SpaceX founder( and South African born ;) ) Elon Musk has announced his plans of having manned ( or womanned) missions to Mars. He has said it could begin as early as 2022 which from this post is 6 years time!
He said there were “two fundamental paths” facing humanity today. “One is that we stay on Earth forever and then there will be an inevitable extinction event,” he said. “The alternative is to become a spacefaring civilization, and a multi-planetary species.”
The big thing Elon spoke about was making it affordable to as many people as possible. The First costs could cost around $200,000 which then could decrease to even lower than $100,000. He also stated that we aren't only bound to mars, we could visit the kuiper belt, and even further if there are fueling stations set up on routes.
Imagine the possibilities!
If we were to have fueling stations set up along our routes to distant planets, we could travel incredibly far distances.
How will this be achieved ?
Well he is going to be using a space ship much like the falcon 9 but just quite a bit larger.
The Falcon 9
The booster, and the “interplanetary module” on top of it, would be nearly as long as two Boeing 747 aircraft. It could initially carry up to 100 passengers, he said.
If there are any fans of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Elon stated that the first ship to go to Mars will be named The Heart of Gold as a tribute to the ship powered by an "Infinite improbability drive"
The one question still remains
How will we get home from mars? I'm sure most of us have heard of Mars one and the story goes that you are sent to mars on a one way trip as there is no way to get you back ( For the time being)
Elon has an ingenious plan
Musk also outlined a system by which fuel could be synthesized on Mars from water and carbon dioxide in order to fuel return journeys to Earth.
Imagine this could be your view in a few years time
If you enjoyed my post please follow me
Sources : https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/sep/27/elon-musk-spacex-mars-colony