Elon Musk says he's 'optimistic' Mars ship will make first trips in 2019

Elon Musk says he's making "great progress" toward his goal of getting to Mars by 2022. 

Speaking during a last-minute appearance at SXSW, Musk said he thinks SpaceX's Mars ship will be ready for its first trips in less than a year.

"In the short term, Mars is really about getting the space ship built, and we're making great progress," he said.

He predicted that the ship would be ready to take to the skies next year — albeit for short flights only.

"We are building the first ship, the first interplanetary ship right now, and I think we will be able to do short flights, short sort of up and down flights, probably sometime in the first half of next year," he said. Read more...