Musk’s audacious plan to blast people to Mars by 2024 glosses over some important social and political challenges that SpaceX will need to successfully navigate to get off the ground.
When will we see a woman or a man walk on Mars?
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Sending humans to Mars is a 5-10 year project goal for several global operators right now. It’s expensive - but Elon Musk unveiled his new commercial plan today.
There is water on Mars - but it’s buried, and frozen.
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Space exploration is exciting - but there are barriers for humans hoping to visit and even stay on planets. Buried ice on Mars could be a water source for interplanetary visits of the future.
Musk dismisses one of the main technical challenges of being on the Martian surface: the temperature.
A view from the ‘Kimberley’ formation on Mars taken by NASA’s Curiosity rover. The strata in the foreground dip towards the base of Mount Sharp, indicating flow of water toward a basin that existed before the larger bulk of the mountain formed.
NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
We could learn a lot from any mission to send people to Mars, such as whether there’s life elsewhere in the universe or even the technology for new household appliances.
The recently broadcast TV mini-series, “Mars”, combines fiction and nonfiction in a way that places them in balance. This kind of combination is likely to feature in more television series and films.
The health of astronauts will be one of the main challenges for Musk.
D Mitriy/wikimedia
A true plan for the colonisation of Mars should include both the social and technical feasibility of living there. Unfortunately, Musk left that bit out.
The SPARTAN re-usable space launch technology.
Thomas Keith
We’re on the cusp of being able to consistently launch and land rockets, greatly reducing the cost of space travel. But how long before there’s a Millennium Falcon in every garage?
Professeur senior d’analyse financière, d’audit et de risk management - Directrice de Programme pour le MSc Fashion Design & Luxury Management- Responsable de la spécialisation MBA "Brand & Luxury Management", Grenoble École de Management (GEM)