Elon Musk says a ‘bunch of people will probably die’ during Mars mission | indy100

Elon Musk has admitted that the race to get humans on Mars won’t be smooth-sailing – and did it using the bluntest of terms.

The SpaceX founder predicted that “a bunch of people will probably die” as part of the mission to place people on the red planet.

“You might die, it’s going to be uncomfortable and probably won’t have good food,” Musk told an interview with Peter Diamandis, the founder and chairman of the X Prize Foundation for scientific discovery.

He also laughed at how his planned Mars mission was being seen as “some escape hatch for rich people.”

Then compared it to explorer Ernest Shackleton’s expeditions to Antarctica.

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“It’s dangerous, it’s uncomfortable, it’s a long journey where you may not come back alive,” he said.

“Honestly, a bunch of people will probably die in the beginning.”

However, on the bright side, he stressed that it will also be “a glorious adventure and it will be an amazing experience.”

Now that’s a juxtaposition if ever we’ve heard one.

Musk emphasised that the ambitious quest will not be “not for everyone,” — adding, with a chuckle: “Volunteers only.”

SpaceX has launched more than 100 rockets over the past decade in its efforts to bring tourists to the Moon and Mars — but a number of the unmanned prototypes have gone up in flames.

And yet, the ever-optimistic Musk predicted in December that his company will get humans on Mars by 2026.

The SpaceX missions are based in Boca Chica, Texas, which increasingly goes by the nickname “Starbase”.

Musk said he wants to expand the site into a city which would be christened with the sci-fi sounding name.

Back in 2015, Musk discussed putting a city on Mars after a successful rocket landing by SpaceX.

In June 2017, he published a paper on making humanity a multi-planetary species, laying out plans for having as many as 1 million people living on the red planet.

All we can say is, where that guy’s concerned, anything seems possible.