Fly me to the moon: Amazon's Bezos outlines plans for permanent lunar colony (VIDEO)

Amazon and Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos wants to send people back to the moon – but this time to colonize.

The billionaire revealed more about his ambitious plan to settle on the moon during a Q&A with kids at the Seattle Museum of Flight’s Apollo exhibit Saturday.

Answering a question about the impact of AI on space exploration, Bezos said: “I think we should build a permanent human settlement on one of the poles of the moon. It’s time to go back to the moon, but this time to stay.”

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Bezos has previously spoken about Blue Origin’s plan to send cargo shipments to the moon to deliver equipment necessary for building a human colony.

Writing in an internal company report earlier this year, Bezos said: “A permanently inhabited lunar settlement is a difficult and worthy objective. I sense a lot of people are excited about this.”

The future lunar mission could be underway as early as July 2020, Bezos said – although he is counting on NASA’s help.

“Our liquid hydrogen expertise and experience with precision vertical landing offer the fastest path to a lunar lander mission,” he said. “I'm excited about this and am ready to invest my own money alongside NASA to make it happen.”

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Meanwhile, the race to colonize other parts of the solar system is hotting up. Earlier this month, NASA revealed it has developed a form of concrete that could be produced on Mars, solving the problem of how to build structures that can withstand the planet’s radiation.

While the space agency still hopes to accomplish its Mars mission goal by 2030, SpaceX billionaire Elon Musk is confident he can get humans on the red planet by 2024.