Elon Musk ‘mapping out’ plan for sending a million people to Mars
- SpaceX CEO, Elon Musk revealed he is ‘mapping out’ a plan to land a million people on Mars
- And they’ll have to fend for themselves once they get there
- The plan is to land humans on the planet by 2033
Published on Feb 16, 2024 at 8:45 PM (UTC+4)
by Amelia Jean Hershman-Jones
Last updated on Feb 20, 2024 at 1:14 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Alessandro Renesis
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has revealed that he is ‘mapping out’ a plan to land and sustain a population of a million people on Mars.
Musk made the announcement on Sunday, 12 February, revealing that the rocket manufacturing company is making plans.
Musk explained further that the idea is to ensure that the new civilization are able to thrive after their arrival.
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Self-sufficiency is key.
In other words: their survival on Mars should not be depend on supply ships coming from neighboring Earth.
“We are mapping out a game plan to get a million people to Mars,” Musk began on X.
“Civilization only passes the single-planet Great Filter when Mars can survive even if Earth supply ships stop coming.”
The new Martians will be tasked with building a functional city on the Red Planet.
Musk announced in 2023 that Starship could deliver 200 tons of payload to a useful orbit.
That means they could enable more than a megaton of payload to orbit per year if 50 rockets flew every 3 days on average.
Musk is confident that would suffice to build a self-sustaining city on Mars.
The post comes one day after pictures of a Starship launch vehicle on the launch pad at Starbase in Texas was shared by SpaceX.
While the previous two failed to achieve their goals, hopes are high for the upcoming flight test.
Starship’s maiden voyage in April 2023 ended in disaster with the rocket exploding less than four minutes after take-off.
The second attempt, on 18 November saw stage separation go well.
But it’s not the first time missions went awry with SpaceX Falcon 9 making an astonishing water landing after missing initial target back in 2015.
However, the craft lost contact at an altitude of nearly 150 kilometers, splashing down in the Pacific Ocean.
Then the booster exploded not long after that – meaning the test launch’s goal of a round-trip flight to space was a failure.
Starship is said to be the world’s most powerful launch vehicle with the ability to carry an impressive 250 metric tonnes.
It is powered by methane-oxygen staged combustion engines and is fully reusable.
In terms of passengers, it can carry 100 people on long-duration interplanetary flights.
That means carrying humans back to the Moon soon and Mars later on.
Musk’s timeline involves Starship heading to the moon in five years and to Mars by 2033.
In fact, NASA and SpaceX are combining to build the first Moon base.
NASA are also making moves on Mars as they look at martian plane after losing its Mars helicopter.
Watch this space – and keep your eyes on the skies.
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All Supercar Blondie contributors undergo editorial review and fact-checking to ensure accuracy and authority in automotive journalism. After gaining her BA Hons in French and English at the University of Nottingham, Amelia embarked on a vocational diploma from the National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ). This led to numerous opportunities, from interning at Vogue to being on the small team that launched Women’s Health magazine in the UK, which was named the PPA Consumer magazine of the year for three years running. As Health, Beauty and Fitness editor, Amelia personally received a Johnson & Johnson Award and was shortlisted for both PPA and BSME titles. Since then, Amelia has created content for numerous titles and brands, including the Telegraph, 111 Skin, Waitrose, Red magazine, Stylist, and Elle, as well as being Head of Content at Vitality and Editor in Chief at INLondon magazine. “My superpower is translating technical jargon about the mechanical workings of a supercar into a relatable story you’ll want to share with your friends after you’ve read it.” After joining the SB Media family as a senior journalist in September of 2023, Amelia’s role has evolved to see her heading up the SEO output of the editorial team. From researching the most ‘Google-able’ key terms to producing evergreen content - it’s been a time of hard work, growth, and success for the editorial team and the Supercar Blondie website. “I like to think of myself as a ‘method journalist’. In other words: I live and breathe whatever I am writing about. When writing about fitness, I trained as a personal trainer, and as a beauty editor, I completed an ‘expert’ in scent diploma with the Fragrance Foundation. “During my tenure at Supercar Blondie, however, I did something I never thought possible: I passed my driving test at the age of 36. One day I’d love to train as a mechanic to better understand what happens under the hood, too. “My sweet spot is providing readers with a ‘takeaway’ (read: something new they didn’t know before) after reading every one of my stories. While I don’t claim to be an expert in the automotive world, I know the experts and bodies in the field to rely on to provide our readers with an informative and thought-provoking story every time they visit the site.”
