SpaceX founder Elon Musk has recently announced his plans to colonize Mars within 10 years. He has also unveiled the Interplanetary Transport System (ITS) which will be used to send about 1 million people to the red planet.
Apparently, the SpaceX founder and CEO plans to create a gigantic rocket - one that is more comfortable and larger than the Saturn V, which sent humans to the moon. It is believed to go on orbit, be refueled using multiple launches, go to Mars, enter the planet's atmosphere using aerodynamic braking to slow down and land on its tail.
There are still a lot of obstacles that Elon Musk and his team at SpaceX need to overcome before they can successfully send humans to Mars. Aside from the hefty cost and lack of resources, one of the top issues that should be addressed is cosmic radiation.
Now, there's another company that's challenging Elon Musk and SpaceX on the race to Mars. Bloomberg reported that Boeing Chief Executive Officer Dennis Muilenberg intends to be the creator of the rocket that will first land on the red planet.
"I'm convinced the first person to step foot on Mars will arrive there riding a Boeing rocket," he said. Muilenberg made the announcement at a Chicago conference on Innovation, sponsored by the Atlantic magazine.
Boeing is said to be focusing on building the commercial space sector near earth and, at the same time, develop technology which will be used to venture beyond the moon. The aerospace giant is working with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to create a heavy-lift rocket for deep space exploration called the Space Launch System (SLS).
One would think that this would shake Elon Musk. After all, he did announce SpaceX's Mars plans first. However, according to Business Insider, Musk may be fine with Boeing using the SLS to beat SpaceX to Mars.
"I really don't have any other motivation for personally accumulating assets, except to be able to make the biggest contribution I can to making life multiplanetary," Musk admitted. "I think it's actually much better for the world if there are multiple companies or organizations building these interplanetary spacecraft. You know, the more the better."
