Elon Musk's answers in 2011
Q2 Can AI solve the US debt problem?
He said the US has a huge budget crisis and is ignoring that it spends far more than it brings in, so all budgets including space will be compressed. link
Q5 Why go to Mars / what is SpaceX's mission?
He said this is the first time in Earth's 4 billion years it has been possible for life to become multiplanetary. link
He said a future out exploring the stars is much more exciting and inspiring than one forever confined to Earth. link
He said he went to the NASA website and found no plan to go to Mars. link
He said the pivotal breakthrough needed is a fully and rapidly reusable orbit-class rocket. link
Q11 What drives you / what is the meaning of life?
He named the Internet, sustainable energy and making life multiplanetary. link
Q15 How competitive is China?
He said China is the serious long-term competitor in launch, though he would rather bet on SpaceX. link
Q30 How do you hire and manage people?
He said SpaceX is engineering-centric and looks at what tough engineering problems people have solved and how. link
Q51 What is the Kardashev scale / the big picture for civilization?
He said the most likely outcome is humanity lasts at least another 10,000 years. link
Q94 Will SpaceX offer travel to Mars to anyone who wants to go? (asked on X)
He said if the cost of moving to Mars fell to around the cost of a middle-class home in California, about half a million dollars, enough people would buy a ticket. link
Q121 Should governments put a price on carbon?
He said there is no need for radical change, but society should lean toward sustainable technologies and slightly against unsustainable ones. link
Q124 When will Dragon carry astronauts?
He said Dragon could carry astronauts on the next flight at shuttle-level safety, but developing and qualifying a launch escape system would take about two years, at most three. link
After the Soyuz failure, he said the Dragon launch to the space station would likely move to around January, contingent on the Russian schedule. link
Q131 Why does rocket reusability matter?
Says all current rocket tech sucks until it becomes fully reusable. link