[Courtesy of SpaceX YouTube Channel]
"Are you prepared to die?." US space exploration company SpaceX CEO Elon Musk asked audiences during a presentation which covered the vision of interplanetary trips between Earth and Mars.
Musk, who owns US electric car company Tesla Motors, also revealed his plan to build a city on the Red Planet. Although accidents can happen, he said it's worth a shot. "It would be an incredible adventure."
A one-way ticket to Mars would cost about 200,000 dollars, Musk said, adding the price would be equivalent to buying an average home in the United States.
SpaceX's rocket booster will have a diameter of 12 meters (39 feet) and stand at a height of 122 meters. The spaceship has conducted a series of tests launching rockets into space and landing back.
Musk foresees that a manned space mission to Mars can be carried out successfully in 10 years. He said the interplanetary travel would take a maximum of 140 days but the time could be shortened to 30 days in later space exploration programs.
Musk said the spaceship aims to send 100 people at a time but the ultimate goal is aimed at sending 200 people. He said it would take from 40 years up to 100 years to build a "fully sustaining" civilized society on Mars after the first manned expedition.
Aju News Park Sae-jin = ajunews.com
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
