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The John Batchelor Show

#STARSHIPTOSPACE: 1/4:: Countdown to Starship: the backstory: 1/4: Liftoff: Elon Musk and the Desperate Early Days That Launched SpaceX by Eric Berger

The John Batchelor Show

John Batchelor

Books, News, Society & Culture, Arts

4.52.8K Ratings

🗓️ 19 November 2023

⏱️ 11 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

#STARSHIPTOSPACE: 1/4:: Countdown to Starship: the backstory: 1/4: Liftoff: Elon Musk and the Desperate Early Days That Launched SpaceX by Eric Berger

https://www.amazon.com/Liftoff-Desperate-Early-Launched-SpaceX/dp/0062979973/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

In Liftoff, Eric Berger, senior space editor at Ars Technica, takes readers inside the wild early days that made SpaceX. Focusing on the company’s first four launches of the Falcon 1 rocket, he charts the bumpy journey from scrappy underdog to aerospace pioneer. We travel from company headquarters in El Segundo, to the isolated Texas ranchland where they performed engine tests, to Kwajalein, the tiny atoll in the Pacific where SpaceX launched the Falcon 1. Berger has reported on SpaceX for more than a decade, enjoying unparalleled journalistic access to the company’s inner workings. Liftoff is the culmination of these efforts, drawing upon exclusive interviews with dozens of former and current engineers, designers, mechanics, and executives, including Elon Musk. The enigmatic Musk, who founded the company with the dream of one day settling Mars, is the fuel that propels the book, with his daring vision for the future of space.

1888 JULES VERNE: "FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON"

Transcript

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0:00.0

The most watched Netflix show.

0:02.8

Squee Games, let's get real.

0:04.4

It becomes a must watch reality competition series.

0:07.5

Eliminated.

0:08.5

4.56 million dollars.

0:10.8

I want to get that money.

0:12.0

456 contestants, one life-changing prize.

0:16.0

Oh my baby.

0:17.0

Make friends.

0:18.0

Dude, you're the brightest light in here.

0:20.0

Make enemies.

0:21.0

That is not fair.

0:22.0

Make enemies. That is not fair. Make millions.

0:24.0

Squid game, the challenge.

0:26.0

The real game begins, now streaming only on Netflix. This is a new book very important.

0:35.0

This is CBS I on the World.

0:38.0

Here's John Bachelor.

0:40.0

I welcome Eric Berger.

0:42.0

His new book, Very Important to Understand, Liftoff is the Elon

0:48.4

Musk and the desperate early days that launched SpaceX. It is March 2006. We are on O'Malley Island part of the Marshall Aetols,

0:59.5

the Quadoline Aetol, part of the Marshall Chain String in the Pacific.

1:05.9

We are standing there waiting for a rocket called Falcon One to launch.

...

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