Featured Image Credit: Bloomberg / Contributor / Getty
As well as being the world's richest man, Elon Musk is one of the world's busiest men.
Some question how he has time to head up Tesla, SpaceX, the Department of Government Efficiency, AND still find time to post on X so many times a day, but there we are.
Even in those few spare seconds that Elon Musk has, it seems he's preoccupied with thinking about his mortality.
As much as biohacker Bryan Johnson would like to make it so, no one lives forever.
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Despite having (almost) all the money in the world, it seems unlikely that Musk can dictate too much about how he'll eventually shuffle off this mortal coil.
The tech billionaire already has a plan for his eventual death, and for those who are hoping to see the back of him sooner rather than later, he might not be hanging around for much longer.
Well, at least not on Earth.
Musk has repeatedly outlined SpaceX's plans to colonize Mars, and as well as offering his own sperm to help boost eventual population numbers, he hopes to launch human spaceflights by 2031.
Uncrewed Starships are due to blast off as early as 2026, so despite concerns that his endeavours will lead to mass casualties, it doesn't sound like the tech billionaire will be changing his plans anytime soon.
With fanciful plans to achieve self-sustaining life on the Red Planet in the next 20 to 30 years, Musk is even planning his own retirement up there.
A 2022 piece by the Financial Times expands on Musk's endgame, highlighting how the entrepreneur 'dreams' of dying on Mars.
In his grim prognosis for the human race, Musk envisions that the Sun will eventually expand and destroy all life on Earth.
Saying we need to become a 'multi-planetary species' to survive, he added: "It’s a question of what percentage of resources should we devote to such an endeavour? I think if you say 1 per cent of resources, that’s probably a reasonable amount."
When grilled on whether he'll be hopping aboard a Starship rocket, Musk admitted that he would...albeit with a few caveats: "Especially if I’m getting old, I’ll do it. Why not?
"I think there’s some non-trivial chance of dying, so I’d prefer to take that chance when I’m a bit older, and see my kids grow up.
“Rather than right now, where little X is only two-and-a-half. I think he’d miss me.”
What's your guess 🤔@elonmusk pic.twitter.com/IbcVgjAYJw
— Spacexx (@ineed__spacee) March 14, 2022
Although he's gone quiet on the issue more recently, his musings about dying on Mars go back to 2013. Back then, Vanity Fair reports on him saying: "I will go if I can be assured that SpaceX would go on without me…I've said I want to die on Mars, just not on impact."
He originally hoped for a crewed landing in 2029, but if the launch has been delayed until 2031, it fits even more snugly into his window of wanting to be older before he puts on his spacesuit. As he's only currently 53, even leaving Earth behind at the age of 59 seems unlikely for Musk, especially as he has his hand in so many business ventures down here. Still, with rockets supposedly blasting off every 26 months to ensure that Mars' colonists are kept stocked with supplies and not left to perish in space, there should be plenty of opportunities for Elon Musk to see out the end of his days when he eventually decides it's time.
We just wonder what the food will be like in Mars' first retirement home.
