Popular Mechanics - USA (2019-03)

THE READER PAGE

March 2019 9

GREATEST HITS:

MUSK EDITION

The first time

the words “Elon

Musk” appeared

in our pages was

September 2009,

in a story about

how he and SpaceX

propulsion chief

To m Mu e l l e r

developed the

Fa lcon 9 rocket

and the Dragon

spacecraft, and

how the company

secured its first

contract from

NASA in 2008.

(Not mentioned:

Tw i t t e r.) “ S p a c e X

has plans that

go far beyond

handling NASA’s

freight,” wrote

Michael Belfiore.

“Who knows—

at the rate Musk,

Mueller, and

company are

going, SpaceX

just might reach

Mars first.”

Letters to the editor

can be emailed to editor

@popularmechanics.com.

Include your full name

and address. Letters

may be edited for length

and clarity.

In the essays collected for our November 2018 cover story, “In Defense of Elon Musk,” ten writers and

entrepreneurs weighed the contributions of this controversial man. Unsurprisingly, the piece itself

was also controversial. The Atlantic criticized our story for “buy[ing] into...the perceived importance

of genius, and the moral compromises that society should be willing to endure in the name of

progress.” Slate ran a delightful parody of the piece that invoked the plot of the 1973 dystopian movie

Soylent Green. People argued in Reddit threads, and tweeted at us in both frustration and agreement.

But the responses we most cared about were from you.

Ludicrous Mode:

The Response to Our Elon Musk Story

Because We

Haven’t Gone

Far Enough

I GREW UP with the Apollo

missions, and thought we’d be

further along. It’s heartening to

know Elon Musk has the guts

to do what he does. Hope I’m

around to see where he goes.

—Steve Billingsley,

Minneapolis, Minnesota

Because He’s

Making Science

Fiction a Reality

THE FIRST TIME I saw the
rocket booster come down and
land upright on a barge really
blew me away; it’s just like the
science-fiction stories that
I grew up reading. Elon Musk
is trying to make the world
a better place and a cleaner
place. He’s a thinker and a doer
and seems to do the impossible
against all odds.
—Charles Cleveland,
Jefferson, Texas

Because

He’s Tr ying!

CLIMATE CHANGE IS the most

important story there is, and

no one is doing more to fight

it than Musk. As your article

says, at the end of the day he

can say he tried. We need

more people who care and

who try, not people who throw

stones at those who do.

—Lori Nelson,

Wayne, Michigan

Because Greg

Bryan of San Diego

Loves His New Car

I JUST RECEIVED the

November edition of Popular

Mechanics—first read since

college days. And what do you

know—the cover story is on

Elon Musk. Received just a

few days after I took delivery

of a Model 3 Performance.

I have enjoyed the magazine

as much as I have enjoyed

the car (traded in a Porsche

911 Cabriolet). —Greg Bryan,

San Diego, California