Humanity on earth could be facing an eventual doomsday: Elon Musk

Elon Musk wants to send more than one million people to Mars to preserve humanity in case a catastrophe strikes earth and wipes out the entire human race.

The SpaceX CEO said humans need to think seriously about colonising Mars in case there's a third world war.

"There's likely to be another dark ages... particularly if there's a third world war," Musk said, and added that spaceships that are capable of making short trips to Mars will soon be ready.

Musk was detailing his plans for space travel during the South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas, where he was a guest at Westworld panel.

Saying that it will be dangerous for people who go to Mars, Musk added: "There's already people who want to go in the beginning. There will be some for whom the excitement of exploration and the next frontier exceeds the danger," he added.

Musk also spoke about SpaceX's launch of Falcon Heavy, saying we need to have things that inspire us.

“There are a lot of terrible things happening all over the world, all of the time,” Musk said. “There are lots of problems that need to get solved. Lots of things that are miserable and kind of get you down.”

“But life cannot just be about solving one miserable thing after another,” he added. “That can’t be the only thing. They need to be things that inspire you, that make you glad to wake up in the morning and be part of humanity. That’s why we did this.”

During his session, Musk also spoke about his fear of advancement of artificial intelligence (AI), saying AI is dangerous than nuclear weapons. If AI doesn't wipe out humans from the face of earth, then a nuclear war would, believes Musk.