Charisa Bossinakis
Elon Musk has set his sights on humans landing on Mars by the end of the decade.
Space_Hub’s Twitter asked their followers when they reckon it would be possible for people to land on Mars.
The SpaceX founder replied saying it will be by 2029.
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Last month, Musk shared the first glimpse into his mars expedition by posting a five-minute simulation video of what the trip would look like, with the caption: "This will be real in our lifetime."
But it might just be sooner than we think.
The video shows astronauts boarding a Starship vessel before the aircraft is launched and rockets through space.
The astronauts eventually land on Mars and the viewer gets to see an existing human settlement on the Red Planet.
Musk founded SpaceX in 2002 with the dream to create reusable rockets, commercial spacecraft and revolutionary space technology.
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Since launching the company, Musk’s vision has included the goal of eventually colonising Mars through the Starship aircraft, which will have the ability to carry as many as 100 people at a time.
Starship will be a partially reusable aircraft while looking and feeling like a commercial airline with short turnaround times in between.
Musk said at the Humans to Mars conference in September 2020 that creating the rocket will require many tests before its officially launched.
He added that while production is moving swiftly, SpaceX still has a fair way to go.
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“We’ve got to first make the thing work; automatically deliver satellites and do hundreds of missions with satellites before we put people on board," he said. "We’re making good progress.
“The thing that really impedes progress on Starship is the production system ... A year ago there was nothing there and now we’ve got quite a lot of production capability. So we’re rapidly making more and more ships.”
He added: “Getting to Mars, I think, is not the fundamental issue. The fundamental issue is building a base, building a city on Mars that is self-sustaining.”
Initially, SpaceX wanted to see people land on the red planet in 2024, but Musk pushed that expectation back in 2020, saying he was ‘highly confident’ the company could land there in ‘about six years from now’.
But even with the goal-post moving ever so slightly, the possibility of humans landing on the Martian planet in only seven years from now is still incredibly soon.