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Elon Musk: I'll put HUMANS on MARS by 2026

Started by jimmy olsen, June 18, 2014, 10:32:59 AM

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jimmy olsen

SQUEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/06/18/spacex_can_get_mankind_on_mars_in_10_or_12_years_claims_elon_musk/

Quote
SpaceX's Elon Musk: I'll put HUMANS on MARS by 2026
Plans to float rocket biz only once it's done
By Iain Thomson, 18 Jun 2014

Electric car and rocket tycoon Elon Musk expects to put the first humans on Mars in the next decade – and says he'll float his SpaceX company on Earth-bound stock exchanges once the interplanetary mission gets underway.

"I'm hopeful that the first people could be taken to Mars in 10 to 12 years, I think it's certainly possible for that to occur," he told CNBC. "But the thing that matters long term is to have a self-sustaining city on Mars, to make life multi-planetary."

Musk said that the SpaceX goal was essential to the future survival of humanity. Either mankind would slip the surly bonds of Earth and become an interplanetary species, or remain a single-planet culture and become extinct due to a man-made or natural catastrophe.

Musk's schedule puts him well ahead of NASA, which is only talking about getting man to Mars by the 2030s – and then only if it can get billions in public funding and build a rocket big enough for the job. Musk's Falcon Heavy booster is scheduled to fly within the next year, and will carry enough payload to make assembling a Mars spaceship possible.

That's not to say Musk sees himself competing with the space agency. He paid tribute to NASA, saying that without that agency's pioneering work, SpaceX couldn't have got as far as it has.

Musk said that SpaceX is happy to carry on working with NASA, delivering cargo up to the International Space Station, and hopes to win a contract to deliver crew in the company's updated Dragon capsule. But if it doesn't win more contracts, Musk said he was confident the firm could still make it to the Red Planet.

Part of the funding could come from a float of the privately-held company on the stock exchange. This would be difficult, he said, given that the financial markets are obsessed with quarterly and annual goals – but it should be possible once the technology has been perfected.

"We need to get where things are steady and predictable," Musk said. "Maybe we're close to developing the Mars vehicle, or ideally we've flown it a few times, then I think going public would make more sense."

Meanwhile, back on Earth, Musk said that he hoped his Tesla venture would have a mass-market car ready for public consumption within the next three years. The big challenge is getting a battery that can be built for less than $5,000, but he said that the company was in daily meetings with Panasonic trying to sort out the problems involved. ®
It is far better for the truth to tear my flesh to pieces, then for my soul to wander through darkness in eternal damnation.

Jet: So what kind of woman is she? What's Julia like?
Faye: Ordinary. The kind of beautiful, dangerous ordinary that you just can't leave alone.
Jet: I see.
Faye: Like an angel from the underworld. Or a devil from Paradise.
--------------------------------------------
1 Karma Chameleon point

Valmy

Thank God for this dude.  This is one of the main jobs of humanity right now and I am glad somebody is taking it seriously.
Quote"This is a Russian warship. I propose you lay down arms and surrender to avoid bloodshed & unnecessary victims. Otherwise, you'll be bombed."

Zmiinyi defenders: "Russian warship, go fuck yourself."

jimmy olsen

Don't think I didn't see that edit Valmy. :yeahright:
It is far better for the truth to tear my flesh to pieces, then for my soul to wander through darkness in eternal damnation.

Jet: So what kind of woman is she? What's Julia like?
Faye: Ordinary. The kind of beautiful, dangerous ordinary that you just can't leave alone.
Jet: I see.
Faye: Like an angel from the underworld. Or a devil from Paradise.
--------------------------------------------
1 Karma Chameleon point

Valmy

Quote from: jimmy olsen on June 18, 2014, 10:38:41 AM
Don't think I didn't see that edit Valmy. :yeahright:

He is an American citizen but I remembered he had like a dozen or so citizenships so I thought I was just asking for a moronic discussion.  So I took it out.  It seems my efforts failed :P
Quote"This is a Russian warship. I propose you lay down arms and surrender to avoid bloodshed & unnecessary victims. Otherwise, you'll be bombed."

Zmiinyi defenders: "Russian warship, go fuck yourself."

Grey Fox

Colonel Caliga is Awesome.

celedhring


derspiess

"If you can play a guitar and harmonica at the same time, like Bob Dylan or Neil Young, you're a genius. But make that extra bit of effort and strap some cymbals to your knees, suddenly people want to get the hell away from you."  --Rich Hall

Grey Fox

Quote from: derspiess on June 18, 2014, 11:17:38 AM
Can we send Tim there now?

Why would we want to send an outstanding citizen, a democrat, away and keep you?
Colonel Caliga is Awesome.

Valmy

I thought Tim was a Republican :hmm:

I mean not that it matters now that he has betrayed America for Korea.
Quote"This is a Russian warship. I propose you lay down arms and surrender to avoid bloodshed & unnecessary victims. Otherwise, you'll be bombed."

Zmiinyi defenders: "Russian warship, go fuck yourself."

Grey Fox

He pretends that yes. I don't believe him. Just like I don't believe Garbon.
Colonel Caliga is Awesome.

Razgovory

Actually SpaceX has done some impressive things.  They might actually be able to do this.  And Tim is a Republican for some unknown reason.
I've given it serious thought. I must scorn the ways of my family, and seek a Japanese woman to yield me my progeny. He shall live in the lands of the east, and be well tutored in his sacred trust to weave the best traditions of Japan and the Sacred South together, until such time as he (or, indeed his house, which will periodically require infusion of both Southern and Japanese bloodlines of note) can deliver to the South it's independence, either in this world or in space.  -Lettow April of 2011

Raz is right. -MadImmortalMan March of 2017

KRonn

Well it's about time! How hard could this be anyway? We're just dragging our feet on space exploration and travel. We should at least by now be able to easily and routinely visit the planets in our own solar system, especially the closest ones. Sheesh...

Malthus

The problem with manned space exploration is that, national pride aside, there is essentially no incentive to do it.
The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane—Marcus Aurelius

Norgy

Elon Musk will put HUMANS on MARS by 2026 but their battery pack will be empty.

Crazy_Ivan80

Quote from: Malthus on June 18, 2014, 01:13:52 PM
The problem with manned space exploration is that, national pride aside, there is essentially no incentive to do it.

national pride and to if it can be done is sufficient reason enough. Pushing outwards is wat this species does.