Elon Musk, the ambitious CEO of SpaceX, has expressed an outrageous plan to transport humans to the fourth planet from the sun, Mars – with the purpose of making it habitable. His mission is to launch a megarocket called ‘Starship’ and fly a team of enthusiastic individuals to the Red Planet by 2024. By his estimate, a thousand or more starships carrying one million passengers would be needed in order to establish a self-sustaining Martian city. But his commitment to putting people on Mars is not only grand, it has practical implications, even if it remains technically unachievable in the near future.
Musk has a very clear goal in mind: “It would be an incredible adventure. I think it would be the most inspiring thing that one could do”. His ultimate aim is for humanity to be a “multi-planetary species”, living on different planets, but still connected as a single species. That’s why he wants to send people to Mars in the first place. Moreover, Musk wants to achieve this goal within the next 10-15 years. He has calculated that the most cost- and time-efficient option is to use the SpaceX Falcon Heavy, which is the world’s most powerful operational space rocket, carrying people to Mars in just 1.5 to 2.5 years.
The concept of space travel first spawned in Musk’s mind when he was on sabbatical, travelling around Australia. “On the trip,” he recounted in a speech at the Royal Aeronautical Society, his inspiration came from seeing “that all of earth’s problems [were] solvable”. It felt to him like “we could colonise Mars, and make life multi-planetary, and extend the light of consciousness from Earth… to the stars”. But he knew that this was no small feat; he soon started exploring possibilities for making such a plan a reality.
Remarkably, Musk found that technology, rather than finance, is the greatest impediment to the success of his mission. “We need to to make sure the transportation system is capable,” he explained, “so it actually must be capable of taking people there and bringing people back. That’s the key thing. It’s the hardest part”. Thus, the ultimate challenge facing SpaceX is creating a spacecraft that can make the journey in approximately 90 days, colonising the Martian surface with self-sustaining liquid oxygen, methane and water production facilities.
Significantly, Musk has already stated that the mission will not be cheap, but it will be interesting. He has estimated that the cost of transporting a person to Mars could reach about $200,000, although he wants to find ways of reducing this substantially. In March 2019, he proposed a competition to the space community: “Who can build the best Mars transport system?”. In September 2019, Musk presented an updated version of the Starship spacecraft, which could make such an interplanetary voyage feasible.
But Musk is still a long way from achieving his dream of colonising the Red Planet. The Starship is still only a prototype, and the journey from Earth to Mars is much longer and harder than originally anticipated. In order to make it possible, new technology has to be developed, and lots of money has to be invested. Still, despite the obstacles, Musk is not giving up on his plans.
How Much Money has been Invested in the Project so Far?
Aside from SpaceX’s own budget, one of Musk’s primary sources of funding is billionaire Yuri Milner – who made a $100 million dollar investment in SpaceX. This injection of capital allowed SpaceX to significantly increase its ambitions and investing in a more powerful super rocket – the Big Falcon Rocket – which could transport its passengers in a matter of weeks, rather than the traditional months-long trip.
Along with money, engineers and scientists from all over the world have been contributing to the cause by working on the project, designing new technologies and coming up with innovative solutions such as the Interplanetary Transport System, which is a new, long-range transportation system designed for Mars and beyond.
In April 2019, Musk’s mission received a major boost when the US Army awarded a contract to SpaceX to develop a reusable rocket for military purposes, which could pay up to $2.3 billion over several years, depending on the success of the project.
Huge amount of investment is required to make Musk’s dream a reality. He has estimated that the cost of transporting a person to Mars could reach up to 200,000 dollars, and the entire project could cost up to 10 billion dollars. Yet, despite the high cost, he and his team remain optimistic. The real question is, will he and SpaceX be able to raise the money in time if they want to launch the megarocket before 2024?
What Obstacles Stand in the Way?
The biggest obstacle, as previously mentioned, is technological. To get the Starship to Mars, SpaceX must invent and build new technologies, from the rocket itself to the landers and habitats, to the lifesupport systems that could sustain human beings for years away from home. Moreover, developing such technologies presents a host of logistical challenges, as well as ethical and political considerations.
