Making Life Multiplanetary (IAC Address)
Delivered at the International Astronautical Congress in Guadalajara, Mexico, on September 27, 2016, unveiling SpaceX's Interplanetary Transport System.
Full Transcript
What I really want to achieve here is to make Mars seem possible—to make it seem like something we can do in our lifetimes.
I think there are really two fundamental paths for humanity. One path is that we stay on Earth forever, and then there will be some eventual extinction event. The alternative is to become a spacefaring civilization and a multiplanetary species.
I hope you would agree that the second path is the right one to take.
The key constraint holding us back from establishing a self-sustaining city on Mars is the cost per ton transported. If we can bring the cost down to roughly the price of a median house in the United States—say $200,000—then the probability of establishing a self-sustaining civilization becomes very high.
It’s not about escaping Earth. It’s about believing in the future and thinking that the future will be better than the past.
Defining Key Excerpts
"History is going to bifurcate along two directions. One path is that we stay on Earth forever, and then there will be some extinction event. The alternative is to become a spacefaring civilization and a multiplanetary species."
"It's about believing in the future and thinking that the future will be better than the past."
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