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Topics: Elon Musk, Science, SpaceX, Technology, Space
Claire Reid
Topics: Elon Musk, Science, SpaceX, Technology, Space
Elon Musk has said he’s working on a ‘game plan’ to get a million people onto Mars.
The billionaire has long spoken of his ambitions to colonise the Red Planet and has previously said he thinks humans will land on there by 2029.
Initially, his company SpaceX wanted to see people land on Mars in 2024, but Musk pushed that expectation back in 2020, saying he was ‘highly confident’ the company could land there in ‘about six years from now’.
Although he’s also previously admitted it might not be survivable for the first folks who go.
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Speaking in 2021, he said: "You might die, it's going to be uncomfortable and probably won't have good food."
Reiterating just how dangerous it will likely be, he continued: "Honestly, a bunch of people will probably die in the beginning."
Musk went on to say it will be an 'arduous and dangerous journey where you may not come back alive'.
Sounds great, eh?
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And although he’s been quiet on any plans to send humans off to Mars in recent months, Musk recently shared on X that he was still working on a ‘game plan’.
He said: “We are mapping out a game plan to get a million people to Mars.
“Civilisation only passes the single-planet Great Filter when Mars can survive even if Earth supply ships stop coming.”
The Great Filter, a term coined by economist Robin Hanson, is the idea that a species will end up facing a barrier to survival such as climate change or a nuclear war wiping us all out.
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Musk suggests that the only way people can avoid this on Mars is to ensure that people can survive there without the need to rely on people back on Earth for supplies.
Speaking at a virtual 'Humans to Mars' conference in 2020, he said: "Getting to Mars, I think, is not the fundamental issue. The fundamental issue is building a base, building a city on Mars that is self-sustaining.
"We're going to build a propellant plant, an initial Mars base - Mars Base Alpha - and then get it to the point where it's self-sustaining.
"I want to emphasise that this is a very hard and dangerous, difficult thing, not for the faint of heart. Good chance you'll die, it's going to be tough going, but it will be pretty glorious if it works out."
I think I'll stick around here on Earth, thanks.