It should come as no surprise that Star Wars is Elon Musk’s favourite film. Nor would it be startling if the sci-fi series has inspired the philosophy of his rocket company, SpaceX.Musk has talked up building human metropolises on Mars (and nuking the iciest parts of the red planet to warm it up), leading humanity on interplanetary travel and putting data centres in space. It might sound preposterous, but humans have sent all manner of things to space, from a Buddhist temple and dinosaur bones to a Pizza Hut delivery (which reportedly cost $1 million).Subscribe to gift this articleGift 5 articles to anyone you choose each month when you subscribe.Subscribe nowAlready a subscriber? Fetching latest articles