.
24:53And when it reaches a lower altitude, the main parachutes will deploy.
24:58Parachutes are triggered and deployed when the capsule reaches the correct altitude, and so at high altitude it will deploy the drobe parachutes.
25:07And when it reaches a lower altitude, the main parachutes will deploy.
25:13Splashdown.
25:14Splashdown.
25:22You know the system is more than just a spacecraft. It's the people behind it that are operating it across teams.
25:29But for all the triumphs and all the successes and all the attention that a company like SpaceX gets, they have not flown humans before.
25:36So it's a huge responsibility.
25:37I mean, NASA's astronauts are their pride and joy, their national heroes, and their lives are being entrusted with these companies.
25:43So we're going to see if they can pass that test.
25:46We're turning every stone over three times or four times just to get that probability of success as close to our center as possible.
25:53And they're just turning the corner, getting inside that elevator.
25:57You can't see it from here, but there is a banner hanging there.
25:59You can kind of see it in the back.
26:00There's a banner hanging on the wall of the elevator with the signatures of all the people who worked on this mission.
26:06So it was really important for them to hang that up in there so Bob and Doug could see it.
26:20Good morning. Welcome aboard.
26:23Dragon, SpaceX, comm check, ground station.
26:25Bob, Doug, on behalf of the entire SpaceX team, it's been a huge honor to help you get ready for today's historic mission.
26:31Know that we're with you, have an amazing flight, and enjoy those views of our beautiful planet.
26:36Dragon, SpaceX, seats are in the launch position.
26:39We copy.
26:41Four, three, two, one, zero. Ignition.
26:47Liftoff of the Falcon 9 and Crew Dragon. Go NASA! Go SpaceX! Godspeed, Bob and Doug!
26:55America has launched.
26:59And so rises a new era of American spaceflight and with it the ambitions of a new generation continuing the dream.
27:09On behalf of the entire launch team, thanks for flying the Falcon 9 today.
27:13We hope you enjoyed the ride and wish you a great mission.
27:24NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology
27:54NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology
28:24MD Houston Flight, Houston is go for undocking and departure.
28:28Dragon is committed to undock.
28:33SpaceX Dragon, on Dragon to ground, we are ready for the systems brief.
28:38Copy. As stated, Dragon is in a healthy state.
28:41We are proceeding toward the primary landing site and your timeline is current.
28:55Visual, two droves out.
28:57300 meters. We have brace for splashdown.
29:00Copy, brace for splashdown.
29:02Debra, on behalf of the SpaceX and NASA teams, welcome back to planet Earth and thanks for flying SpaceX.
29:07I think, I think, I think like my, like my entire adrenaline, it was just dumped, you know.
29:13It's like, thank God, you know.
29:20It's a humbling experience to be a part of what was accomplished.
29:27And this is the result of an incredible, incredible amount of work from people at SpaceX, people at NASA.
29:33This has been 18 years to finally fly people to orbit and back.
29:39Like I don't think most people, even in the aerospace industry, like know what question to ask.
29:47Like it took us a long time to even frame the question correctly.
29:51But once we could frame the question correctly, the answer was, I wouldn't say easy, but the answer flowed.
30:17NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology
30:47NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology
31:03I mean, come on, this is awesome, but it's crazy, right? Like this is never going to actually happen.
31:09Oh no, it's definitely going to happen. This is definitely going to happen.
31:13Three, two, one, ignition.
31:44NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology
31:59You know, I think this is something that the whole world can take some pleasure in
32:05and can really look at this as an achievement of humanity.
32:09And these are difficult times when, you know, there's not that much good news.
32:16And I think this is one of those things that is universally good, no matter where you are on planet Earth.
32:23This is a good thing. And I hope it brightens your day. Thank you.
32:39NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology
33:09NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology
33:39NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology