Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk appears to have significantly backpedaled on his spacefaring ambitions, according to CNN, abruptly pivoting from Mars to the moon.
On Sunday, Musk (@elonmusk) addressed the ostensible mission change for SpaceX in a post on his social platform, X.
"For those unaware, SpaceX has already shifted focus to building a self-growing city on the Moon, as we can potentially achieve that in less than 10 years, whereas Mars would take 20+ years," it began.
Musk framed SpaceX's mission as unchanged: "extend consciousness and life as we know it to the stars." He then explained his reasoning.
"It is only possible to travel to Mars when the planets align every 26 months (six month trip time), whereas we can launch to the Moon every 10 days (2 day trip time). This means we can iterate much faster to complete a Moon city than a Mars city," Musk wrote.
Broadly, the claim was notable because Musk's fixation on getting to Mars is nearly ancient — a 2007 Wired article about his ambitions for SpaceX delved into what he said prompted his ambitions for humanity and the Red Planet.
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In 2001, Musk was stuck in traffic on the Long Island Expressway when he became curious about NASA's Mars ambitions — and was ultimately "horrified" to discover there were none.
In 2016, the World Economic Forum profiled Musk's goal of reaching Mars, with a SpaceX-supplied "rough timeline" with a "launch window" for the first journeys between 2018 and 2027.
"'I have nothing against going to the moon,' he said, but notes it's much smaller than Mars, has no atmosphere, and 'is not as resource-rich,'" the WEF observed, noting that the SpaceX CEO didn't think the moon was suitable for human colonization.
As of Jan. 2, 2025, Musk still espoused that view. In an X post replying to a Mars versus the moon discussion, he remarked: "No, we're going straight to Mars. The Moon is a distraction."
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$200 or more 💰 Adam McKay's 2021 satirical film "Don't Look Up" used a planet-destroying comet as a stand-in for climate inaction. It featured a "dangerous" billionaire character heavily inspired by Musk — whom distributor Netflix noted "continues to push for human colonization of Mars."
Commenters on Musk's post seemed to make that connection instantly, with several browbeating him for pouring money into pipe dreams while problems on terra firma piled up.
"You could actually use some of those obscene billions of dollars of money to improve life here on earth," one chastised.
"Keeping Earth livable costs far less than building a city where humans cannot survive naturally," another shot back. That sentiment was rife.
Others worried Musk's sudden shift was for an undisclosed reason and emphasized that the average person didn't have the luxury of jetting away from a planet in crisis.
"Bro, is there an apocalypse on the horizon or what? This is terrifying in the context I'm interpreting. Ffs. If you know something, say something. We can't all afford underground bunkers," a user wrote.
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