Interview with Luc Mary, author of a book retracing the life of Elon Musk

On the occasion of the release of his latest book "Elon Musk - the man who invents our future", Tesla Magazine spoke with her writer Luc Mary.Between his childhood in South Africa, his first innovations until the assertion of SpaceX and Tesla, Luc Mary returns to the particularly hectic life of Elon Musk.

You can find this book in most bookstores and on the Fnac and Cultura website.

Tesla Mag: Why did you write a book on Elon Musk?

Luc Mary: It may seem surprising, but this is the first time that I have been writing on a living character!Usually, I write on characters who have died for several centuries, such as Hannibal, Vauban or Joan of Arc.But I am a historian who is interested as well in the past as in the future.Elon Musk is a character who will mark the story.This is an essential actor in history on the move.So, as the 20th century was that of Von Braun, the father of the Saturn 5 rockets. I think that the 21st century, at least on a space level, will be that of Elon Musk.For me, when he is not even 50 years old and he is at the very beginning of his story, it is already one of the characters who will mark this century.

In fact, I do a little history in the future.It’s a bit of a bet on the future, because I think it’s thanks to him that we will wake up the space dream.This is already done since the flight of Crew Dragon of May 30, 2020. He woke up the spatial dream by putting the man at the center of the exploration of the cosmos.The news specifies it.It’s the man who will get the moon again.He has just signed a contract with NASA to send men to the moon by 2023. It is a springboard to access Mars, even if it is differently further than the Moon.

It’s a kind of realistic dreamer.It allows humanity to project itself into the future.He knows that the earth is the cradle of humanity and that one cannot remain forever in a cradle, if you want to take up the sentence of Constantin Tsiolkovski.To survive, humanity needs to expand the world.Starting with Mars, which is none other than a land without the oceans in terms of the surface.

TM: You talked about this revival of ardor and dream for space when they had decreased a lot, there was much less desire.

L. M.: Yes, since the end of the Apollo exploration, since man walked on the moon in 1972, humanity has disinterested in space.The only thing we could hear from space is the interplanetary probes that take photos of the distant planets, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.It is charming.There is no doubt, it's very interesting.But man was not part of this exploration of the cosmos.On May 30, Elon Musk made a simple round trip to the International Space Station (ISS) a world-scale event, for which even Donald Trump moved.He modernized space.He modernized the dream and spoke to children.We thought we saw a flight from a comic strip.What Musk wanted to do is talk to children, to talk to the future Marsionauts.He made a dream with a simple flight to the ISS.

TM: Yes, to redo the world to dream about space, he made it accessible.It has facilitated access and understanding for everyone.

L. M.: Here.He democratized space.Musk’s big idea is also that space is financially accessible by reducing the cost of launches.That is to say access to space by less and less expensive flights thanks to the reuse of launchers.It is a specifically Muskian idea, the fact that we can recover the boosters and the floors, once they are detached.It is the great idea of SpaceX, the space society founded by Musk almost 20 years ago now, since it was in 2002. Today, in the imagination of children, it is no longer NASA that makesDreaming is SpaceX.And NASA, which, at the start was rather the opponent of SpaceX, saved it.They still made 100 safe launches and God knows that they have experienced failures before.

In my book, I tell the whole story of Falcon 1, the first rocket on the Atoll of the Marshall Islands.There they drooled.It was a very humid, inhospitable space, etc.They have undergone three failures in three years.They lost huge sums at the rate of $ 100,000 a day.They managed to take off this Falcon 1. But at what price?And they were completely mowed.And it was this same year, in 2008, that they won the NASA Orbital Commercial Transport Service program to supply the ISS in men and food.NASA has somehow saved SpaceX.

TM: He's a man who has always had an exceptional motivation force, is that too that fascinates you?

I said he was a realistic dreamer.You can also say that there are two things that characterize it, it is perseverance and patience.It is never discouraged, even his failures reinforce his determination.For him, there is no safe, safe, successful success.

Three times, he failed for Falcon 1, three times for Falcon 9. He also failed 3 times for the starship.The famous vessel that must transport men on March by perhaps 2030. On this side, Elon Musk never gives up his dreams.

