SpaceX plans uncrewed Mars mission within two years

Shane McGlaun - Dec 2, 2020, 5:02am CST

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk gave an interview this week, where he talked about several different topics. One of the big topics he talked about was his company’s ambition for putting humans back on Mars. Musk mentioned that the company’s big shiny spacecraft known as Starship would have a high-altitude test later this week.

During the interview, he also mentioned that he expects humans to land on Mars in around six years, noting that he was “fairly confident” in that timeframe. Earth and Mars are most synchronized in orbit every 26 months. He said that SpaceX would do an uncrewed launch and landing on Mars at the next synchronization opportunity in about two years if all goes well.

Humans could first land on Mars in the next synchronization four years after the uncrewed landing. Musk also noted that his own trip into orbit would happen in 2 to 3 years. One of his key goals is to design technology to enable what he calls “a lot of people” to go to Mars to make human life interplanetary. He’s also aiming to have a base on the moon.

Something that SpaceX fans might not know is that Musk wants to be buried on Mars. One significant goal for Musk and his company is to have humans become a spacefaring society, which he believes is necessary for human survival. He wants to make living on Mars fun, exciting, and attractive rather than a necessary risk.

The first step in these ambitious plans is to build a spaceship used to carry humans to Mars. Starship is expected to conduct its first high-altitude flight test this week. The giant shiny metal ship has had multiple tests so far, and not all of them have gone to plan. SpaceX will also use that ship to help get supplies and astronauts to the moon for NASA.

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