Guadalajara, Mexico: SpaceX chief Elon Musk unveiled ambitious plans to establish a Mars colony by sending 100 humans at a time on massive spacecraft, possibly costing as low as $100,000 per person.
Taking the stage under a large globe of Mars at the International Astronautical Congress in western Mexico on Wednesday, Musk showed his vision for a giant rocket that would propel people to the Red Planet “in our lifetime.” He told reporters he was “optimistic” that the first human mission could leave Earth in 2024 and arrive several hundred million kilometres away on the Red Planet the following year.
Before that, SpaceX plans to send an unmanned Dragon cargo capsule as early as 2018. “I think the first trips to Mars are going to be really, very dangerous. The risk of fatality will be high. There is just no way around it,” Musk said.
“It would basically be, ‘Are you prepared to die?’ Then if that’s ok, then you are a candidate for going.”
TA futuristic video depicted his concept of an interplanetary transport system based on reusable rockets, a propellant farm on Mars and 1,000 spaceships on orbit, carrying about 100 people each. The spacecraft would have a restaurant, cabins, zero-gravity games and movies. “It has to be fun or exciting,” Musk said.
Experts warn that reaching Mars and living there requires major engineering feats and a massive
budget.
