What SpaceX’s Rocket Explosion Means for Elon Musk
The technology billionaire runs two high-profile, innovative companies — but his rough summer shows he may be stretched too thin
The SpaceX explosion is only the latest in a series of issues, both mechanical and financial, that has plagued SpaceX and Tesla, where Musk serves as CEO, as well as SolarCity, where Musk chairs the board and where his cousins serve as CEO and CTO. All three companies boast ambitious goals. SolarCity brings low-cost clean energy to the masses. Tesla aims to speed the transition to a sustainable-energy economy. SpaceX’s long-term goal is to make humans a multi-planetary species. Any one of these would be an audacious ambition for a corporate leader. All three at once may be a bit too much for any one human being.
That challenge doesn’t hinder Musk. Instead, it seems to spur him on. It’s like he’s sitting inside three racing cars at once – behind the wheel of two of them, a backseat driver in the third. Sometimes this leads to inspiring results, such as the breathtaking sight of a rocket landing agilely back on Earth after being launched to space. Other times it ends in a smoking wreck, as it did Thursday.
And yet, even this difficult trick is not enough of a challenge for Musk. He has consistently raised the bar for himself, by vowing a mission to Mars in two years, by angling to merge SolarCity with Tesla, and by doubling down on Tesla’s production goals. The problem for Musk in 2016 is, the bolder the goals become, the faster the crashes and glitches are coming.
Structure of the Lead：
WHO- Elon Musk
WHEN- Thursday
WHAT- raised the bar for himself
WHY- SpaceX explosion
WHERE- SolarCity
keywords
1.financial 財政的
2.plague 困難
3. audacious 無畏的
4.spur 鞭策
5.agilely 敏捷的
6.wreck 損壞
7.merge 同化
8.doubling 加倍
9.bolder 更大膽
10.glitch 小故障
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