SpaceX news: Elon Musk confirms he’s going to Mars after world’s richest man announcement

Elon Musk surpasses Bezos as ‘world’s richest person’

The SpaceX chief has been officially crowned the world’s richest man on Thursday after his personal fortune topped that of Amazon boss Jeff Bezos. Elon Musk, 49, is now worth an astounding £136billion ($185billion), which he claims is being used for the betterment of humanity. The South African tech mogul addressed his critics this week when he temporarily pinned to his Twitter profile an exchange from more than two years ago.

In the Twitter post from October 2018, Mr Musk defended his accrued wealth which in July of that year was estimated at about £18.1billion ($24.6billion).

The SpaceX chief has long expressed his desire to colonise Mars and the latest net worth announcement looks to have bolstered his resolve.

The mission statement, which he has since unpinned, reads: “About half my money is intended to help problems on Earth and half to help establish a self-sustaining city on Mars to ensure the continuation of life (all species) in case Earth gets hit by a meteor like the dinosaurs or WW3 happens and we destroy ourselves.”

The first half of the tweet is likely a reference to Tesla, Mr Musk’s electric vehicle company.

We will use your email address only for sending you newsletters. Please see our Privacy Notice for details of your data protection rights.

Mr Musk has previously spoken about Tesla’s role in saving the environment, claiming a move towards electric “is very important for the future of the world”.

In 2018, he said: “It’s very important for all life on Earth.

“This supersedes political parties, race, creed, religion, it doesn’t matter.

“If we don’t solve the environment, we’re all damned.”

The other half of his pinned tweet is a reference to SpaceX and his plans of putting boots on Mars before the decade is over.

Mr Musk is a staunch believer humanity’s future rests on our ability to leave the planet and populate other worlds.

His ambition has recently earned him praise from best-selling author and futurist Michio Kaku who compared his vision to that of late astronomer Carl Sagan.

In 2019, Mr Musk opened up about the staggering cost of materialising his vision.

He predicted humans could build a city by 2059, although it would come with a $73.7billion to £7.37trillion ($100billion to $10trillion) pricetag.

DON’T MISS…
NASA confirms 4 new space missions – Aspera, Pandora, StarBurst & PUEO [REPORT]
Milky Way is rushing towards a crash that will give us a ‘new home’ [INSIGHT]
SpaceX video: Watch Starship SN9 prototype test engines for first time [VIDEO]

And SpaceX fans will be glad to know the company is pushing forwards with the plans.

One of SpaceX’s top priorities right now is the development of the interplanetary launch vehicle, Starship.

The prototype rocket is being developed at SpaceX’s facilities in South Texas, where the latest iteration, Serial Number 9 or SN9, is expected to launch in the coming days.

Mr Musk has teased his company could get the first humans to Mars as early as 2026, with the first uncrewed landing by 2024.

Speaking at the 2020 Axel Springer Award Show in Berlin Germany, the billionaire said: “I feel fairly confident about six years from now.

“I’d say if you say six years from now, I think highly confident.

“If we get lucky, maybe four years and we’re trying to send an uncrewed vehicle there in two years.”

Mr Musk’s plans for Mars include establishing a base of operations that is self-sustaining.

In the longterm, he imagines a fleet of Starships ferrying thousands of people to and from Mars each year.

He said in 2016: “This is not about everyone moving to Mars, this is about becoming multiplanetary.”

Source: Read Full Article

Previous post Iran unveils secret underground missile base with anti-ship weapons
Next post Zayn Malik Debuts New Single 'Vibez' Ahead of Third Album: 'Don't Keep Me Waiting'