Elon Musk took to X to lay out a bold timeline for human settlement on Mars.

Elon Musk took to X to lay out a bold timeline for human settlement on Mars. The posts came after Bill Ackman advocated for a health-conscious ad campaign. Elon Musk reveals when SpaceX will launch first uncrewed Starships to Mars (REUTERS/Mike Segar)(REUTERS)Elon Musk reveals when SpaceX will launch first uncrewed Starships to Mars (REUTERS/Mike Segar)(REUTERS)

“Without our health and that of our children, we have nothing. And for those who care about our economy, national debt, and deficits, there is no more important initiative,” Ackman pointed out on X.

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Sharing Ackman’s post, Musk wrote, “SpaceX created the first fully reusable rocket stage and, much more importantly, made the reuse economically viable. Making life multiplanetary is fundamentally a cost per ton to Mars problem.”

“It currently costs about a billion dollars per ton of useful payload to the surface of Mars. That needs to be improved to $100k/ton to build a self-sustaining city there, so the technology needs to be 10,000 times better. Extremely difficult, but not impossible,” he added.

‘The first crewed flights to Mars will be in 4 years’

Musk then went on to seize the opportunity to talk about his plan for Mars. “The first Starships to Mars will launch in 2 years when the next Earth-Mars transfer window opens,” he wrote. “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 4 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,” Musk added.

SpaceX’s digital home has touted the Starship as “a fully reusable transportation system designed to carry both crew and cargo to Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars and beyond.” The company’s website reveals some interesting facts about Mars too, saying, “It is a little cold, but we can warm it up. Its atmosphere is primarily CO2 with some nitrogen and argon and a few other trace elements, which means that we can grow plants on Mars just by compressing the atmosphere.”

“Gravity on Mars is about 38% of that of Earth, so you would be able to lift heavy things and bound around. Furthermore, the day is remarkably close to that of Earth,” it adds.

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