Our 21st Century Genius

I’ve neglected watching television and most of its mutations for several years, and this makes me less than well-informed on news and developments.

Indulge me if I speak the obvious, but was the recent launch and landing of the Space X rocket not astonishing to the point of unbelievable? A 400-foot tall space ship blasted off from a remote Texas beach, entered outer space, then returned and deposited itself into waiting arm-like metal appendages.

Elon Musk’s team of scientists, craftsmen and laborers are able to propel a 40-story skyscraper into space, then bring it back within inches of its target, and it nestles into its receiving tower like a soft fly ball settling into a Willie Mays’ basket catch?

Can NASA do this? Why hasn’t it, repeatedly? Musk engineered this feat at a fraction of the time and money NASA spends drawing up sketches.

Elon Musk. Are we in the presence of a genuine Renaissance Man? Is Musk our Leonardo da Vinci?

With Ford, Chrysler and GM getting a 100 year head start building practical electric cars, how did Musk’s Tesla beat everyone to the highway?

He developed PayPal and he’s now running Hyperloop, a hole and tunnel-boring company. It will run 800 mph pods in underground tubes linking, say LA with SF, in 35 minutes. He plans to launch spacecraft carrying upwards of 100 people to Mars.

Would you bet against him?

I know nothing of his personal life and any quirks he might have, but remember that we also know nothing of Mr. Da Vinci’s. Warts and quirks fade but the works and achievements remain and spawn more, all to civilization’s betterment.

Stand back. Be awed.