Space & Astronomy

Elon Musk speaks out about colonizing Mars and extraterrestrial life

By T.K. Randall
April 8, 2024

Image: Elon Musk at the SpaceX CRS-8 post-launch press conference
Credit: Kim Shiflett / (PD) NASA At a SpaceX event at the firm's Starbase facility in Texas on April 6th, Musk outlined his vision for the coming decades and touched on a number of topics ranging from alien life to the future of humanity.

On the subject of Mars, Musk talked a bit about using a new technology he calls Ship to Ship Propellent Transfer that can be used to refuel Starship (the firm's next-generation space vehicle) after it has reached orbit so that it will have enough fuel for long-distance missions.

Each individual trip to Mars, he claims, will require Starship to be refueled 6 times.

Ultimately, Musk wants us to stop being a "lame one-planet civilization" and colonize Mars by building a colony there within as little as 20 years.

There is one snag, however, as those who choose to go and live there will not have the option to return to the Earth at all (at least to begin with).

"You actually want to use the ship, take apart the ship and use it for raw materials on Mars," he said.

"Because the ship materials will be so valuable, most of the ships you won't want to bring back, you would just want to use them for raw materials.""Eventually we will want to bring ships back and I think we will want to give people the option of coming back because they're more likely to want to go if there's some option of coming back."

"But I think most of the people that go to Mars will never come back to Earth."

Musk also envisages launching multiple Starships each day for several years to transport over 1 million people and enormous amounts of cargo to Mars to found a sustainable city there.

"It will look like Battlestar Galactica, but in a good way," he said.

On the subject of extraterrestrial life, however, Musk is less enthusiastic.

"I have not seen any evidence that there are aliens on Earth," he said.

"The question 'where are the aliens' is a very profound one."

"I am aware of no evidence of aliens whatsoever... I think we are probably alone."


Source: Mashable

Tags: Mars, Alien