Tesla Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk, who carries many modifiers such as 'The Geek Genius' and 'The Real Model of the Movie Iron Man', has made a mark in the history of human space development.

SpaceX, Musk's space exploration company, launched a manned spacecraft, the Crew Dragon, carrying a NASA astronaut on the 30th (local time) to the International Space Station (ISS).

This is the first time that a private company, not a government agency, has launched a manned spacecraft.

There are only three countries that have launched manned space ships: the United States, China, and Russia.

As such, the launch of a manned spacecraft by SpaceX, a private company, has taken the first step in the era of private space exploration.

It all happened 18 years after Musk founded SpaceX.

Musk has been criticized for a variety of excursions and remarks.

However, the challenging spirit and imagination that seemed reckless was the driving force behind the current Musk.

Space travel was one of the lifelong tasks that Musk had long dreamed of as an icon of innovation.

Musk was born in 1971 in South Africa.

He has been a geek who has been immersed in books and games since childhood.

I also have a painful memory of being bullied because I don't get along well with my peers.

Subsequently, he moved to Canada and attended Queens University, Ontario in 1989, and three years later moved to Pennsylvania, USA, where he earned a bachelor's degree in physics and economics.

Then, in 1995, he entered Stanford University's Ph.D. in Applied Physics, but in just two days after the Internet craze that surged, he dropped out of Stanford University and started his business in Silicon Valley.

His target areas of business were the Internet, space and clean energy.

Starting with the founding of Internet-based map software company Zip2, he succeeded in paying for online electronic payment company PayPal and raised the money to set up SpaceX.

Founded in 2002, Space X's goal was to make space travel a reality.

To reduce the cost of launching the spacecraft, we developed a recyclable rocket system, which received orders from NASA and sent cargo to the ISS.

And SpaceX finally brought a man to the ship.

Musk's next goal is to travel to the Moon and Mars.

In September of last year, he developed a rocket equipped with 42 engines and revealed a grand idea to carry 100 passengers in 2024 and start exploring Mars.

This is why the launch of SpaceX's manned spacecraft is a stepping stone to advance Musk's dream of space travel.

(Yonhap News, photo = Getty Image Korea)