How-To

Will Elon Musk go to Mars?

Mars is a hot topic in space travel right now.

by
Joe Rice-Jones
May 17, 2022

Image: KnowTechie

Elon Musk founded SpaceX back in 2022, to “revolutionize the aerospace industry and make affordable spaceflight a reality.” While it’s now a preferred NASA partner, it wasn’t always smooth sailing.

In fact, Musk’s interplanetary ambitions nearly stalled in 2008, after three failed rocket launches. A successful launch turned things around, with NASA giving them the first commercial resupply services contract.

Currently, all of SpaceX’s spacecraft are geared for near-Earth orbit, but they do have some bigger craft in the works. One of those is Starship, which could enable interplanetary travel.

Elon’s often said that humanity needs to get off Earth, so will he (or one of his companies) go to Mars?

So, will Elon Musk go to Mars?

Short answer: Well, it depends. Personally, or professionally?

See, there’s a difference. Ever since Musk started SpaceX back in 2002, he’s wanted to go to Mars. Back then, it might have been idle banter, a place to reach for but not actually achieve.

Since then, the capacity of SpaceX has grown substantially, and the Red Planet might not be that far off. A couple of months ago, Musk estimated a crewed mission to Mars could come as early as 2029.

That’s this decade, and sixty years after humanity first set foot on the moon.

elon musk goes to mars — Image: Curtis Silver / KnowTechie

We don’t like answering a question with another question, but our “short answer” does illustrate an important fact. Musk might not be on that first mission to Mars (or any subsequent mission) from SpaceX.

He’s often said that the first people who go to Mars should be “prepared to die.” That’s because those early flights are literally going into the unknown, which is full of dangers.

He does want to create a self-sustaining city on the planet in the future, with SpaceX playing a key role, even if it happens after his lifespan.

We’re not so sure the richest man in the world would want to leave it, although he’d easily be the richest man on Mars if so.

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