SpaceX owner Elon Musk has cited history to believe that there will be a doomsday and Earth will become inhabitable one day. He has repeatedly contended that the alternative is to become a "space-bearing civilization and a multi-planetary species..."
In a recent post on X, Musk reiterated his call for becoming a spacefaring civilization and extending life to other planets. He said, “One of these days, a large comet will hit Earth and destroy almost all life, as has happened many times in the past.”
"Eventually, the Sun will expand enough to boil the oceans and destroy all life," Musk said, adding that “either become a spacefaring civilization or die – those all the two choices.”
He wrote this on X while reacting to another post that mentioned a "stadium-sized" asteroid 2024 ON flying past Earth in close proximity.
According to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, "space-faring civilization" is defined as an economically profitable space-based economy that demands the presence of humans off-world in order to sustain a high level of prosperity.
In an article published in the academic journal New Space in 2017, Musk wrote that history is going to bifurcate along two directions.
"One path is we stay on Earth forever, and then there will be some eventual extinction event. I do not have an immediate doomsday prophecy, but eventually, history suggests, there will be some doomsday event," he said.
He said the alternative is to become a space-bearing civilization and a multi-planetary species.
Later in 2018, Elon Musk said his aim is to "establish a self-sustaining city on Mars to ensure the continuation of life (of all species) in case Earth gets hit by a meteor like the dinosaurs, or WW3 happens & we destroy ourselves."
He wants to make life "multi-planetary" – this refers to the extension of life to other planets. In an old post, Musk also explained “Why is making life multiplanetary important?” Watch here
