Visionary Elon Musk, whose Falcon 9 rocket delivers Nasa cargo to the International Space Station, wants to construct a small city for 80,000 pioneers on the Red Planet.
The new civilisation would run off sustainable technology and cater only for vegetarians.
Speaking to the Royal Aeronautical Society, Mr Musk, 41, revealed he had been waiting ten years to share his vision.
He said: “Then it seemed ridiculous because there were no rockets, no infrastructure and NASA was the only game in town — and it had no schedule for exploring Mars.
“But with my work, and many others working in the private sector, the mission is coming closer to reality.
January 6th, 2013
Billionaire PayPal founder announces dramatic Mars city bid The Sun
August 15th, 2011
Mock Mars flight breaks record The Sun
Six cosmonauts have broken the record for the longest mission ever enclosed in a metal spacecraft – despite their vessel never leaving Moscow.
The Mars500 crew have so far endured 438 days of isolation as part of a simulated mission to Mars.
They have survived on a diet of cereal bars and pasta and have had little contact with friends and family back home.
Throughout the 14 months since “takeoff” the steel vessel remained grounded at Moscow’s Institute of Biomedical Problems.
The craft though simulates the conditions of a real-life mission to the red planet so that scientists can explore the psychological and physical impact of long-distance space flight.
January 14th, 2009
Life on Mars – Nasa’s historic discovery of methane on Mars The Sun
ALIEN microbes living just below the Martian soil are responsible for a haze of methane around the Red Planet, Nasa scientists believe.
The gas, belched in vast quantities in our world by cows, was detected by orbiting spacecraft and from Earth using giant telescopes.
July 30th, 2004
Martian mission for star student The Sun
Sitting at a coffee shop table in the University of Washington’s University Village might just be the guy who finds life on another planet. “I’m not going to make any promises,” said 21-year-old Christopher Glein with an aw-shucks shrug, “but it’s real exciting.”
January 13th, 2004
Human life on Mars plan The Sun
Inhabitants would need to take their own food and water, at least at first. But while the Moon is a barren wasteland, water could be recycled and more food grown in greenhouses lit by nuclear power. Once a base is established, future generations might live in the Moon
December 30th, 2003
Oops! Beagle is stranded The Sun
Britain’s Beagle 2 space probe may be stranded in a giant crater on Mars. Scientists have been unable to contact the tiny
December 21st, 2003
My Beagle flies to Mars The Sun
This was the moment when the man behind the Beagle 2 space probe knew it had safely parted from its mother ship. Professor Colin Pillinger beamed and clasped his hands in glee yesterday as the British probe sped off towards a landing on Mars. Prof Pillinger was among an audience of VIPs including the Duke of York in London when the news came live from mission control in Germany.
March 24th, 2003
Space elevator group sets up shop The Sun
The news that the Columbia space shuttle broke apart during its descent last month came as a painful loss to Bremerton businessman Michael Laine. Through his NASA-sponsored work to research an elevator into space, he had met the seven astronauts — personal heroes, he said — as they trained in Houston. But the disaster was also a shot in the arm for the fledgling businesses he helped create. “It was like a heart transplant. All of a sudden we’re much stronger, but at a very high price,” said Laine, president of HighLift Systems and newly created LiftPort Inc.