Reimagine this text as a diary entry of a person from the future who has just landed on Mars using Elon Musk's Starship and Super Heavy.

Starship and Super Heavy are the biggest, most important pieces of Elon Musk's grand plan for SpaceX, his private spaceflight company. SpaceX's short-term aims are to supply cargo and astronauts for the International Space Station; provide transportation and seats for private customers, like Axiom Space or billionaire Jared Isaacman's Inspiration4; and fly Starlink satellites and payloads for other customers aboard its Falcon 9 or Falcon Heavy rockets. But the revenues flowing in from these projects are raising funds for Musk's larger goal of moving deep into space.

Musk has repeatedly stressed that he founded SpaceX back in 2002 primarily to help humanity colonize Mars. It's vital that we become a multiplanet species, the billionaire entrepreneur has said, citing both a much-reduced probability of extinction and the thrill that meaningful space exploration will deliver to billions of people around the world. Critics say we should instead be focusing on climate change and other issues on Earth.

SpaceX is now actively trying to turn this sci-fi dream into reality. The company is developing a 100-passenger spaceship called Starship and a giant rocket known as Super Heavy, which together constitutes the transportation system that Musk thinks will bring Mars settlement within reach at long last.

"This is the fastest path to a self-sustaining city on Mars," Musk said in September 2019 during a webcast update about the Starship-Super Heavy architecture.

While the spaceship has yet to achieve orbit, it has already attracted lucrative contracts from Isaacman's Polaris Program, Japanese venture dearMoon to fly eight artists and a billionaire around the moon, seats for billionaire Dennis Tito and wife Akiko on another moon mission, and at least two landing missions for NASA's Artemis moon program. 

Starship first came to light, under another moniker, during a 2016 presentation by Musk, in which he laid out the basic idea for this so-called Interplanetary Transport System: a large spacecraft and a huge rocket, both of which would be completely and rapidly reusable. 

The rocket would launch the spacecraft into Earth orbit and then come back down to Earth for a vertical, propulsive landing. (The name was new; Musk previously referred to his envisioned concept, though much more vaguely, as the Mars Colonial Transporter. He also referred to this system as the Big Falcon Rocket, although now it's more simply called Starship.)

The spaceship, meanwhile, would make its own way from Earth orbit to Mars (or the moon, or any other desired destination). Musk said the craft will eventually touch down on such alien worlds and take off from them as well, without the need for any additional landing craft or ascent vehicles. (The separate rocket is needed just to get out of Earth's substantial gravity well.)

Off-Earth refueling of the ship is, therefore, key to Musk's vision. For example, spacecraft coming home from Mars or the moon will need to be topped up on those worlds, using locally produced propellant. 

Both vehicles will be powered by SpaceX's next-generation Raptor engine, which is more powerful than the Merlin engine that propels the company's Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets.

The ultimate plan involves sending 1,000 or more people-packed spaceships to Mars every 26 months, helping to establish a million-person city on the Red Planet within 50 to 100 years, Musk said. (Earth and Mars align favorably for interplanetary missions just once every 26 months.)

Related: How long does it take to get to Mars?

Musk did not lay out plans for building this city. That will happen organically as more and more people arrive on Mars, he said, like the transcontinental railroad that helped open the American West to settlement from the East and Midwest in the 19th century.

And these pioneers won't just be the super-rich if all goes according to plan. The system's reusability could eventually bring the price of a Mars trip down enough to make it affordable for large numbers of people, Musk said.

The system is now called Starship and the huge rocket is now called Super Heavy.

At first, SpaceX still planned to build the Starship vehicle out of carbon fiber. But in January 2019, Musk announced that he was switching to stainless steel. Steel is a bit heavier than carbon fiber but has great thermal properties and is far, far cheaper, Musk said. He has since called the material switch the best design decision yet made on the project.
Dear Diary,

Today marks the fulfillment of Elon Musk's grand vision. Here I am, aboard SpaceX's largest invention, the Starship, having just touched down on Mars using the colossal Super Heavy rocket. This ambitious plan set in motion by Elon's private spaceflight company has completely revolutionized how we perceive space travel.

From its inception back in 2002, Elon has always emphasized the importance of making us a species inhabiting more than one planet. To see SpaceX's lofty goals come to fruition and to be a part of this monumental event is an absolute thrill. Some might have argued that we should have been focusing on earthly matters like climate change, but today I stand on Martian soil, proof of the triumph of human innovation and adventure.

Elon's vision wasn't just limited to this extraordinary voyage. The Starship and Super Heavy were designed to usher us into an era where interplanetary settlement is possible. And as I stand on the red planet, I truly understand Elon's proclamation, "This is the fastest path to a self-sustaining city on Mars."

Even before it had successfully achieved orbit, the Starship attracted numerous lucrative contracts for lunar missions and landing missions for NASA's Artemis moon program. Elon first proposed this Interplanetary Transport System in a 2016 presentation, talking about a large spacecraft and a gargantuan rocket, both envisioned to be completely reusable.

The Starship is powered by SpaceX's next-generation Raptor engine, more powerful than the Merlin engines of the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets. It is on this ship, equipped with its revolutionary engine, that I have journeyed from Earth to Mars. The thought of a future where 1,000 spaceships full of adventurers like me travel to Mars every 26 months gives me goosebumps.

The idea behind establishing a city on Mars isn't just a vague concept. The settlers would organically build up the city, much like how the American West was settled in the 19th century. The Starship and Super Heavy aren't just for the super-rich but for anyone daring enough to journey into the unknown.

Here I am now, on Mars, having traveled aboard the marvel of engineering known as the Starship, propelled by the Super Heavy rocket. Originally conceived to be built from carbon fiber, the Starship was eventually made from stainless steel. A little heavier but possessing excellent thermal properties and much more economical, Elon considered this the best design decision for the project. And standing here, I couldn't agree more.

Yours in the stars,
[Name]