Elon Musk, the man behind
Tesla and SpaceX, has said in a surprise question and answer session at the
South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas that the first interplanetary
spaceships—for Mars—will be ready by 2019.
Musk commented how it was imperative to create colonies on the Moon and
on Mars.
Musk also commented how
these colonies could help preserve the human civilization and accelerate its
regeneration on Earth in the event of a Third World War, or a different
apocalypse that may strike Earth.
“We are building the first
Mar or interplanetary ship, and I think well be able to do short trips, short
up and down flights, by the first half of next year,” Musk responded Westworld
co-creator Jonathan Nolan, who was moderating the talk. Despite this, the Musk
46, said that his deadline might be too optimistic;
“Although sometimes, my
timelines are a little, you know…” In 2017, Elon Musk announced that exciting
times are approaching and that SpaceX was working to send a cargo mission to
the surface of the red planet by 2022, which will help future Martian colonists
settle down on Mars.
“I think once we build it
we’ll have a point of proof something that other companies and countries can go
and do. They certainly don’t think it’s possible, but if we do they’ll up their
game,” said Musk.
When someone asked Musk how
ordinary people can help his mission to reach Mars, he said that at this time
it is about general support and encouragement.
Still, he admitted that the
first humans who dare to make the trip would risk a lot: “It will be much more
dangerous, difficult, dangerous, with a good chance that you will die.”
However, the positive sides
outweigh the negative things. “I think mars should have great bars… Mars bars,”
Musk joked. Musk explained that the bases on the Moon and Mars could help
preserve human civilization and accelerate its regeneration on Earth in the
event of a Third World War.
“There is likely to be
another dark age (…) particularly if there is a third world war,” Musk
stressed, arguing that in such a case “a Martian colony will carry forward the
torch of human culture.”