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Space & Astronomy

Elon Musk: 'Humans on Mars by 2026'

By T.K. Randall
June 22, 2014 · Comment icon 42 comments

Could we be landing on Mars within just 12 years ? Image Credit: Mars One / Bryan Vertseeg
The business tycoon and inventor is aiming to have humans set foot on Mars within as little as 12 years.
Co-founder of SpaceX, Paypal and Tesla Motors, Musk has been involved in the development of several revolutionary technology concepts in recent years including the Hyperloop - a hypothetical subsonic air travel machine that could carry passengers from Los Angeles to San Francisco in 30 minutes.

Looking to the future however Musk's focus is likely to be on something a little further afield.
"I'm hopeful that the first people could be taken to Mars in 10 to 12 years, I think it's certainly possible for that to occur," he said. "But the thing that matters long term is to have a self-sustaining city on Mars, to make life multi-planetary."

With a goal to land humans on Mars long before NASA, Musk maintains that the overall goal of SpaceX is the survival of humanity itself. Our species is currently too vulnerable confined to a single planet where a natural disaster could wipe us all out.

Whether Musk will be able to pull off an endeavor like this is unclear, but with Mars One and other projects potentially competing to be the first to land a human on Mars there's a chance that the next decade could see the beginnings of a fully fledged 21st century space race.

Source: The Register | Comments (42)




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Recent comments on this story
Comment icon #33 Posted by Waspie_Dwarf 10 years ago
Are they? Yes of course their achievements are impressive - And then you list a whole load of things which are technologically unimpressive. Nothing the SpaceX has done so far is new. All of it is decades old technology. And the problem is that SpaceX are not doing it very well. The Falcon suffers so many delays that it is achieving just 10% of it's claimed launch rate. Several launches have suffered potentially serious malfunctions (which SpaceX is not very forthcoming about). The fist supply mission to the ISS suffered such a major malfunction that a secondary satellite carried by the same r... [More]
Comment icon #34 Posted by The Sky Scanner 10 years ago
And then you list a whole load of things which are technologically unimpressive. Nothing the SpaceX has done so far is new. All of it is decades old technology. And the problem is that SpaceX are not doing it very well. The Falcon suffers so many delays that it is achieving just 10% of it's claimed launch rate. Several launches have suffered potentially serious malfunctions (which SpaceX is not very forthcoming about). The fist supply mission to the ISS suffered such a major malfunction that a secondary satellite carried by the same rocket was lost. 3 of the Dragon craft have suffered leaks wh... [More]
Comment icon #35 Posted by DONTEATUS 10 years ago
The Real hard part is actually working for Musk from what the Press says, I bet its a very hard curv to be on his team ! great minds work that way ! Remember Its His Ideas, and concepts to get us All thinking in a Forward thinking mode ! Driven is part of his method ! Cheers to All that can hang with this Brilliant Mind ! I wish I was twenty years younger ! I would be Trying to Get His Job !
Comment icon #36 Posted by danielost 10 years ago
As I have said in the psst. We need a ship that doesn't need to be refueled every time it launches. We also need to be able to get grandma into space. When those two things happen space travel will be just as common as an ocean cruise.
Comment icon #37 Posted by Waspie_Dwarf 10 years ago
As I have said in the psst. You've said a lot of things in the past, it doesn't make them right. Your next sentence is a case in point. We need a ship that doesn't need to be refueled every time it launches. Total and utter rubbish. Common-sense should tell you this is wrong. Long haul airliners refuel before every flight. They do this for good economic reasons. If they carry more fuel than they need then they are heavier. if they are heavier they need more power to take off and fly. If they need more power they need to burn more fuel. If they need to burn more fuel they are more expensive to ... [More]
Comment icon #38 Posted by danielost 10 years ago
Dwa fvyour talking about liquid feels. It took the huge Saturn five to get to the moon using liquid fuels. A better idea would be something like a nuclear rocket. That fuel would weigh the same every time it took off and it is something we can design now. Unlike the matter antimatter of star trek or the thread on here about it.
Comment icon #39 Posted by TheGreatBeliever 10 years ago
We let the pioneers go first. Followed by us later. Pioneers always get the brunt of everything. Haha!
Comment icon #40 Posted by The Sky Scanner 10 years ago
We let the pioneers go first. Followed by us later. Pioneers always get the brunt of everything. Haha! 'We' don't really do anything, beyond sitting on the side-lines, commentating, criticising, congratulating or just watching. 'They' on the other hand, put their money where their mouth is and at least try and make these things happen.
Comment icon #41 Posted by toast 10 years ago
A better idea would be something like a nuclear rocket. That fuel would weigh the same every time it took off and it is something we can design now. This is all fantasy and will not work as you pictured it. - Even nuclear operated engines, to be used to leave the earh gravity field, require a medium (solid/liquid) to produce thrust and this medium gets lost during operation so there will be always a weight difference in between launch and landing. - Space crafts designed to be re-entry and multi-use capable are more complex than single-use devices, resulting in a reduction of the possible payl... [More]
Comment icon #42 Posted by Waspie_Dwarf 10 years ago
This is all fantasy and will not work as you pictured it. I tried explaining nuclear rockets to danielost more than a year ago. I gave up rather quickly because he never lets the facts get in the way of his own incorrect beliefs: Nuclear rocket


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