within 15 minutes while we were all
being entertained by programming
detailing the development of the
Dragon and emanating from the two
large video screens located left and
right of the stage upon which rested
the fully-shrouded vehicle.
All was in readiness with people
in place in a space adjacent to the
company cafeteria and coffee bar.
As we faced the stage and the veiled
vehicle, the entire space was moodlighted to the max with undulating
blue light complemented by subtle
space-age music. To our left was a
deep with employees, fronting the
open cafeteria space. Behind us
more employees and guests and to
the right of us a two-story glass wall
more computers on desks, classroom
style, each sporting the white SpaceX
logo on its monitor.
Behind the stage area, one could
see the soft pearl-gray factory space
left and the right. Photography of
the factory areas was not permitted
but I must say the personnel were
not overly guarding of it; but then
again, there wasn’t much we could
see from our vantage point. Our eyes
V-2 in her sexy blue lighting.
Then, off to the right of the stage,
with little fanfare strides the man
Featuring seating for seven astronauts, the Dragon V2 will be capable of delivering new crews to the International
himself – Elon Musk – to cheers and
enthusiastic applause from everyone
in the room. He takes the microphone,
makes a few words of introduction
and gets right to the unveiling…
light and a puff of mist – the shroud
drops and there she is – the Dragon
V-2. She is a noticeably larger version
of the V-1, a pristine white vehicle
resembling a lunar lander, and sleeker
and simpler in appearance than her
predecessor.
Stairs are rolled up to the vehicle
and Elon steps up to open the
hatchway and climbs in. SpaceX
cameras follow his every move and
word as he describes its features and
capabilities from one of the reclined
seats inside – seating for a crew of
drop-down controls that open to a
multi-screen instrument display.
It was thrilling to watch this oneman show as he described the V-2’s
range of capabilities from crew taxi
to resupply ship with the emphasis
on reuseability. Even the usual
‘disposable’ launch escape system
is reusable and uses the same fuel
as the landing thrusters. Elon clearly
feels that being limited to an ocean
splashdown should be a thing of the
past. He is fully knowledgeable and
conversant with every technical
aspect of the vehicle. He believes
that the vehicle should have the
www.RocketSTEM .org
ability to land with the precision of
a helicopter almost anywhere and
have a very short turnaround time to
the next launch. Other components
should also have similar capabilities,
such as a booster which can, when
spent, land itself wherever it is
directed to.
As Elon exits the vehicle, the groups
begin to line up to climb into the
crew compartment, as promised,
to experience the environment for
ourselves. It was a thrill.
As groups took their turn examining
the Dragon crew quarters, Elon
moved to the edge of the stage and
for 45 minutes it was an “all you can
eat” feast of sound-bytes from Elon
Musk, the pioneering entrepreneur
in the realm of road and space
vehicles, among other related
pursuits.
To be within 15 feet of his energy
is listening to this man who thinks
“outside the box”. The pensive
and elusive Elon Musk became the
effusive Elon Musk that night, right
before our eyes as he shared his
many dreams and forward vision.
He is made of the same energy and
stardust that comprised Steve Jobs
and Bill Gates…another visionary
with a genius for putting people and
technologies together and moving
mankind along to other levels of
accomplishment.
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