Part 9/14:
He underscores that consciousness only emerged after billions of years—meaning that humanity may have achieved a fleeting window of opportunity. The imminent expansion into space may be our best chance to prolong this rare phenomenon.
The Legacy of Space Exploration
Reflecting on the Apollo era, Musk notes that the peak of space enthusiasm was during JFK’s push to land on the Moon. Since then, progress has stalled, replaced by cycles of expensive programs with little follow-through. The Space Shuttle era, for example, failed in many ways to achieve sustainable, reusable, and cost-effective space travel.