Trip to Mars might run $500,000 - give or take

So speculates Elon Musk, CEO of Space X, the Hawthorne-based aerospace company that for now is working on launches to the Space Station. Speaking to Slate, Musk figures that a trip into space might be available for tourists within 10 years, but that merely orbiting the Earth might not attract much interest.

When it comes to bringing lay people into space, his focus is on getting them farther afield: Mars. He imagines that it would be possible to start bringing everyday people to Mars for a self-sustaining colony perhaps 10 years after first landing there, once there's a high flight rate, a reusable launch system, and a low-cost source fuel--perhaps methane--he envisions a self-sustaining colony. He wants a trip to Mars to cost about $500,000, or "roughly the cost of a middle-class house in California." Why that price point? Musk imagines that then, "enough people would choose to sell all their stuff and move to Mars."