Elon Musk says SpaceX will launch rocket to Mars in 2019

NEW YORK -- Elon Musk, the founder and CEO of SpaceX, says the company is planning to launch a spacecraft to Mars and return it to Earth as soon as early 2019. "I can tell you what I know currently is the case is that we are building the first ship, the first Mars interplanetary ship right now," Musk told a crowd during a surprise appearance at the SXSW Conference in Austin, Texas, on Sunday."And I think we'll be able to do short flights, sort of up-and-down flights, probably some time in the fi