Elon Musk has warned that the first people who go to Mars “might die.”
Speaking to Peter Diamandis on April 22, Musk shut down the claims that going to Mars would be an “escape hatch” for the rich. He emphasized the danger and difficulties the first Mars explorers will experience.
“You might die, it’s going to be uncomfortable and probably won’t have good food,” he said.
“Honestly, a bunch of people will probably die in the beginning,” he emphasized.
Musk also said that it would be an “arduous and dangerous journey where you may not come back alive.”
The billionaire founder and CEO of Tesla and Space X boss admitted that it’s “not for everyone,” but it will be a “glorious adventure” and an “amazing experience.”
This isn’t the first time Musk has warned about the mission to Mars.
At a virtual “Humans to Mars” conference in September of last year, Musk said that getting to Mars isn’t even the hard part. Rather, setting the planet up to support human life is where problems will arise.
“Getting to Mars, I think, is not the fundamental issue,” he said. “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 emphasize 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,” he added.
Musk believes that we will have humans on Mars by 2026. He wants one million humans living on Mars by 2050.
Back in December, he said, “I feel fairly confident about six years from now. The Earth-Mars synchronisation occurs roughly every 26 months, so we had one this year, in the summer. That means in roughly two years there’ll be another one, and then two years after that.”
“So I think six years from now, highly confident, if we get lucky, maybe four years. And then we want to try to send an un-crewed vehicle there in two years,” Musk added.
I think that is a realistic approach to flights to Mars since people forget that back when Columbus made his voyages the norm was to take twice as many people on the ship than needed because the expectation was that 50% would die. Today we want everything “sanitized” and ll “fluffy nice”. That is why we can’t move forward because some government commission will stop it as being too dangerous. As long as people are allowed to make the choice on their own free will and not forced to make the journey – let people make their own decisions. My feelings are that if 1/2 those who started out make it – that will be a success, and if 1/2 of those that land last a year – that’s even more realistic ! Dozens of people died tried doing the first loop in an airplane
If you take the risk knowingly, and are prepared for your decision, then I see no reason why people shouldn’t be allowed to try. But don’t condemn all people not being able to try because of what “could” happen. We get in cars daily, kill more people that most wars did in 20 years in one year – and no one says not to drive.
This is not what we want to hear. This is not 1492 or 1620 when the Pilgrims landed in America. This is the 21st century. We have the technology to colonize Mars. All we need are rockets to get us there and people who are willing to travel there. Safety is first and foremost. We must protect our astronauts from cosmic radiation. Comfort is next. The rockets that will take us to Mars should be comfortable. It should be equipped with the latest in entertainment media. There should be exercising equipment on the ship or ships. Everything should be ready when the first colonizers reach Mars. We should send prefabricated housing, hot houses, hospitals, and even entire malls and shopping centers to make Mars really attractive for our colonizers and future visitors.