Move over Mars, Elon Musk has set his sights on the Moon.

Okay, okay, it’s more like he is buckling under economic pressure, but we’ll get to that.

While most conversations, arguments and debates about which planet we should establish a human presence on have settled with Mars being the best bet, it seems Musk might be keeping his options open.

Mere hours before his scheduled presentation about his plans to colonise Mars, the SpaceX CEO shared a rendered image of his interplanetary rocket sitting on the surface of the Moon.

Simply captioned “Moon Base Alpha”, this is it:

Oh, look, there’s Earth.

So where does this Moon move come from? Well, The Verge has some idea:

Not much more is known about these Moon base plans, but the idea alone is a big change for Musk’s vision. The SpaceX CEO has long been a staunch supporter of colonizing [sic] Mars and not the Moon.

In a paper about his colonization [sic] plans, he wrote: “We could conceivably go to our Moon, and I actually have nothing against going to the Moon, but I think it is challenging to become multi-planetary on the Moon because it is much smaller than a planet.”

Conceivably, Musk has changed his mind on that now.

That may have to do with pressure from the Trump administration and the space community at large. Vice President Mike Pence has hinted that the new administration may call for a return to the Moon.

And numerous space agencies — including Russia, China, and the European Space Agency — are interested in missions to the Moon, as well as a number of companies from the private sector.

By showcasing how his rocket could be used for a Moon mission, he may have an easier time selling the idea to potential customers.

But if you’re a hardcore Mars advocate, there’s no need to worry.

An hour after he shared his plans for the Moon, Musk shared another rendering, this time of what SpaceX’s future Martian could look like:

Speaking at the International Aeronautical Congress in Adelaide, Australia this morning (12:30 PM their time), Musk did indeed speak about his plans to both get involved with Moon operations, as well as continuing with his Mars ventures.

Starting at just after the 24 minute mark, watch his full presentation below:

So which do you choose, Mars or the Moon?

[source:theverge&adelaidenow]