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Elon Musk Says Humans Will Live In Glass Domes On Mars Before Terraforming

Elon Musk Says Humans Will Live In Glass Domes On Mars Before Terraforming

He said the transition will be too slow for our lifetime but it will happen

Dominic Smithers

Dominic Smithers

Elon Musk has said humans will live in glass domes on Mars before eventually terraforming.

The tech billionaire is a keen space travel enthusiast and has invested billions into his SpaceX programme in a bid to get man to Mars as quickly as possible.

He recently took to Twitter to share his vision of the future and said he is certain we will secure a base on the planet fairly soon.

Responding to a question about what life would look like, Musk wrote: "Life in glass domes at first. Eventually, terraformed to support life, like Earth."

Expanding on the point, he added: "Terraforming will be too slow to be relevant in our lifetime. However, we can establish a human base their in our lifetime.

"At least a future spacefaring civilisation - discovering our ruins - will be impressed humans got that far."

Last month, SpaceX also discussed what life might look like when man finally manages to land on the Red Planet.

According to the company, Mars will be a 'free planet', not governed by Earth laws, when the company's planned colony opens.

The plans were laid out in Starlink's beta consumer service terms that were recently sent to customers.

Under a section titled Governing Law, Musk's company lays out its plans for laws on the Red Planet, saying it will rely on its own 'self-governing principles', which will be set up when the time comes.

The section reads: "For services provided on Mars, or in transit to Mars via Starship or other colonisation spacecraft, the parties recognise Mars as a free planet and that no Earth-based government has authority or sovereignty over Martian activities.

"Accordingly, disputes will be settled through self-governing principles, established in good faith, at the time of the Martian settlement."

Speaking during the recent Mars Society's annual conference, Musk said the settlement on Mars should be self-sufficient and not reliant on Earth.

He said: "This really might come down to: Are we going to create a self-sustaining city on Mars before or after World War 3.

Musk says humans will live in glass domes when we finally land on Mars.
PA

"And I think the probability of it being created after World War 3 - hopefully there's never a World War 3 - but the probability of after is low, so we should try and make the city self-sustaining before any possible World War 3."

And speaking in September during a virtual 'Humans to Mars' conference, the 49-year-old billionaire promised that a Martian settlement would be 'glorious' but admitted that it's not without its risks.

He said: "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.

"We're going to build a propellant plant, an initial Mars base - Mars Base Alpha - and then get it to the point where it's self-sustaining.

"I want to emphasise that this is a very hard and dangerous, difficult thing, not for the faint of heart. Good chance you'll die, it's going to be tough going, but it will be pretty glorious if it works out."

Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: Science, elon musk, mars, travel, space, Politics