On Friday, Elon Musk unexpectedly appeared in a livestream with XPrize Chairman Peter Diamandis and shared plans to settle humans on Mars via SpaceX. Dressed in a simple t-shirt and jeans, this renowned tech billionaire even went barefoot while chatting with Diamandis.
“Exploring Mars is not an escape for the wealthy. Explorers may face death, so only those who volunteer and are not coerced will go.” Last week, SpaceX secured a major contract from NASA and became the sole designated provider for lunar landings.
Previously, SpaceX planned to send humans to Mars by 2024 and establish a human colony by 2050. SpaceX recently completed a successful mission sending 4 astronauts into space using a “used” Falcon 9 rocket. The International Space Station (ISS), where NASA and the Global Space Agency have developed long-term life support technology.
However, this differs from NASA’s Advanced Life Support (ALS) program. In other words, while the International Space Station has various functions like water recycling, Musk’s Mars plan requires long-term life support instead of rotating crews from Earth every few months with frequent short trips.
If the Mars colonization program can continue and take root, it will mean providing food, housing, medical services, and ensuring the mental well-being of the entire population.
Humans landing on the moon in 2024 is feasible
It has been 51 years since Armstrong first landed on the moon in 1969. On April 17, NASA confirmed the selection of Elon Musk’s SpaceX as the service provider for the moon return plan with a $2.7 billion exclusive contract.
For Elon Musk, this would be another great achievement for SpaceX. For NASA, it is an important step in advancing the long-delayed moon landing plans. Musk believes SpaceX can help NASA achieve this ambitious goal by 2024.
At 18:49:02 on April 23, Hanoi time, SpaceX successfully launched the old Crew Dragon spacecraft with a Falcon 9 rocket carrying 4 astronauts into space, who will arrive at the space station after 23 hours. This is SpaceX’s second commercial launch and the fourth mission of the Crew Dragon spacecraft.
So far, SpaceX has completed a total of three crewed spacecraft missions, including the crewed spacecraft DM-2 on May 30, 2020, Crew-1 on November 16, 2020, and Crew-2 on April 23, 2021. A total of 10 astronauts have been sent into space in these three launches. Immediately after SpaceX successfully launched Crew-2 to the International Space Station, Musk stated, “I believe the mission to return to the moon can be accomplished.”
“It has been nearly half a century since humans last set foot on the moon. This time has been too long. We need to go back there and build a long-term base on the moon. Then build a city on Mars, becoming a spacefaring civilization, a multi-planet species,” the billionaire asserted.
“Mars Man” Elon Musk: Dreaming of the Galaxy, Spreading Money Across Space
Elon Musk not only has a big brain but also a “big mouth.” In an interview with Business Insider, when asked when humans would appear on Mars, Musk’s answer was, “Maybe 6 years, or 4 years from now. For myself, it will be about 2 or 3 years from now.”
In fact, the head of SpaceX has a special passion for Mars and has established the Life to Mars organization to encourage exploration activities on this planet. “If you are buried somewhere, born on Earth, and die on Mars, that would be amazing,” Musk said.
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“Ultimately, life will spread throughout the entire solar system, and then beyond our solar system to other star systems. Otherwise, we will remain on Earth forever until extinction occurs”. One of Elon Musk’s most important goals is to help humanity become a multi-planetary species and leap from Earth civilization to space civilization, which is why SpaceX is so important.
Also in the livestream on Friday, Musk announced he would provide inventors with a $100 million prize to find ways to combat global warming by removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere or oceans. This is “the largest prize in history” and will last for four years.
“The sun will continue to grow larger, evaporating even the oceans. So, to some extent, we should do something better. Mars is a real planet, so we can create a civilization there,” Elon Musk hopes.