The 47-year-old tech entrepreneur said he believes the journey to the Red Planet may become possible within the next seven years — while also admitting that there is a 'high chance of death' on the way there.
"I know exactly what to do," Musk said on the ‘Axios on HBO' program. "I'm talking about moving there".
According to Musk, who has already set forth a number of daring goals, including delivering affordable Tesla electric cars and fully reusable rockets, as well as a brand new rapid transport system called Hyperloop — all of which he has yet to fully deliver on — has now claimed that travelling to Mars can be made as cheap as 'a couple of hundred thousand dollars'.
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Today, the US pays $81 million per seat in Russian Soyuz spacecraft — the only option of getting humans into space at the moment.
However, Musk, who pledged to be deadly serious, said that travelling to Mars would become an escape option for the super-rich of the Earth. According to the businessman, "the probability of dying on Mars is much higher than Earth".
"It's going to be hard. There's a good chance of death, going in a little through deep space," he said.
According to his vision, the chosen few who would actually venture to the Red Planet, will have to immediately get busy and work non-stop to build the first-ever Mars base.
"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," he said. "We think you can come back but we're not sure. Now, does that sound like an escape hatch for rich people?"
Despite bold aspirations, Musk's dream for cheap space travel might have to wait, since NASA has reportedly initiated a safety review of his SpaceX company after a notorious incident, during which Musk smoked weed and drank whiskey during a podcast show earlier this year.
According to NASA, the review — which would also cover Boeing, another company interested in commercial space flights — is intended to make sure that both companies are "meeting NASA's requirements for workplace safety, including the adherence to a drug-free environment".
Earlier in September, Musk reached a settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission to step down as Tesla's chairman after he fired off a tweet suggesting he was planning to take the company private. Musk paid a $20 million fine as part of the settlement.
