Elon Musk: Mars base will open the way to other stars

The SpaceX founder says he'd like to "die on Mars". Why the obsession with going to the Red Planet?
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Why are you so keen to get humans to Mars?

Because this is the first time in 4 billion years of Earth's history that it has been possible. That window may be open for a long time - and I hope it is - but it may not be. We should take advantage just in case something bad happens. It wouldn't necessarily be that humanity gets eliminated; it could just be a drop in technology.