His dreams, he has nourished them since childhood.Instead of playing football with other kids, he would prefer to build rockets in his garden, read science fiction books.He’s someone who has always dreamed of space.He wants to realize his childhood dreams.In fact, he remained a child in his head and he speaks to children.For him, today's children are the future Mars settlers.He does not only want to establish bases on Mars, but also cities with leisure areas.It will not only be a scientific base like Antarctica.It will really be a second habitable land.It’s a huge project.For him, there will be as many inhabitants in March in the year 3000 as on earth today.It’s really a big challenge.

The specificity of Space X is to have created companies inside the company.This leads to a space revolution and a societal revolution.Within Space X workshops in California, everyone meets, technicians, engineers.There is no separation, there is a class collaboration.There is no distinction, diploma, chef, etc.It is a kind of spatial egalitarianism because everything is made on site.It does not use external manufacturers.It is also a specificity of SpaceX.

TM: From this point of view, he also revived the American dream in the United States like the first space conquests.

@Shambles151 Funny how these people are quiet as mouse when they're playing and bowing to the royals. The bowing/c… https://t.co/6HmMvmJDeZ

— Shaz1440💙 Sat Jun 26 13:45:18 +0000 2021

L. M.: He does not necessarily fight for America, but for the whole earth.His project is not an American project, it is a land project.It is on behalf of the Earthlings that he is fighting, in the name of his own ideal.But it’s not in the name of a country, even if he loves the United States.

If there weren't SpaceX, we wouldn't talk about Elon Musk, this is what makes its specificity.But Musk is a jack-of-all-trades.He also revolutionized the electric car with Tesla, there is also the hyperloop, open ai, neuralink, etc.He is interested in the future on earth and in space.His two big passions are also respect for the environment and technology.

In fact, what interests me at Musk is that he tries to reconcile his love of technology and his love for the environment, which seems a priori incompatible.

TM: You have written a lot of historical books, but also on space, is it difficult to write about someone, like your previous books on Lenin or Rasputin, which is still alive andOn subjects that are constantly changing?

L. M.: When you write a book on someone who still lives, sometimes, you are forced to reshuffle the book according to news of news.I started writing this book in 2019 and since then, many events have happened.So we had to integrate new data into it.I think Musk’s future is richer than his past.It’s much more difficult.But at the same time, this is another challenge because I am a bit like Elon Musk I like challenges.

TM: At first glance, the book seems difficult to understand, we expect a myriad of complicated themes in the end, reading is very easy.Was it also a desire to make it all accessible for everyone?

L. M.: I wanted to refocus the debate on SpaceX.I wanted to tell day -old what was going on to make the book alive even if there are technical details of course.I used to tell stories with my historic books and in addition, I have a passion for space.I wanted to focus mainly the book on space but there are also two chapters devoted to Tesla.He wanted to make cars so increasingly independent with his batteries and gigafactory.

He wants to make a low cost space and democratize space.He wants to make sure that anyone can go to space and not just the richest.Today, almost anyone can move to the United States by taking the plane.In a century, we may be able to go to Mars or to the main satellites of Jupiter by taking a hyper fast shuttle.The solar system is still too big for us, but what is certain is that the earth, for it, is too small for the earthlings.

TM: This democratization of space and space travel is a bit the same will with Tesla by democratizing the electric vehicle.

L. M.: This is the same logic.Make a clean, silent and inexpensive car.And today, Tesla, twenty years after its creation, has more than 50,000 people worldwide and more than 10,000 cars that come out of factories each week.Tesla also obeys this obsession with Elon Musk to want to reduce the share of oil in future energies.His big idea is to develop a lot of batteries and increase the autonomy of cars.

The common point between all these innovations is the reduction in costs.Make sure that the environment of tomorrow is less polluting and technology is better with the environment.

TM: Do you plan to make a second book on Elon Musk and SpaceX in several years?

L. M.: In ten years, I may do a book on Musk.From here, it will have passed or in the wrong direction or in the right direction of other events, we will undoubtedly have reconquered the moon, we may have set foot on Mars.This is what we will remember in history.Elon Musk has not yet fully realized his dreams.It will not only be a foot but it would be the first step for a future colonization of this planet which will be a new living space.So we can say of Musk that he has his feet on the ground and his head in Mars.He is someone who is full of ideas and the future of Elon Musk is certainly much richer than his past.It’s a shame there is only one musk per century!

"Elon Musk, the man who invents our future" - Luc Mary.Edition The archipelago published on May 6, 2021.

ISBN / 2809841977, 9782809841978

Interview: Mattéo B / Photos Dr: Editions de l'Archipel, Tesla Mag, Tesla