Elon Musk Says It Would Be ‘Ironic’ If He Died Landing On Mars, Jokes About ‘The Most Probable’ Outcome
Elon Musk is known all around the world for his ambitious plans to put people on Mars and usher humankind into a new era of space exploration. Another thing that he has become famous for are eccentric appearances on podcasts, the Inquisitr recently reported.
The charismatic owner of the SpaceX rocket company is currently working on developing the BFR spaceship — the Big Falcon Rocket designed to carry up to 100 people to the red planet, per a previous Inquisitr report. But traveling to another planet is no easy feat, as Musk himself has openly and repeatedly stated.
“The first journey to Mars is going to be really very dangerous. The risk of fatality will be high. There’s just no way around it,” Musk said in 2016 at the 67th International Astronautical Congress in Guadalajara, Mexico, where he unveiled his project of establishing a human settlement on the red planet starting in 2022.
“It would be basically: Are you prepared to die? And if that’s OK, then you’re a candidate for going.”
While Musk is fully aware of the risks of such a perilous endeavor, he has hinted at the possibility that he might be one of the dauntless few to undertake a journey to Mars, notes the Business Insider.
Recently invited on Recode Decode podcast, Musk touched again on the same topic, discussing the probability of him going to Mars and what would be the outcome of such an experience.
During an interview with Recode host Kara Swisher on Friday, Musk confessed that he wasn’t completely sure whether he would make the trip to Mars. However, the SpaceX CEO did joke about the chances of him dying on the red planet, particularly during a disastrous impact upon landing on the Martian soil.
Here you go, have at it: Elon Musk: The Recode interview https://t.co/0Ems3JTfSJ via @Recode
— Kara Swisher (@karaswisher) November 2, 2018
“Last time we talked, you said you wanted to die on Mars, just not on landing. Which was a very funny joke, although it’s probably not a joke,” Swisher said. “It’d be ironic if that had happened,” Musk replied.
The SpaceX CEO went on to quote one of his friends, who believes that “the most ironic outcome is the most likely” — a modified version of the Occam’s razor philosophical principle, which states that the simplest solution to a problem is the most likely to be correct.
“I think that there’s some truth to that. And then also I think sometimes the most entertaining outcome is the most likely,” said Musk. “Hopefully, me dying on impact on Mars is not the most entertaining outcome,” the jokingly added. “Because then what happens next? It’s like, ok, you’re a crater.” The Kara Swisher interview with Elon Musk is available in its entirety on the Recode website.
Even though Musk is excited about SpaceX’s bold mission to send the first human settlers to Mars, not everyone shares his enthusiasm. For instance, retired astronaut Chris Hadfield believes that a more feasible plan would be for humanity to settle on the moon before attempting to colonize Mars.
As the Inquisitr previously reported, Hadfield stated that the rockets currently being developed by NASA, SpaceX, and Boeing are too dangerous and impractical to ferry astronauts to the red planet. In his opinion, a more “outlandish” technology is needed to support such a daring mission.
As Hadfield pointed out, most of the astronauts flying the first few missions to Mars would likely never make it back home. The former astronaut suggested that a safer option would be to send a robotic mission instead, to lay the groundwork until our technology catches up to the task.
