Elon Musk Vows to Beat NASA to Mars

SpaceX founder Elon Musk has stated his team will be able to land humans on Mars between the years 2026 and 2028. This would be almost a decade before NASA plans to set the first human crew on the Red Planet.

Assuming SpaceX is able to set humans on Mars in the next 12 to 14 years, several more flights could leave in the decade before NASA astronauts arrive. That would make the government-run mission a redundant program.

Musk said, “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. But the thing that matters long term is to have a self-sustaining city on Mars, to make life multiplanetary.”

SpaceX has developed the Dragon spacecraft and Falcon booster, capable of launching payloads to orbit. They have also started supplying the International Space Station with supplies.

However, the company still has challenges to overcome before they are ready to put a crew on Mars. One of the will be designing and manufacturing the Falcon Heavy booster, capable of launching a human mission to the Red Planet. When built, it will be the most powerful rocket built since the Saturn Five rocket that launched astronauts to the moon.

Mars One, a Dutch group intent on putting people on Mars, intends to use the massive rocket to launch their colony to the Red Planet.

Elon Musk also founded electric car developer Tesla Motors. That company recently released all their patents, to spurn innovation. There has been no word from Musk about a similar move for Space X.

The space entrepreneur told the press, “We should be on a path to creating a self-sustaining civilization on Mars… It will ensure the continued existence of humanity and life as we know it if there is a calamity on Earth, and it will be the greatest adventure in history.”

http://www.nbcnews.com/science/space/elon-musk-promises-spacex-will-stay-course-mars-n133971

http://www.cnbc.com/id/101706968

http://sunnewsonline.com/new/?p=68470

http://www.businessinsider.com/humans-on-mars-2014-6

http://www.forbes.com/sites/ericmack/2014/06/18/elon-musk-aims-for-humans-on-mars-by-2026