The Mars Project, written by Wernher Von Braun, seemingly prophesied billionaire Elon Musk’s rise to power – and his multi-planetary ambition. The German rocket scientist and space architect wrote in 1953 that the leader of Mars would be named ‘Elon’.
The non-fiction, scientific work has been described as “the most influential book on planning human missions to Mars.”
Twitter user Toby Li brought attention to the bizarre prediction in December 2020 while replying to one of Elon Musk’s tweets about destiny.
Tweeting a picture of the non-fiction scientific book, Mr Li wrote: “Speaking about destiny, did you know that Von Braun’s 1953 book ‘Mars Project,’ referenced a person named Elon that would bring humans to Mars? Pretty nuts.”
The SpaceX and Tesla CEO announced last October that he hoped to send a manned space mission to Mars in 2024.
Mr Musk has also said he would like to be buried on Mars, telling an audience at an on-stage interview in December: “Listen, we’re all gonna die someday.
“So if you’re gonna die someday, I’m like, okay, do I want to be buried on Mars or Earth? I’m like, Mars sounds cool! Born on Earth, die on Mars.”
Yesterday, SpaceX successfully landed its Starship SN15 prototype for the first time – a huge step for the future of space flight.
In a flight test, the prototype rocket launched more than six miles into the sky before reorienting and landing back on Earth vertically.
The past four prototypes have been blown to smithereens upon landing, making this latest result a huge milestone for Mr Musk.
Reinforcing evidence of the prediction, another Twitter user, Pranay Pathole, tweeted the English translated page which mentions Elon.
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In a 2001 NASA research document, titled Eyes on the Red Planet: Human Mars Mission Planning, 1952-1970, author Annie Platoff wrote: “The most influential figure in the history of human Mars mission planning is Wernher Magnus Maximilian von Braun.”
She said of the book: “While working for the Army at Fort Bliss, Texas, von Braun began work on what would become the most influential book on planning human missions to Mars.”
Last month, SpaceX won a $2.9 billion NASA contract to send humans to the moon.
SpaceX’s competitors, Blue Origin and Dynetics, criticised NASA’s decision and accused the space agency of having “moved the goalposts at the last minute.”
The contract has been suspended until the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) has resolved “all outstanding litigation related to this procurement”, a NASA spokesperson said.
