Elon Musk has set a goal of landing humans on Mars by the end of the decade.
On Twitter, Space Hub asked its followers when they thought people would be able to land on Mars. The SpaceX founder answered that it would be by 2029.
Musk provided the first insight at his Mars mission last month when he posted a five-minute simulation video of what the trip might look like with the caption, “this will be real in our lifetime.” The video depicts astronauts entering the Starship spaceship before it is launched and accelerates across space. The astronauts eventually land on Mars, and the audience is treated to a glimpse of a pre-existing human civilization on the Red Planet.
Musk founded SpaceX to build reusable rockets, commercial spacecraft, and game-changing space technologies. Musk’s goals include colonizing Mars eventually using the Starship aircraft, capable of carrying up to 100 people at a time.
Starship will be an essentially reusable aircraft with the feel of a commercial airline, with quick turnaround times in between.
Musk stated during the Humans to Mars conference in September 2020 that building the rocket would necessitate numerous tests before it could be launched. He went on to say that, although production is moving quickly, SpaceX still has a long way to go.
“We’ve got to first make the thing work; automatically deliver satellites and do hundreds of missions with satellites before we put people on board,” he said.
“We’re making good progress. The thing that really impedes progress on Starship is the production system. A year ago, there was nothing there, and now we’ve got quite a lot of production capability. So we’re rapidly making more and more ships.”
“Getting to Mars, I think, is not the fundamental issue. The fundamental issue is building a base, building a city on Mars that is self-sustaining,” he added.
