Chapter 30: The Fourth Launch: Kwaj, August–September 2008

After his exit from PayPal, Musk pursues flying and acquires a Soviet military jet, then pivots to space exploration. Inspired by a Mars Society dinner and realizing NASA has no Mars plans, he commits to building rockets and colonizing Mars, eventually recruiting rocket engineer Jim Cantrell to explore purchasing Russian launch capacity.

Following his ouster from PayPal, Musk intensively learns to pilot aircraft, eventually purchasing a Czechoslovak-built Aero L-39 Albatros military jet and accumulating five hundred hours of flight time. In Labor Day weekend 2001, while recovering from malaria, Musk tells PayPal friend Adeo Ressi during a Long Island drive that he wants to do something in space, and they conclude it is physically and financially feasible. Shocked to discover NASA has no Mars plans despite the 1969 moon landing, Musk attends a Mars Society dinner in Silicon Valley after donating $5,000, where he sits with society president Robert Zubrin and filmmaker James Cameron. This catalyzes his new mission: making humanity multiplanetary. He studies rocket engineering at libraries and begins approaching experts. By 2002, relocating to Los Angeles—home to aerospace talent—Musk becomes a U.S. citizen and gathers rocket engineers for meetings. His initial philanthropic concept, Mars Oasis, proposes sending a greenhouse to Mars for under $30 million to inspire public support for further missions. To obtain an affordable rocket, Musk contacts Jim Cantrell, a rocket engineer from a U.S.-Russian missile decommissioning program, met through the Mars Society. They arrange a meeting at Salt Lake City airport to plan a trip to Russia to purchase launch capacity or rockets.