Nobody has ever accused Elon Musk of thinking too small. At the International Astronautical Congress (IAC) in Adelaide, Australia, on Thursday night, Musk, wearing his SpaceX hat, talked about his plans to land a rocket on Mars as soon as 2022, to lay the groundwork for human colonies. The date is "aspirational," he acknowledged. But "I feel fairly confident that we can complete the ship and be ready for launch in about five years. Five years seems like a long time to me." He envisioned two crewed flights in 2024, building the beginning of a human colony.
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