Seven things we learned about Elon Musk from his Reddit AMA

On Monday night, Elon Musk — the modern day Renaissance man who’s the driving force behind electric car manufacturer Tesla Motors and private space transport company SpaceX — held a Reddit AMA (“ask me anything”) to publicize the Tuesday morning launch of Falcon 9. In addition to propelling a payload of supplies to astronauts at the International Space Station, the Falcon 9 rocket will also attempt a landing at a makeshift platform, a significant milestone for a company whose long-term goal is deep space human exploration (by his own estimation, there’s a 50 percent chance that the test will be successful).

Musk’s Q&A session with the Reddit community delved into the technical aspects of Falcon 9’s landing (gravity will play a key role in securing the rocket), but he also shed some light on how one of the most brilliant individuals on the planet goes about his day. Here are some of the most fascinating things we learned about Elon Musk:

Personal hygiene is important.

One of the most prolific minds of our time gets a surprisingly decent amount of sleep every night.

He’s a fan of barbecue and whiskey.

His best teacher was a selfless World War II veteran with a knack for storytelling.

He believes people are capable of learning more than they think.

The best advice he can dispense about overcoming adversity comes from Winston Churchill.

He may or may not believe artificial intelligence and computers will be the end of us all, but you should be afraid just in case.

You can watch a live broadcast of Falcon 9’s launch here starting at 6 a.m. ET.

Fidel Martinez is an editor at Fusion.net. He’s also a Texas native and a lifelong El Tri fan.