Further, Musk needs to find ways to make the mission affordable. If the cost of a ticket to Mars is too high, most people won’t be able to go, and the chances of creating a lasting colony diminish drastically. Moreover, the logistics of such a mission are immense. A trip to Mars is a one-way ticket; if you don’t return, there is no coming back. It is therefore crucial that the mission is well-prepared and well-funded enough to ensure its success.
Another major obstacle is access to space. Currently, no one has a parking spot in orbit. This means Musk and his team need to find a way to get to space and back, and they need to do it in a much more efficient way than has ever been done before. There is also the issue of orbital debris, since space is a finite resource and debris from other missions can be a huge problem for future missions.
Lastly, there is the question of the general public’s opinion on space exploration. People need to understand why it is important to explore space, and why is Musk spending so much money and investing so much time into the success of this mission. If people are not convinced, then investing in a project as huge as this one could prove to be a huge risk.
What Benefits Could Such a Mission Provide?
A mission to Mars would ultimately bring many benefits to society. For starters, such a mission would encourage people to explore space, a feat which was once thought impossible. It would also increase people’s knowledge of space and how it works, leading to better understanding of our place in the universe. Moreover, the technologies developed for this mission could be used for other projects, such as space exploration and habitation.
In addition, this mission has the potential to change the global economy. Tourism on Mars could become an invaluable industry, and businesses would be motivated to invest more into space exploration. Greater advances in technology could lead to more robotics and artificial intelligence, both of which could benefit humanity in numerous ways.
Finally, this mission could also have a psychological effect: colonising Mars would be a source of immense pride for humanity, and could potentially lead to a greater sense of unity and solidarity. Such an achievement could bring people closer together, and launch us into a new era of exploration and discovery.
What Alternatives Could Make Colonising Mars Possible?
The alternative to Musk’s mission could be for us to focus on understanding space and on developing the technology necessary to make interplanetary travel a reality. Other alternatives include collaboration with other space agencies, such as NASA and the ESA, as well as from private sector initiatives such as the Lunar Lander Challenge. Another idea is to develop a way to travel to Mars using solar energy, using a sail or cladding a surface of a satellite, so as to reduce the travel time.
There might also be a way to use existing technologies and to reduce the costs of a standard, albeit long, journey to Mars. If a space ship was able to run on fusion reactors, then the journey could take longer but fuel costs could be significantly lowered. Finally, there is the possibility of developing alternative fuels and propulsion systems, as well as designing more efficient aircraft, to reduce the cost and time of interplanetary travel.
What Preparations Need to be Made?
In order to make Musk’s mission a success, a variety of preparations need to be made. Firstly, and most importantly, a suitable spacecraft needs to be built, and the right technologies have to be developed. This includes researching new propulsion systems, as well as engineering solutions for landers and habitats for colonising the planet. Resupply trips need to be planned, and a detailed contingency plan needs to be established.
Logistically, the mission needs to be planned, accounting for timeframe and budget. A team of astronauts needs to be recruited and trained. Additionally, the safety and well-being of these astronauts need to be taken into account and appropriate protocols need to be set up for their protection and for the health of the future colony. Finally, public opinion needs to be taken into account and a strategy for public engagement needs to be established.
How Could Colonising Mars Change the Human Race?
Colonising Mars could bring about major changes in the human race. Firstly, as we become a multi-planetary species, our perspectives on the universe and our place in it could take on a whole new level of understanding. Access to new resources, opportunities and knowledge could be available to us, and our capacity to innovate would be greatly increased.
Moreover, it could bring about a new era of social cohesion. We could form a more unified human species – which could either lead to greater peace and harmony or cause political tensions – as well as build a much more collaborative society, with new institutions and regulations to protect the interests of all citizens, not just those on Earth.
Finally, colonising Mars could open up our imaginations and spur on a whole new wave of creativity, with breakthroughs in technology, science, and the arts. This could eventually lead us to new frontiers of exploration and learning, which could reshape humanity’s destiny in ways that we cannot yet fathom.
