SpaceX Publicly Says Trump's Mars Deadline is "Achievable"

[ScienceRocks]

SpaceX Publicly Says Trump's Mars Deadline is "Achievable"

"Having people on Mars in the mid-2020s is something that is achievable."

Quote

On Tuesday, the Humans to Mars Summit in Washington, D.C. kicked off, a day filled with panels on questions surrounding how we’ll get to the red planet: Standard fare. But, it ended quite unpredictably: Retired Astronaut Buzz Aldrin posed a question inspired by an off-the-cuff remark from President Donald Trump.
Representatives from five different juggernaut spaceflight companies were the same stage to face Aldrin’s question, at the end of a panel on the different kinds of architectures each is developing to safely transport humans to Mars and establish a colony there.
Aldrin reminded them of the strange scene in the White House on April 24, when Trump, in a call to the International Space Station, asked a question about when NASA planned to make it to Mars.
After being told in no uncertain terms it would be a while, Trump rattled off the following line the same way a small-town contractor does when bidding on a city-financed project at a city council meeting

I think we can we get there within 5-8 years and I think the people we send should become colonist. We should send a living module and send food and stuff to mars every few years for them.

 

[toobfreak]

We shall see. Not only is going to Mars about 1000X times harder and more dangerous than the Moon, but vastly more expensive. Undoubtedly, many people will die. I am all for space, etc., was a former member of The Planetary Society, but I'm not sure the absolute necessity and advantage of being on Mars right now. Plenty of problems here needing fixed.

 

[SixFoot]

Got-dam colonial expansionists!