Love the ambition.
SpaceX's Elon Musk outlines plans for 'cargo route to Mars' (+video) - CSMonitor.com
Musk told the Post that he planned to fly at least two Falcon Heavy rockets and Dragon spacecraft loaded with experiments to Mars by 2020.
?Essentially what we?re saying is we?re establishing a cargo route to Mars,? he told the Post. ?It?s a regular cargo route. You can count on it. It?s going to happen every 26 months. Like a train leaving the station.? Musk said that scientists around the world would contribute experiments to include as the cargo.
If the "cargo shipments" in 2018, 2020, and 2022 go according to plan, it would be possible to hit the highly anticipated launch window in 2024, with passengers on board who would get to Mars by 2025.
And Musk emphasized in his interview with the Post that sending a few people to Mars is not even his ultimate objective. ?It?s about having an architecture that would enable the creation of a self-sustaining city on Mars with the objective of being a multi-planet species and a true space-faring civilization and one day being out there among the stars," he said.
Musk also acknowledged the high stakes of his plan in the interview. ?It?s dangerous and probably people will die ? and they?ll know that,? Musk told the Post. ?And then they?ll pave the way, and ultimately it will be very safe to go to Mars, and it will very comfortable. But that will be many years in the future.?
SpaceX's Elon Musk outlines plans for 'cargo route to Mars' (+video) - CSMonitor.com
Musk told the Post that he planned to fly at least two Falcon Heavy rockets and Dragon spacecraft loaded with experiments to Mars by 2020.
?Essentially what we?re saying is we?re establishing a cargo route to Mars,? he told the Post. ?It?s a regular cargo route. You can count on it. It?s going to happen every 26 months. Like a train leaving the station.? Musk said that scientists around the world would contribute experiments to include as the cargo.
If the "cargo shipments" in 2018, 2020, and 2022 go according to plan, it would be possible to hit the highly anticipated launch window in 2024, with passengers on board who would get to Mars by 2025.
And Musk emphasized in his interview with the Post that sending a few people to Mars is not even his ultimate objective. ?It?s about having an architecture that would enable the creation of a self-sustaining city on Mars with the objective of being a multi-planet species and a true space-faring civilization and one day being out there among the stars," he said.
Musk also acknowledged the high stakes of his plan in the interview. ?It?s dangerous and probably people will die ? and they?ll know that,? Musk told the Post. ?And then they?ll pave the way, and ultimately it will be very safe to go to Mars, and it will very comfortable. But that will be many years in the future.?