Elon Musk wants to put a million people on Mars to 'safeguard the existence of humanity'

In a new interview with Aeon magazine, Elon Musk argues that we should put a million people on Mars if we want to "safeguard the existence of humanity" into the future.

As the CEO and CTO of SpaceX (in addition to being the CEO of Tesla), Musk has high hopes for colonizing Mars. Musk owns two-thirds of SpaceX, a company that makes rockets at a Los Angeles factory and sells rides on its vessels. In September, NASA announced that SpaceX, together with Boeing, will be the first private company to send astronauts to the International Space Station.

But Musk's reasons for sending people to space aren't just for exploration purposes: According to Aeon's Ross Andersen, Musk believes that "going to Mars is as urgent and crucial as lifting billions out of poverty, or eradicating deadly disease." Here's a snippet from Musk's statements to Andersen:

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Andersen adds that Musk often thinks about "the mysterious absence of intelligent life in the observable Universe." If anyone can find that intelligent life, it may just be him. Read the full interview with Musk over at Aeon.