<p>Private space entrepreneur and billionaire co-founder of PayPal, Elon Musk is planning to build a small city on Mars for 80,000 space explorers - but only vegetarians are invited!<br /><br />Musk, whose Falcon 9 rocket delivers NASA cargo to the International Space Station, wants to construct a futuristic settlement on the red planet.<br /><br />The new civilisation would run off sustainable technology and cater only to vegetarians, The Sun reported.<br /><br />Speaking to the Royal Aeronautical Society, Musk, 41, revealed he had been waiting ten years to share his vision.<br /><br />"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," said the co-founder of Paypal, a global e-commerce business.<br /><br />"But with my work, and many others working in the private sector, the mission is coming closer to reality," he added.<br /><br />"On Mars you can start a self-sustaining civilisation and grow it into something really big," he said.</p>.<p>The 146-year-old Royal Aeronautical Society last November awarded Musk, who founded his third company SpaceX in 2002, a gold medal for his contribution to space exploration.<br /><br />The California-based engineer has previously talked about sending the Mass Cargo Transport rocket - powered by liquid oxygen and methane, to Mars - carrying volunteers for about 300,000 pounds a person.<br /><br />One of America's most respected private space entrepreneurs, Musk - worth about 1.25 billion pounds - has admitted the challenges remain daunting.<br /><br />These include the dangers of deep-space radiation, bone-rot and toxic dust.<br />He recommends the size of the new society should be around 80,000 people.<br />"Too few, and the gene and culture pool dries up. Too many and you risk civil war," he said. </p>
<p>Private space entrepreneur and billionaire co-founder of PayPal, Elon Musk is planning to build a small city on Mars for 80,000 space explorers - but only vegetarians are invited!<br /><br />Musk, whose Falcon 9 rocket delivers NASA cargo to the International Space Station, wants to construct a futuristic settlement on the red planet.<br /><br />The new civilisation would run off sustainable technology and cater only to vegetarians, The Sun reported.<br /><br />Speaking to the Royal Aeronautical Society, Musk, 41, revealed he had been waiting ten years to share his vision.<br /><br />"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," said the co-founder of Paypal, a global e-commerce business.<br /><br />"But with my work, and many others working in the private sector, the mission is coming closer to reality," he added.<br /><br />"On Mars you can start a self-sustaining civilisation and grow it into something really big," he said.</p>.<p>The 146-year-old Royal Aeronautical Society last November awarded Musk, who founded his third company SpaceX in 2002, a gold medal for his contribution to space exploration.<br /><br />The California-based engineer has previously talked about sending the Mass Cargo Transport rocket - powered by liquid oxygen and methane, to Mars - carrying volunteers for about 300,000 pounds a person.<br /><br />One of America's most respected private space entrepreneurs, Musk - worth about 1.25 billion pounds - has admitted the challenges remain daunting.<br /><br />These include the dangers of deep-space radiation, bone-rot and toxic dust.<br />He recommends the size of the new society should be around 80,000 people.<br />"Too few, and the gene and culture pool dries up. Too many and you risk civil war," he said. </p>