Elon Musk has said humans need to build a base on the moon to get the public "fired up" again about space exploration.

Humans first landed there 48 years ago today [20 July], but nobody has stepped foot on the moon since the final mission of the Apollo programme in 1972.

Speaking at a conference in Washington about the International Space Station, the SpaceX founder complained that the public did not seem to grasp "how cool the ISS is".

Public interest and fascination with space travel exploded during the Apollo missions.

Image: Musk wants to continues the 'dream' of the Apollo missions

The funding the US ploughed into the space race led to huge advances in the development of new technologies and inspired many people to pursue engineering and science careers.


Elon Musk told the conference there were more technological advances and business opportunities to be grasped with greater space travel.

Satellites could help deliver cheap internet to those who do not have access to broadband infrastructure.

They could also monitor crop growth, climate change and potential natural disasters back on Earth, said Mr Musk.

But the Tesla boss added: "To really get the public real fired up, I think we've got to have a base on the moon."

"Having some permanent presence on another heavenly body, which would be the kind of moon base, and then getting people to Mars and beyond - that's the continuance of the dream of Apollo that I think people are really looking for," he added.

SpaceX rocket lands itself minutes after launch

SpaceX has already announced plans to fly two tourists around the Moon next year, although they will not land on the moon itself.

Mr Musk has also spoken about his plans to land humans on Mars.

The banner image on SpaceX's Twitter profile shows a series of images of Mars being terraformed - a hypothetical process of deliberately modifying a planet to make it similar to Earth, and therefore habitable to humans.

Mr Musk said that "to get the public excited, you've really got to get people in the picture. It's just a hundred times different if there are people in the picture."