Space & Astronomy

Elon Musk reveals vision for city on Mars

By T.K. Randall
June 15, 2017

Image: Elon Musk at the SpaceX CRS-8 post-launch press conference
Credit: Kim Shiflett / (PD) NASA Musk's plans to send humans to Mars have been in the pipeline for some time now.

With a robotic mission scheduled for as early as 2024 and the first manned mission set to happen soon afterwards, there is a chance that SpaceX may even manage to beat NASA's timetable.

But what happens after that ? According to Musk, the plan will be to found a fully-fledged Martian city that would enable mankind to escape the confines of the Earth for the first time.

"It would be quite fun to be on Mars because you would have gravity that is about 37 percent of that of Earth, so you would be able to lift heavy things and bound around," he said."Furthermore, the day is remarkably close to that of Earth. We just need to change the populations because currently we have seven billion people on Earth and none on Mars."

Actually going about building such a settlement however would be a momentous challenge, not only in terms of the technologies required but also due to the problem of cost.

"You cannot create a self-sustaining civilization if the ticket price is $10 billion per person," he said.

The SpaceX CEO even has plans that go beyond Mars and out in to the solar system.

"By establishing a propellant depot, say on Enceladus or Europa, and then establishing another one on Titan, Saturn's moon, and then perhaps another one further out on Pluto or elsewhere in the solar system, this system really gives you the freedom to go anywhere you want," he said.

Source: Newsweek

Tags: Mars, SpaceX