SpaceX founder Elon Musk laid out his highly ambitious vision of manned flights to Mars, which he said could begin in 2022 - three years earlier than previous estimates.
However, the question of funding such extravagantly expensive missions remains unclear.
“I really want to make Mars seem like a possible route - which is something we can achieve in our lifetime,” Musk told the audience in his speech at the International Astronautics Congress in Guadalajara, Mexico on Tuesday.
He said that humanity now has "two main paths." “First, we stay on Earth forever, and then we will inevitably die out,” he said. "The alternative should be a civilization traveling in space, as well as multi-planetary species."
To achieve this, Musk briefly described a multi-stage launch and transport system, including a reusable accelerator - like the Falcon 9 that SpaceX has already successfully tested - only of a much larger size. The launch vehicle and the "interplanetary module" on it will be almost as long as two Boeing 747s. It will initially carry up to 100 passengers, he said.
According to Musk, the first ship to go to Mars will be called the Heart of Gold, a tribute to the ship that powered the "engine of endless improbability" in Douglas Adams' science fiction novel The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
Similar modules, also launched by reusable boosters, will remain in Earth orbit for refueling interplanetary spacecraft. So they will be able to make multiple trips, including to other parts of the solar system, such as Enceladus, the moon of Saturn, on which NASA's Cassini mission recently found signs of ocean groundwater that could fuel life.
Musk also described a system by which fuel can be synthesized on Mars from water and carbon dioxide, it should be enough to travel back to Earth.
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He estimated the current cost of sending someone to Mars "at about $ 10 billion per person," although it was unclear if he was referring to using existing rocket systems or the first flights on his proposed system. He said prices would gradually come down thanks to reusable spacecraft, in-orbit refueling and rocket fuel production on Mars, which would cut costs by an "order of magnitude."
But he hardly tried to solve the difficult problem of the initial cost of building the system. Talking about potential revenue streams, Musk offered two options - sending cargo and astronauts to the International Space Station and launching satellites - both already part of SpaceX's business model.
He also listed three other sources of income, simply calling it "kickstarter", "profit" and - intriguingly - "steal underwear."
When asked about funding, Musk said, “I am collecting assets personally to really fund this. I have no other goal than to make life interplanetary."
Bill Nye, executive director of the Planetary Society and host of the hit TV show Bill Nye the Science Guy, was in the audience and called the energy in the audience "extraordinary."
"Watching the crowd going crazy today, I realized that the best in space exploration is yet to come," he told The Guardian, adding that Musk presented "a very aggressive schedule that people found believable."
“Regardless of what we send to Mars, I really hope we do a thorough, detailed study of life before we consider sending people and goods. I believe that the discovery of life or evidence of the presence of life will change our understanding of space and our place in it,”added Nye.
In a statement, NASA said they welcome Musk's plans. “NASA welcomes all those who want to take the giant step and promote travel to Mars. We are very glad that the world community is working on solving the problem of a long-term stay of man on Mars. This journey will require the best and brightest minds from government and industry, and the fact that Mars is the main topic of discussion is very encouraging."
NASA reports that "extraordinary progress" has been made in developing a plan for long-term exploration of Mars and partnerships have been established in the public and private sectors.