Billionaire Elon Musk, the CEO of SpaceX, has set his sights on a monumental goal: taking one million people to Mars. In a recent announcement, Musk revealed that he is actively working on a “game plan” to achieve this ambitious feat. This bold initiative is part of Musk’s long-standing vision to establish a sustainable human presence on the Red Planet. He did not provide any timeline for the same but hinted at creating a local, self-sustained ecological system on the Red Planet that could survive without any support from Earth.
It should be noted that Musk’s obsession with Mars is nothing new, and the billionaire has been vocal about his views on establishing a human colony on the planet. Musk’s company SpaceX planned for their first manned trip to Mars this year. This plan was pushed to 2026 after which Elon Musk suggested 2029 would be the year.
Replying to a post claiming SpaceX’s Starship will “take us to Mars”, Musk said: “We are mapping out a game plan to get a million people to Mars. Civilisation only passes the single-planet Great Filter when Mars can survive even if Earth supply ships stop coming.”
We are mapping out a game plan to get a million people to Mars.
Civilization only passes the single-planet Great Filter when Mars can survive even if Earth supply ships stop coming.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 11, 2024
The Great Filter refers to the idea that a species (humanity in this case) must make it past some form of barrier to survival, i.e climate change or nuclear Armageddon. Elon Musk has earlier said that humans need to become an “multi-planet species” to ensure our long-term survival.
“We don’t want to be one of those single planet species, we want to be a multi-planet species. It’s been now almost half a century since humans were last on the moon. That’s too long, we need to get back there and have a permanent base on the moon – again, like a big permanently occupied base on the moon. And then build a city on Mars to become a spacefaring civilization, a multi-planet species,” he had said in 2021.
Musk also reacted to another post on Monday (Feb 12), showcasing his interest in Mars. The post shared on the micro-blogging site featured the billionaire along with his son X. “Having kids and spending time with them is the greatest joy in life,” the caption of the post read. In reply, Musk wrote, “But then I started thinking about Mars”.
But then I started thinking about Mars https://t.co/J0rxi1Ebwl
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 12, 2024
