Elon Musk Warns: it’s ‘only a matter of time’ as he explains why humans need a ‘second planet’

Elon Musk has been outspoken about the need for humans to have a ‘second planet,’ saying it is essentially a matter of life and death.

For as long as Musk has been in the public eye, he has openly discussed his plans to eventually colonize Mars.

On one hand, it sounds exciting—a whole planet with open space—but on the other hand, Earth has so many problems that it might be better to solve those before thinking about moving to another planet.

However, in a recent interview on The Joe Rogan Experience, Musk suggested that these very problems are the reason why humanity should consider finding another place to survive.

Speaking on the podcast, Musk—who previously stated he wanted to die on Mars—explained: “My view is that we should move to Mars, well not move to Mars, we should have a second planet to preserve civilization.

“Let’s say hypothetically, [a civilization-ending event] will probably happen to Earth at some point.

“It is a matter of time before we get hit by an asteroid or maybe we annihilate ourselves with nuclear war, or super volcanos.”

Rogan agreed and said there were several possible doomsday scenarios that could happen to Earth, so it’s ‘not a bad idea’ to have another option by exploring space.

Musk insisted that it is ‘only a matter of time’ before an asteroid strikes Earth.

The fear of humanity’s destruction is not unfounded in recent years.

The threat of nuclear war remains as countries with nuclear weapons continue to have conflicts. In addition, the pandemic is still fresh in memory, showing how quickly life can change due to a fast-spreading disease.

More recently, fears about asteroids have grown as NASA has shared updates about a ‘city-destroying’ asteroid that could hit Earth in as little as seven years.

The asteroid, called 2024 YR4, was first detected in December 2024 after triggering automatic warning systems. Astronomers have been monitoring it closely ever since.

According to NASA, the space rock is estimated to be between 130 and 300 feet across (40 to 90 meters). If it were to hit Earth, the impact would be hundreds of times more powerful than the Hiroshima bomb.

Even more concerning, the initial chance of it hitting Earth was just 1.2 percent, but recent updates have increased that number to as high as 3.2 percent.

Hopefully, in the coming years, the chances of an impact will start decreasing instead.