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How much would it cost you to move to Mars? According to Elon Musk, a one-way trip to the red planet would set you back only $500,000 (£389,000 / AU$706,000) – and one day maybe even a fraction of that.
Responding to a query on Twitter, Musk used his account to suggest would-be space travelers could "sell their home on Earth" in order to afford the interstellar journey. You won't need it where you're going, we guess?
Musk's figures are still obviously a lot of money. But considering that SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket launches cost on average $57 million (£44m / AU$80m), it's not an unreasonable calculation, and puts the prospect of Mars in the hands of average homeowners – if not exactly the average citizen. You can see the full tweet below.
A little bird told me
As founder and CEO of SpaceX, Musk is one of the most prominent voices today in space travel, and he's been very vocal about his ambitions to make humanity an interplanetary species.
He's attracted as many critics as supporters for his bold claims, and even veered into legal trouble for some offhand comments made on Twitter.
We should be wary of any exact pricing figures regarding transport infrastructure that's still years, if not decades away, but the prospect of large-scale space travel seems more real every passing day.
- Check out the ultimate guide to space tourism
Via BGR