SpaceX to Launch First Private Craft to Space Station—Next Stop: Mars?
Firm's spacecraft being designed with deep space in mind, founder says.
But SpaceX founder Elon Musk already has his eyes on a bigger prize: putting people on Mars as quickly as possible.
According to Musk, all SpaceX ventures—including the Dragon mission—are being designed to advance this ambitious larger goal.
"I'm a big believer in humanity becoming a multiplanetary species," Musk said.
"At SpaceX our goal is to keep pushing innovations in rocketry and scaling things up to get to a point where we can allow people to basically move to Mars."
Musk envisions human colonies on Mars within the next 30 years or so, and he's said he'd like to retire there. (Musk isn't alone: See "Why Did 400 People Volunteer For a One-Way Trip to Mars?")
"People are really excited about the idea
