Elon Musk says he’ll have greater than 1,000,000 folks residing on Mars in 30 years
Elon Musk says his rocket-catcher will help one million people live on Mars.
Much of the world watched spellbound as the SpaceX guru snared a giant booster from his Starship rocket for the first time in history.
The remarkable capture paves the way for low cost space travel involving re-usable rockets carrying giant payloads to the Moon and beyond like an interplanetary railroad. That will allow humans to move to cities on the Moon and Mars.
READ MORE: Elon Musk’s new Tesla robot makes chilling confession about ‘what it hopes to achieve’
Click for more of the latest news from across the world from the Daily Star.
As SpaceX staff greeted the success with cheers and tears, Musk posted on X: “The tower has caught the rocket!!
(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
“If civilization is reasonably stable for the next 30 years a self-sustaining city of a million+ people will be built on Mars.’’
Prior to the mission he said if it was a success he hoped the “first crewed flights to Mars will be in four years”.
“The first Starships to Mars will launch in two years when the next Earth-Mars transfer window opens,’’ he said.
“These will be uncrewed to test the reliability of landing intact on Mars. If those landings go well then the first crewed flights to Mars will be in four years.
“Flight rate will grow exponentially from there with the goal of building a self-sustaining city in about 20 years.
“Being multiplanetary will vastly increase the probable lifespan of consciousness, as we will no longer have all our eggs, literally and metabolically, on one planet.’’
(Image: Corbis via Getty Images)
After Sunday’s lift-off the rocket’s giant first-stage ‘super heavy booster’ successfully returned to Earth ready to be used again.
It contained fuel to propel the 3,000-tonne rocket off the launchpad. After being emptied and detaching from the main body of the Starship rocket, the booster flew itself back to the launchpad where it was plucked out of the air by a set of giant mechanical fingers.
Thrusters within the booster ensured the 233ft tall tank approached the launch apparatus slowly and vertically so the ‘Mechazilla’ pincers could grab it safely.
A SpaceX spokesman said: “This is a day for the engineering history books.’’
Starship is viewed by boffins as the best option for interplanetary travel between Earth and Mars. The ability to reuse components such as the boosters is vital for the affordability of such missions.
For the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletters.
