American astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson dismissed SpaceX CEO Elon Musk‘s ambitions to send people to Mars, saying that unless there is a push caused by a shift in geopolitics, it will not be possible as a pure exploration project.
What Happened: “I have strong views on that. My read of the history of space exploration is such that we do big, expensive things only when it’s geopolitically expedient, such as we feel threatened by an enemy,” Tyson said in an interview with Bill Maher.
The trip to Mars won’t happen because Musk believes it’s the next big thing to do, Tyson said, while adding that it would be difficult to gain investment for the Starship project given its high costs and low return on investment.
“For him to just say, let’s go to Mars because it’s the next thing to do. What is that venture capitalist meeting look like? ‘So, Elon, what do you want to do?’ ‘I want to go to Mars?’ ‘How much will it cost?’ ‘$1 trillion.’ ‘Is it safe?’ ‘No. People will probably die.’ ‘What’s the return on the investment?’ ‘Nothing.’ That’s a five-minute meeting. And it doesn’t happen,” he said.
The U.S. will get people to Mars only if there is a geopolitical push like a memo from China that it is planning to put up a military base on Mars, according to Tyson. In that case, the U.S. will aim to get to Mars in ten months and NASA will get the spacecraft from SpaceX for the purpose, he said.
“So I don’t see it happening until governments judge that it’s geopolitically in our interest,” Tyson said. “I got nothing against Mars.”
According to Tyson, instead of developing Mars to be liveable once Earth becomes unlivable, it would be better to invest in Earth itself.
Why It Matters: Musk, meanwhile, dismissed Tyson.
“Wow, they really don’t get it. Mars is critical to the long-term survival of consciousness. Also, I’m not going to ask any venture capitalists for money. I realize that it makes no sense as an investment. That’s why I’m gathering resources,” he wrote.
Musk has previously said that SpaceX’s satellite internet segment called Starlink will fund his vision to travel to Mars aboard the company’s Starship launch vehicle.
The Starship launch vehicle is currently in the development and testing phase. The company has conducted six test flights of the vehicle to date but without a payload.
"…I would not be surprised if we fly 400 Starship launches in the next four years,” SpaceX President and COO Gwynne Shotwell said at the Baron Investment Conference in New York earlier this month.
SpaceX is a privately held company. Unlike Musk's publicly held EV company Tesla, SpaceX does not divulge its financials periodically. Shotwell said at the conference that the company will make "some money" on Starlink this year.
"We are going to make some money on Starlink this year. But ultimately I think Starship will be the thing that takes us over the top as one of the most valuable companies," she said.
Check out more of Benzinga's Future Of Mobility coverage by following this link.
Read Next:
Photos courtesy: Wikimedia and Shutterstock
© 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
Comments
Trade confidently with insights and alerts from analyst ratings, free reports and breaking news that affects the stocks you care about.
