Since at least the early 2000s, Elon Musk has been obsessed with the idea of colonizing Mars, a hostile and arid planet tens of millions of miles away.
In its earliest iteration, his plan was to refurbish an intercontinental ballistic missile to land on the Red Planet and unfurl a “Mars Oasis” — a small greenhouse that would grow plants and inspire humankind.
The greenhouse never materialized, but Musk’s ambitions steadily grew. Once he founded SpaceX, he dedicated the company to developing space travel tech to establish a self-sustaining colony on the planet. In 2017, he promised that the first Mars-bound mission would launch in 2022, with the first crewed spacecraft following two years later.
He’s clearly been personally obsessed with the idea, showing up at public events while wearing an “Occupy Mars” T-shirt. He’s also heavily criticized NASA for prioritizing the Moon, calling it a “distraction.”
But over the weekend, the mercurial CEO appeared to have had a major change of heart, announcing the company’s plans to colonize Mars were officially being put on ice for at least half a decade.
“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 ten years, whereas Mars would take 20+ years,” he tweeted.
It’s a flabbergasting reversal, and one that Musk seems to be working through publicly on his X feed. In one opaque tweet that appeared to be missing at least one important word, Musk reflected on his current emotional state.
“Life cannot just be about one sad thing after another,” he wrote while responding to his own tweet about SpaceX building a “system that allows anyone to travel to Moon.”
“There must also be things that make us super excited and inspired about the future,” he added. “This is one of [sic] things. Bigtime.”
It remains unclear whether he was talking about his excitement for building a city on the Moon or whether he was consoling himself over suddenly deprioritizing his decades-long dream.
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