The first man or woman to step foot onto Martian soil might do so by 2025.
At least, that was something SpaceX CEO Elon Musk promised during Vox Media's Code Conference at Rancho Palos Verdes in California.
Indeed, sending astronauts — or space tourists even — to Mars is becoming a space race not only between countries, but also between private aerospace companies.
Musk, who also boldly announced to make adjustments to his other company's — Tesla Motors — outlook, said SpaceX may be able to send people to Mars by 2024. This first batch may arrive at the red planet by 2025.
However, Musk's ambition could be subjected to delays. SpaceX has had to reschedule the Falcon Heavy launch by the end of this year.
Still, the company has achieved impressive feats, launching and landing some of its rockets. Musk said they will reuse those rockets in the coming months.
We don't know whether Musk himself wants to visit the red planet, but he does have an "aggressive mentality" when it comes to his companies' efforts to reach its goals. In fact, Musk says choosing to die on Mars is probably not a bad choice.
"It's not some sort of Martian death wish," says Musk, according to Tech Crunch.
Asked about why humans should colonize Mars, which was something Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos echoed earlier this week, Musk says it is important to be "out there among the stars."
"It's the exciting, inspiring future that I think people want," he says.
Musk says humans could become a "multi-planet species" that ultimately reaches other star systems in the Milky Way galaxy or the known universe.
Musk even waxes poetic as to why he likes to think about these plans. He says one has to be able to think of things like that to be glad to wake up every morning, especially because life is not just about solving problems.
"There have to be things that are inspiring and exciting and make you glad to be alive," says Musk.
SpaceX has already announced on Twitter that it's planning to send its Dragon spacecraft to Mars in 2018, although it wouldn't carry astronauts just yet.
If plans become successful, SpaceX might become the Union Pacific of Mars or an "enabler" of space entrepreneurship.
Photo : Dan Taylor | Flickr
