SpaceX Wants To Make Your Journey To Mars Like A Luxury Cruise

Elon Musk has unveiled his plans to send people to Mars in more detail, and wants the journey to the red planet to be as comfortable as possible.

In a commentary published in the journal New Space, Musk outlines plans to make the months-long journey as entertaining and appealing as possible, in order to attract more people to undertake the mission to colonize Mars.

“The crew compartment or the occupant compartment is set up so that you can do zero-gravity games—you can float around,” he writes. “There will be movies, lecture halls, cabins, and a restaurant. It will be really fun to go. You are going to have a great time!”

Musk’s company SpaceX is nowhere near sending people to Mars at this point, but he hopes to reduce the cost of flying into space so much that a trip to Mars would cost the same as buying a house or less. Describing the mission to colonize the neighboring planet as creating a “backup drive” for civilization, he refers to the idea as insurance against apocalyptic events here on Earth.

“In order to make it appealing and increase that portion of the Venn diagram where people actually want to go, it has got to be really fun and exciting—it cannot feel cramped or boring,” Musk adds.

Musk is planning an interplanetary travel system

Musk also reveals why he has chosen Mars as the target planet, saying that the Moon is too small to establish an interplanetary presence, and Venus is “a high-pressure – super-high-pressure – hot acid bath … not at all like the goddess.”

“It would be quite fun to be on Mars because you would have gravity that is about 37% of that of Earth, so you would be able to lift heavy things and bound around,” he explains.

His plans to make space travel cheaper are already well underway. Reusable rockets could reduce costs dramatically, as would refueling in orbit rather than landing. But when can we expect to start blasting off to Mars? One slide in Musk’s presentation suggested flights to the red planet could begin as early as 2023. “If things go super-well, it might be in the 10-year timeframe, but I do not want to say that is when it will occur.”

Since you are here, we would like to share our vision for the future of travel - and the direction Culture Trip is moving in.

Culture Trip launched in 2011 with a simple yet passionate mission: to inspire people to go beyond their boundaries and experience what makes a place, its people and its culture special and meaningful — and this is still in our DNA today. We are proud that, for more than a decade, millions like you have trusted our award-winning recommendations by people who deeply understand what makes certain places and communities so special.

Increasingly we believe the world needs more meaningful, real-life connections between curious travellers keen to explore the world in a more responsible way. That is why we have intensively curated a collection of premium small-group trips as an invitation to meet and connect with new, like-minded people for once-in-a-lifetime experiences in three categories: Culture Trips, Rail Trips and Private Trips. Our Trips are suitable for both solo travelers, couples and friends who want to explore the world together.

Culture Trips are deeply immersive 5 to 16 days itineraries, that combine authentic local experiences, exciting activities and 4-5* accommodation to look forward to at the end of each day. Our Rail Trips are our most planet-friendly itineraries that invite you to take the scenic route, relax whilst getting under the skin of a destination. Our Private Trips are fully tailored itineraries, curated by our Travel Experts specifically for you, your friends or your family.

We know that many of you worry about the environmental impact of travel and are looking for ways of expanding horizons in ways that do minimal harm - and may even bring benefits. We are committed to go as far as possible in curating our trips with care for the planet. That is why all of our trips are flightless in destination, fully carbon offset - and we have ambitious plans to be net zero in the very near future.