IronWingCSA @ironwingcsa - Twitter Profile

A child with a terminal illness asked their family for one thing: to see a SpaceX rocket before they died. The request reached Elon Musk. What happened next is something SpaceX employees rarely discuss publicly. Elon arranged a private tour of the SpaceX facility in Hawthorne. Not the public tour. The private one. The areas where the rockets are assembled. The mission control room. The testing chambers. The child was given a level of access that most government officials don't receive. Employees who were present described Elon's demeanor as completely different from his normal self. No phone. No interruptions. No five minute time blocks. He walked with the child slowly. He answered every question at the child's level. He let the child touch the Merlin engine. He showed them the Dragon capsule and explained what it feels like to fly in space. The visit lasted over two hours. In Elon's calendar, two hours is the equivalent of missing 24 meetings. He didn't cut it short. He didn't check his phone. For two hours the man who runs six companies gave his entire attention to one child who would not live to see the rockets reach Mars. The employees who witnessed it said it was the most human they had ever seen him. The man who struggles to be present with his own children for 15 minutes was fully present with a stranger's child for two hours. The difference, they speculated, was that the child didn't need anything from him except exactly what he was giving: his knowledge about the only thing he loves unconditionally. The child asked about rockets. And for two hours the man who can't be present for dinner was more present than his employees had ever seen him.

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