Elon Musk Aims For Humans On Mars By 2026

[Buster's Uncle]

Elon Musk Aims For Humans On Mars By 2026
Forbes
Eric Mack Contributor  6/18/2014 @ 9:12AM



That phrase about “aiming for the stars” seems less like hyperbole when the discussion has to do with Elon Musk, the founder of SpaceX and Tesla Motors who is more like Tony Stark than an ordinary CEO. Musk has a tendency of accomplishing unprecedented goals like commercializing space travel, solar power and electric cars, so when he says with a straight face that humans could set foot on Mars as soon as 2024, he may be one of the only people on Earth who can be taken seriously when making such a prediction.

“I’m hopeful that the first people can be taken to Mars in 10-12 years,” Musk said on CNBC this week. “I think it’s certainly possible for that to occur.”

But just getting to the red planet is not nearly enough for Musk, who says it’s more important to have “a self-sustaining city on Mars, to make life multi-planetary.”



Elon Musk  (Photo credit: Wikipedia)


He says if humans fail to become a multi-planet species, we will inevitably just hang out here on Earth until some sort of extinction-level event occurs.

But figuring out how we get to Mars and set up shop there is just the beginning of Musk’s grandiose vision. In the past, he’s also said that we may need to figure out ways to bio-engineer our food and even ourselves to make Mars work for us.

So what do actual planetary scientists who aren’t billionaire CEOs think about Musk’s plan?

“I believe it is completely feasible,” says  Philip Metzger, physicist and planetary scientist at the NASA Kennedy Space Center.

Well, alright then. I guess I’ll start packing for my daughter and myself.


http://www.forbes.com/sites/ericmack/2014/06/18/elon-musk-aims-for-humans-on-mars-by-2026/?partner=yahootix