Why Elon Musk might change the future

If I were to ask you to name a CEO or business owner, you would most probably mention Mark Zuckerberg, Steve Jobs, or even Bill Gates.

While they are important people who have changed the early 21^st century, there is one particular man that may bring our childhood dreams of the future alive.

This man is Elon Musk.

Even if you are unfamiliar with this South African-born business man, you have probably heard about his works. He owned the money transfer service PayPal before it was sold to eBay in 2002 for S$2 billion (US$1.5 billion).

Here are three ways how Elon Musk might change the face of the future.

As if creating PayPal isn’t impressive enough for you, Elon Musk also created an electric car company.

That’s right, the 45-year-old owns Tesla Motors. You might have heard a few things about it on the news, but it’s not a hot topic here yet because they are not available in Singapore.

Of course, we have all seen electric cars. They are not exactly the “chick magnet” that will build your street cred. However, this is where Tesla shines gloriously.

In addition to its posh design and minimal carbon emission, Tesla cars also drive themselves. You can also summon your car to your location to pick you up!

However, even if Tesla eventually arrives in Singapore, the COE (Certificate of Entitlement) prices might just increase exponentially. It will probably be too costly to own one, and we might just end up taking the train.

The good news is, Elon is changing the face of public transportation too.

While a Boeing 747 soars at speeds of over 900 kilometres per hour, Elon is building an air pressured transportation system (much like a train) that travels more than 1,200 kilometres per hour.

What makes this different from a typical train (other than its rapid speed), is the way it is enclosed within an air pressured tube. These capsules are propelled by linear induction motors and air compressors that will make travelling faster and cheaper.

If the Hyperloop concept works out, you can look forward to travelling from Singapore to London in just 45 minutes!

If travelling to London is not exciting enough for you, how about a trip to Mars?

Elon has always dreamt of colonising Mars. When he realised the cost of a trip to Mars is only for the wealthy, and that the cost of building a rocket is way over his budget, he created SpaceX, a space transportation and exploration company.

What’s different about SpaceX is that all their rockets are reusable. Instead of the classic “break away” system that NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) uses, there is no separation with the pod.

The whole rocket lands vertically on the landing bay, and is ready for the next launch with just some refueling and minor fixes if any damages occur.

While a Star Trek-esque world seems far-fetched now, Elon could be responsible for making a huge change in the next 20 years. Our kids would probably see his name in their textbooks in due time.

Keep your eyes out for his name in the news, he is history in the making.