Elon Musk Reveals "Game Plan" To Send 1 Million People To Mars

Billionaire Elon Musk has once again unveiled his ambitious plans to establish a human settlement on Mars in the near future. Mr Musk's obsession with the Red Planet is nothing new, and the SpaceX CEO has been vocal about his views on establishing a human colony on the planet. Now, responding to an X post from Tesla Owners Silicon Valley, Mr Musk shared his "game plan" to relocate one million people to Mars. 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. 

"Starship is the largest rocket ever built and it'll take us to Mars," tweeted Tesla Owners Silicon Valley. To this, Mr Musk replied, "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," he added. 

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

Mr Musk also reacted to another post on Monday, 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, Mr 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

Mr Musk has repeatedly said that he wants to make humanity a "multi-planetary species" by establishing a colony on the Red Planet. In 2011, he stated that he would put a man on Mars in the next 10 years. However, in 2022 he revealed that he has pushed back his target date for reaching the Red Planet. In an X post, he said that he now sees 2029 as the earliest date humans might first step on Mars. 

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When Pune-based techie Pranay Pathole asked him how confident he was of completing the starship's first crew mission to Mars before 2030, Mr Musk responded, "Still early stages on that. Getting Starship reliably to orbit, then achieving full & immediate reusability of both stages is by far top priority."

Notably, if Mr Musk's target date slips much further into the 2030s, it will be very close to when the US space agency NASA is aiming to send the first astronauts to Mars.