During a talk at Recode’s Code Conference on Wednesday night in Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif., Elon Musk said he plans to send people to Mars as early as 2024, with a subsequent landing on the planet in 2025.
Musk actually hinted that he would probably like to end his days on Mars. “I think if you’re going to choose a place to die, then Mars is probably not a bad choice,” The Verge quoted Musk as saying.
In a Digital Journal story in April, Musk tweeted that his company plans to send multiple Dragon spacecraft to Mars in just two years, flying aboard the company’s as yet untested Falcon Heavy rocket. Musk says the spacecraft would then inform future missions of the “overall Mars architecture,”
Musk has yet to divulge any concrete details of his plans to colonize Mars, but one can be sure of his commitment to the venture. Even Musk realizes it will take a lot of time, hardware, and technology to put a manned colony on the red planet. Musk also explained that with a window every 26 months that puts Mars and Earth closest together, he will launch every time.
“I think what really matters is being able to transport large numbers of people and ultimately millions of tons of cargo to Mars,” said Musk. “And that’s what’s necessary in order to create a self-sustaining, but a growing city on Mars.” Musk still plans to divulge details of his plans in September at the International Astronautical Congress in Mexico, an annual meeting of space industry leaders, according to CNBC.
If anyone is wondering about whether SpaceX will be able to meet its deadline of sending an unmanned spacecraft to Mars in 2018 or a manned mission in 2024, you need not wonder any longer. Has any of you come across someone in your lives that was so determined and sure of themselves that they could make audacious claims, and then, make them happen?
Elon Musk is one of those rare individuals that has a dream, a vision of what is to be, and he will see it through. During his talk on Wednesday night, Musk addressed his feelings about ambitious deadlines:
“When I cite a schedule, it is actually the schedule I think is true,” said Musk. “It’s not some fake schedule that I don’t think is true. It may be delusional. That is entirely possible from time to time. But it’s never some knowingly fake deadline ever.”
When asked about the Dragon Version 2 spacecraft, Musk said that later this year, SpaceX will launch the Falcon heavy rocket, intended to deliver commercial satellites into orbit, although at that launch, it will have no satellites. By 2018, the Falcon heavy rocket will launch Dragon 2, dubbed the Red Dragon, which is an updated version of the Dragon cargo capsule used to ferry supplies to the International Space Station (ISS).
Red Dragon is the same spacecraft that will be used to send astronauts to Mars in 2024. “Dragon 2 is a propulsive lander as well, and it’s intended to carry astronauts to the space station, but it’s also capable of being a general science delivery platform to anywhere in the Solar System,” said Musk.
After grounding test flights last June for six months after a rocket failure, SpaceX ended up with a backlog of flights to handle. “We’re trying to get them out as quickly as we can,” said Musk. “The launches will take place every two to four weeks. It’s quite a high launch cadence.”
