Colbert Grills Elon Musk (VIDEO): 'You're Either A Superhero Or A Supervillain'

Elon Musk, co-founder of PayPal, SpaceX, and electric car company Tesla Motors, sat down with Colbert Report host Stephen Colbert to talk about his latest venture, SpaceX.

Colbert listed Musk's many accomplishments, then asked him: "Where do you find time for your secret identity as Batman? Because you're either a superhero or a supervillain."

"I'm mostly an engineer," Musk said. "Oh yeah, engineer," Colbert scoffed. "Bruce Wayne's a banker."

Colbert told Musk later, "You're the future, man."

Musk told Colbert that he hopes SpaceX, which successfully launched the Falcon 9 rocket into orbit this past June, will be ready in the next few years to take NASA astronauts into space.

"And how long before you then have the ability to bring them back?" Colbert asked.

"That's extra, for sure," Musk joked.

Musk also plans to send private citizens into orbit and beyond. "Long-term we hope to be able to carry people beyond Earth orbit. I really think that private enterprise is really the future for space transportation," he said.

The two chatted about possible competition between SpaceX and billionaire Sir Richard Branson's space venture, Virgin Galactic.

"When he left we were pulling naked models out of the couches--for a week," Colbert said of Branson. "You seem a little more subdued and down to earth."

Colbert also served up some witty criticism: "You've got these electric cars that only use fossil fuels, but then you have this rocket, this SpaceX, which puts the rocket into space using as much fuel as 2 million Hummers. Are you trying to break even as spectacularly as possible?"

See the full interview below.

WATCH:

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Comments

[sulalives]

08:23 PM on 08/01/2010

ALL I HAVE TO SAY GOT COMPUTER NEED JOB

[nantucketsunset]

03:29 AM on 08/01/2010

Well, it's good to know who this fella is, after watching this clip.

I happened to stumble upon his July 8th blog self-defensive post on this site, and at the time I had no idea who he was or why the national/international readers of this site would be interested in the details of his divorce (and I wasn't interested enough to look him up elsewhere).

He came across better on "tape" than on "paper".

[dlvme2]

10:33 PM on 07/31/2010

He is attactive, but intelligence is appealing.

[LisaDi]

07:48 PM on 07/31/2010

Correction
I want to purchase and enjoy driving the
TESLA sports car, from Tesla motors.
Thank you

[LisaDi]

07:46 PM on 07/31/2010

I want to own the Telsa sports car

[GreenPynchon]

03:58 PM on 07/31/2010

Wow, this guy is really impressive. If he succeeds at one of his three goals he will change the world. Hope he gets all of them but my personal favourite is the interplanetary space travel. I want to retire on Mars!

[Hardyman1966]

02:14 PM on 07/31/2010

This guy is too cool. Nice to see innovation is still alive and well and Branson won't have a monopoly just yet. People are bitching about the car they haven't driven yet, but I have yet to see THEIR design alternative, so we can give that the weight it deserves. :).

[omobob]

01:25 PM on 07/31/2010

The Tesla electric car advances nothing but Mr. Musk’s bank account. It is a limited production hugh hefner girl getter. It has a big problem with what to do with spent batteries and tires. Not so environmentally friendly after all. We need to stop thinking about private transportation and think about a viable public transportation of people and consumer goods. BTW: electric cars suck in cold weather, big time. They are strictly a sun belt vehicle.

[Maverickpower]

10:23 AM on 08/01/2010

Spot on man !!! Poor poor Tesla , he must be groaning in his grave !! Fanned !!!

[ScapeGoat]

08:38 AM on 08/02/2010

You mean the tires on a regular car?
Nothing new there.
Electric cars work in cold weather and are not strictly a sun belt car.

[omobob]

07:58 PM on 08/02/2010

tires and battery disposal keep the vehicle from being endorsed by the EPA. Electric cars will work in cold weather just not as efficiently. Cold saps batteries.

[jabailo]

01:18 PM on 07/31/2010

Thank you for that fascinating report from the 20th century.

Meanwhile, Italy is building a Hydrogen Highway.

[henrydeluxe]

12:50 PM on 07/31/2010

Impressive. The world needs more people like him. Hear, hear.

[smchp]

12:29 PM on 07/31/2010

Musk is an incredible entreprenuer. I really envy him.

[YYYASS]

12:00 PM on 07/31/2010

Awesome interview. He seems like a pretty cool guy..."Make sure you check that box.." I liked that.

[Number 6]

05:36 PM on 07/30/2010

If Elon Musk didn't exist in real life, Stan Lee would have to invent him.

[Hardyman1966]

02:16 PM on 07/31/2010

Nice, nice. :)

[GreenPynchon]

04:00 PM on 07/31/2010

Ha! Even his name sounds made up.

[Brad Severance]

02:26 PM on 07/30/2010

Grills?

Seemed pretty affable to me.

[sportwarrior]

04:46 PM on 07/30/2010

I'm usually first in line to criticize HuffPost over their exaggerated headlines, but this one was in jest... Unless, of course, you consider "super hero or super villain" to be a real, hard hitting question. Then I suppose it might be misleading.

[Brad Severance]

05:29 PM on 07/30/2010

good point.

[benvilio]

09:31 AM on 07/31/2010

Precisely my point. It is a bit too much Us Weekly.

[ReligiousWar]

01:46 PM on 07/30/2010

Refreshing, encouraging and some great news !