Humans are a mere decade or so from becoming a multi-planetary society. The United States and other countries have plans for manned Martian missions in the next couple of decades, but private space companies like SpaceX and Mars One are likely to not only put humans on Mars sooner than that, but to also establish Martian colonies.

Mars One’s timetable plans for initial unmanned launches in 2018 to begin establishing a colony on Mars. The company will send its first group of colonists in 2024. Habitats, life support units and everything the colony needs will arrive before the colonists, and will be setup by robots. The company is working with several technology partners to execute its plan, including Elon Musk’s SpaceX, which will transport hardware and colonists to the red planet.

But Musk and SpaceX also have plans to build a city on Mars. And Musk intends to retire there.

They better have good heaters. ;-) To read more and view the video, click here.