Mars may be far, far away, but the goal of colonizing the Red Planet is not.
Elon Musk revealed to the world Tuesday exactly how he plans to send the first human beings hurtling through space to land on the distant planet. It’s an adventure Musk wants to make “possible to do in our lifetimes.” It seems ambitious, but if anyone can make it happen, it’s Musk.
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The SpaceX founder gave his speech at the International Astronautical Congress in Mexico to an extremely receptive audience. He laid out his plan step by step, showing exactly what it’ll take to make the jaunt to Mars.
First, Musk plans to launch one spaceship into orbit. The booster will break off and return to the launch pad to be refueled and will then return to space once again to rendezvous with and refuel the orbiting ship. Then, the Mars vehicle will begin it’s trip through space.
Once at Mars, the first people will begin terraforming the planet. But that’s just the beginning. Musk wants to take a million people to our new home in about 10,000 trips across 40 to 100 years.
Perhaps the most astounding aspect of Musk’s plan is that he expects to take off within the next decade, sounding much like Richard Nixon’s timeframe for the moon landing.
This mesmerizing video provides a visual representation of Musk’s plan.
Or, you can listen to his full lecture below.
Would you be willing to leave it all behind and head to Mars?
[ H/T IFL Science ]
