Elon Musk: There’s a ’70 percent chance’ I’ll travel to Mars

AP

• SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said there’s a “70 percent chance”
  he’ll personally travel to Mars. 
• Musk told Axios that he believes Mars exploration is
  more than just a fantasy dreamed up by the super-wealthy who
  may want to use space travel as an “escape
  hatch.” 
• He also added that the risks of space travel are real,
  and there is a high-probability of death, even if you land
  safely.
• Still, he said he would not hesitate to travel
  there.

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said there’s a “70 percent chance” he’ll
personally travel to Mars.

Musk, 47, told Axios’ new program on HBO that he believes
Mars exploration is more than just a fantasy dreamed up by the
super-wealthy who may want to use space travel as an “escape
hatch.” 

“Your probability of dying on Mars is much higher than
earth,” he told Axios’ Mike Allen. “It’s gonna be hard.
There’s a good chance of death, going in a little (sic) can
through deep space.”

“We think you can come back but we’re not sure. Now, does
that sound like an escape hatch for rich people?”

Musk said that while flying to Mars would be difficult, landing
on the Red Planet may pose even more challenges.

“You might land successfully, and once you land successfully,
you’ll be working non-stop to build the base,” he suggested. “So,
you know, not much time for leisure. And even after doing
all this, it’s a very harsh environment. So … there’s a good
chance you die there.”

Still, Musk said that advancements in technology may allow for a
flight to Mars within as soon as seven years, with a ticket price
of “around a couple of hundred thousand dollars.” 

And despite the risks, Musk asserted that he would go without
hesitation. 

“There’s lots of people who climb mountains. People die on
Mount Everest all the time.”

“They like doing it for the challenge.”

Musk has spoken
often of colonizing Mars with his company SpaceX, and has
voiced concern about a potential backup plan for
humanity if Earth eventually becomes an
uninhabitable wasteland. Business Insider’s Dave Mosher
compiled a
speculative timeline on how SpaceX’ Mars exploration would
come to be. 

And over more than a decade, SpaceX has developed several
impressive aerospace systems: Falcon 1, its first orbital rocket;
Grasshopper, a small self-landing test
rocket; 
Falcon
9
, a reusable orbital-class
launcher; 
Dragon
,
a spaceship for cargo and soon NASA astronauts;
and 
Falcon
Heavy
, a super-heavy-lift launcher. 

Last week, the
Washington Post reported that NASA will launch a safety
review of SpaceX and Boeing, two companies it has contracted to
fly astronauts to the International Space Station. The move
follows Musk’s appearance on the “Joe Rogan Experience”
podcast in September where he was
seen on the livestream program smoking weed and drinking
whiskey.

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