Elon Musk Warns About 'Dangerous, Cramped' Life on Mars; Ticket to Red Planet Will Likely Cost This Much

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk warns the future first inhabitants of Mars to not anticipate a beautiful life or even safe circumstances during their stay in the Red Planet.

Musk issued the warning while discussing SpaceX's ambitions to create a reusable "Starship" capable of transporting hundreds of individuals to Mars - along with the technology they'd need to thrive and make a colony in the future.

(Photo : JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)
OPSHOT - Elon Musk pauses and looks down as he speaks during a press conference at SpaceX's Starbase facility near Boca Chica Village in South Texas on February 10, 2022. - Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk delivered an eagerly-awaited update on SpaceX's Starship, a prototype rocket the company is developing for crewed interplanetary exploration.

Elon Musk Says Living On Mars Won't Be Easy

The billionaire compared Mars recruiting attempts to an ad for a mission to Antarctica with explorer Ernest Shackleton from the 1900s, per Geographical.co.uk.

The post, which has since been proven as fake (per Smithsonian Magazine), sought males eager to embark on a "dangerous expedition" with the assurance that a safe return was "doubtful."

"The sales pitch for going to Mars is, 'It's dangerous, it's cramped. You might not make it back. It's difficult, it's hard work,'" Musk told Chris Anderson, the head of TED conferences, per Insider.

Living on Mars, where the average temperature is -80 degrees Fahrenheit, would be substantially more challenging than living in Antarctica, where the average temperature is -70 degrees Fahrenheit.

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Mars' surface is rough, with several volcanoes and canyons. The planet's gravity is about one-third that of Earth, and its atmosphere is too thin for humans to breathe. A human without specific equipment would die in minutes on Mars owing to the planet's low air pressure.

The world's richest man told Anderson that SpaceX would figure out a pricing threshold for future rockets to Mars that would be reasonable for most people. He likewise mentioned a hypothetical ticket price of $100,000 as an example.

Between $100B and $10T
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 9, 2019

Elon Musk also told Anderson that those who inhabit Mars would use the chance to rethink society.

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Musk feels it is essential to extend humanity's or consciousness's life span as much as possible. He also told Anderson that external factors such as a large asteroid, mega volcanoes, dramatic climate change, World War III, and other factors might bring human civilisation to an end.

SpaceX, Musk's business, intends to construct a self-sufficient city in the next decades. However, the millionaire informed Anderson that he expects to be "far dead" before his wish comes true.

SpaceX, Musk's business, intends to construct the self-sustaining metropolis in the next decades. The millionaire, though, informed Anderson that he expects to be "far dead" before his wish comes true.

Musk announced in 2020 that by 2050, he hoped to build 1,000 Starships in ten years and transport one million people to Mars. He also believes the first human to walk on Mars would come in 2029.

According to Anderson, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk expects the Starship to make its maiden orbital launch "within a few months," pending regulatory permission.