From what we know about Elon Musk, one thing that’s almost certain is that the man is prone to ludicrous deadlines. Tesla’s CEO is at it again and this time he is promising to begin test flight of his new Mars spaceship in 2019. Speaking at the South by Southwest festival held in Austin, Texas, Musk said that he is confident that the company will be able to do short flights sometime next year.
Musk added that it was important for humans to develop the means to reach the Red Planet before the next “probable” world war. He argued that in the event of a full-blown nuclear conflict that may wipe out the Earth as we know it, it would be great to have a colony up in Mars that would guarantee the continuity of the human race.
The progress in space travel has been steady for Elon Musk and his company SpaceX. Although the company has had to endure difficult times including near bankruptcy in the recent years, the launch of the Falcon Heavy rocket in February was the clearest indicator that Musk is really trying to go beyond expectations in the space race.
The ultimate goal is to create a colony on Mars. During the Austin event, Elon Musk took a few minutes to explain what this colony would need in order to succeed. First, the Tesla CEO said that a direct democracy where people vote only on issues would be the ideal form of government there. The prospect of launching new industries from a new starting point was also an exciting prospect for him.
However, the SpaceX CEO was quick to remind the world of the potential dangers of Artificial Intelligence. Although Musk sees the development of a Mars colony as a fallback plan in case of a nuclear conflict here on Earth, he was quick to note that AI posed the biggest danger to humans. Musk says that even though he has never been a big fan of regulation, it’s important to develop a framework that allows a safe introduction of AI.
Elon Musk has often been accused by pro-AI experts of peddling controversies regarding the technology instead of taking the time to learn what the industry has to offer. But this is a position that the Tesla CEO has held for a long time.
The idea that people could actually travel to Mars and establish new livelihoods there has been public for years. It’s well known that the Red Planet is the only one in the solar system that can support human life. Efforts to facilitate travel to the planet have been intensified in the last few decades and Elon Musk’s SpaceX has been one of the leaders in this industry. Because of this, Musk’s promise of building a Mars spaceship should not be taken lightly. However, Tesla’s CEO is known for his insane timelines and it wouldn’t be the first time he falls behind schedule. After all, Tesla is still behind production targets for the Model 3. The targets were set by Musk himself a few years ago.
