In 1873, Jules Verne's novel Around the World in 80 Days became his first international success. The seemingly impossible prospect of circumnavigating the entire world in so short a timespan captured the global imagination. That's because only a few years prior, it was impossible. It was only doable thanks to three engineering feats: the completion of the Suez Canal and the U.S. transcontinental railroad in 1869, and the linking of the Indian railways in 1870. Now Elon Musk is proposing a new engineering fe ...