http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2018/02/07/while-trump-congratulates-spacex-for-falcon-heavy-launch-elon-musk-says-he-looks-forward-to-a-new-space-race/ >COCOA BEACH, Fla.—Before founding SpaceX in 2002, Elon Musk had a wild plan to fly a plant to Mars. The idea was to show life on the desolate planet, a brushstroke of vibrant green on a lifeless red canvas. >If nothing else, it would inspire people, he figured, reignite interest in space, while furthering his ambitions to push deeper into the cosmos, even though at the time he had never flown a rocket.