SpaceX CEO and founder Elon Musk held a Reddit AMA where he explained his vision for the colonization of Mars while answering questions from participants. Musk said that the Reddit AMA is supplemental to the presentation he gave at the International Astronautical Conference last month.

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Musk answered several questions related to different aspects of the SpaceX Mars expedition. In response to a question regarding whether the Interplanetary Transport System (ITS) would hover over Mars while the crew tries to locate a landing spot, Musk said that ITS would not hover until or unless there is unexpected wind condition or it encounters a problem.

He also revealed that making the ITS configurable is under consideration. Earlier missions to Mars are likely to be designed for cargo transportation rather than human transportation. He said it is likely that the first crewed mission will take off with about a dozen people.

The permanent habitation on Mars is likely to involve glass pane for building geodesic domes. These domes will also use carbon fiber frames. The project is expected to use a large number of mining and tunneling droids.

Musk also answered queries about refueling on Mars. While he did not elaborate much, he said that plans for refueling are still in the nascent stage. Musk said that the initial requirement is to ensure that the landing is done without creating a crater. He added that another requirement is to find water for carrying out CH4/O2 Sabatier Reaction.

Musk revealed the ultimate plans of changing the name of the ITS. He said that the name "just isn't working." Musk revealed that the internal names for the rocket and spaceship are BFR and BFS. However, he is not happy with these names either.