Could there be a colony on Mars in our lifetime?
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Living on Mars has been a fantasy of mankind’s for some time now, but Elon Musk believes that SpaceX can accomplish it in the next 50-100 years. Elon Musk outlined the plan for his Mars colony in the science periodical, NewSpace. In his proposal, Musk discussed improving on rocket technology, fueling centers on Mars, and more.
Musk’s vision to get humanity to Mars lies in a reusable rocket-and-spaceship combination that can travel to and from Earth. The proposed rocket and spaceship would be equipped with SpaceX’s Raptor engine, which is currently being developed. The two main ideas behind why reusable rockets are vital are to prevent a large collection of spaceships stuck on Mars, and to more effectively use resources instead of having to build an entirely new craft for every launch.
Musk’s goal, once these spaceships are operational, is to launch one every 26 months (when Mars and Earth are most favorably aligned for the shortest possible journey). SpaceX predicts that by 2023 they will be able to launch a manned mission to Mars. In about ten years, SpaceX believes they can begin sending people to start a colony. At the moment, Musk is projecting he can send about 100 people every 26 months, but is looking to increase that number per trip to possibly 200. The increase in number of people being sent per trip, plus the re-usability of the proposed spaceships could greatly cut the costs per passenger from roughly $10 billion to only about $200,000.
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This task does come with some reservations by Musk and SpaceX. Musk was quoted saying, “there is a huge amount of risk. It is going to cost a lot.” He went on to say, there is a good chance we will not succeed, but we are going to do our best and try to make as much progress as possible.” A colony on Mars is a dream of Musk’s and he says his plan is to die there, clarifying, “not by impact.”
Ideas about the experience of the trip to Mars itself is already being discussed within SpaceX. Musk feels that the trip cannot feel cramped and boring. He wants there to be games that utilize zero gravity. He also wants movies, restaurants, and even a lecture hall.
Elon Musk and SpaceX have some tall, costly obstacles standing in their way of a successful colony on Mars, but if anyone might be able to do it, it’s the extremely intelligent engineer worth roughly $15 billion and his innovative space exploration company.
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