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Elon Musk and Donald Trump Aim for MARS instead of the Moon! · Elon Musk Podcast

• 0:00
  Now that Donald Trump has secured another term and Elon
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  Musk is joining forces with his administration, Mars has
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  instantly become a top priority in the United States space
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  policy. It's a huge shift from NASA's
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  previous focus on the Artemis program, which was all about
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  getting humans back to the moon first.
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  With Musk now playing a key role in this, the conversation has
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  quickly moved towards aiming directly for Mars.
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  Now. Trump's enthusiasm for pushing
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  beyond the moon isn't new, though.
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  Even during his first term, he called lunar missions a stepping
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  stone and often describe them as boring.
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  Now, since we've already done that before, he wants to move
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  on. Now it looks like the plan is to
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  leverage Spacex's Starship to get us to Mars faster than
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  anyone has anticipated. But back on June 30th, 2017,
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  Trump signed an executive order to re establish the National
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  Space Council, chaired by then Vice President Mike Pence.
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  This was a big deal because it brought focus back to space
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  exploration at the national policy level, and Trump's first
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  budget request kept many of the Obama era programs intact
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  though, including the Commercial Resupply Services and the
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  development of the Orion spacecraft for deep space
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  missions. However, he cut back on Earth
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  science research and proposed eliminating NASA's education
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  office, signaling a shift towards prioritizing exploration
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  beyond our Sorbon. Later, in December of 2017,
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  Trump signed Space Policy Directive One which set the
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  stage for US-led return to the the Moon as part of the broader
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  plan that includes Mars. Now.
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  This directive led to the creation of the Artemis program,
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  which was built on legacy projects like the Orion capsule
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  and the Lunar Gateway, but now with Elon Musk on board as a
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  strong push to use this momentum for Mars missions as the main
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  focus. SpaceX launched their massive
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  Starship rocket on October 13th of this year.
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  I think it's 400 feet tall, the biggest and most powerful rocket
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  ever. But the wild part isn't just the
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  launch, it's what they pulled off right after they actually
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  caught the entire booster with the launch tower.
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  It's like landing a skyscraper back on its foundation.
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  You have to wonder if they can do this.
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  This might be the breakthrough that finally puts Mars with an R
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  reach. And Starship is Musk's favorite
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  project. He believes it's the key to
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  colonizing Mars. The current idea is to use
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  Starship for lunar missions first to prove the technology,
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  then aim straight for Mars after that.
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  Now that Trump is back in the White House and Musk has a seat
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  at the table, it's likely we'll see Starship being pushed into
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  Mars missions even faster. Trump's administration is likely
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  to take a more aggressive approach now, aiming to leap
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  ahead and possibly beat countries like China in the race
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  to Mars. And it's no surprise that Musk
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  backed Trump's campaign. Elon's had major frustrations
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  with government interference and regulations slowing down
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  Spacex's progress, especially from agencies like the federal
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  the Asia administration. And now that Musk is officially
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  part of Trump's team, he could push hard for deregulation,
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  potentially making it easier and faster for SpaceX to launch
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  Starship missions, particularly the big, ambitious ones aimed at
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  Mars. Now, Musk has reportedly
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  suggested putting some of his own top SpaceX employees in key
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  government positions, including at the Defense Department.
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  This could be a game changer for SpaceX, as having insiders at
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  the federal level would help streamline decisions secure
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  contracts. The idea of having Musk's people
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  in key positions goes beyond just reducing red tape, though.
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  It could lead to a fundamental shift in NASA's plans.
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  Right now, the Artemis program relies heavily on the Space
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  Launch System, or the SLS, a massive rocket built by Boeing
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  that has faced endless delays and cost overruns.
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  But with Musk's influence and Starship's proven capabilities,
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  Trump's administration might shift focus away from the SLS
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  and rely more on Starship and Spacex's solutions.
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  Now let's dive into what makes Starship a little bit more
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  special than everything else. It's two stages.
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  It's a two stage vehicle super heavy booster, which provides
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  the initial thrust in the spacecraft known as the
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  Starship, which is designed to carry crew and cargo.
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  It's fully reusable, unlike most rockets which are single used.
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  And Musk's goal is to make space travel as common and cost
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  effective as air travel, because they need to get launch costs
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  down to just a few $1,000,000 per flight.
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  Thanks to Starships reusable design, this kind of
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  affordability could make regular Mars missions possible.
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  Shifting NASA's focus from the moon to Mars isn't a small
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  challenge, though it would require a major reallocation of
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  resources and funding, especially given the significant
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  investments already made in Artemis.
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  During his first presidency, Trump pushed NASA to get results
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  quickly. Now, with Musk helping to lead
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  the charge, we might even see an even faster pushed towards
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  manned missions to Mars. Musk has been very vocal about
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  his Mars timeline, predicting the SpaceX could land an
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  uncrewed Starship on Mars by 2026, followed by a crude
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  mission in 2028. This is incredibly ambitious,
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  and many experts doubt whether it's achievable.
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  Mars is roughly 140 million miles away, and a round trip
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  mission would take two to three years.
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  It's not like the moon, where astronauts can return within a
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  few weeks, you know? The challenges of sending humans
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  to the surface of Mars are enormous.
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  For starters, Mars has a very thin atmosphere, which makes
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  landing spacecraft extremely difficult.
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  There's also the issue of radiation.
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  Without a strong magnetic field like Earth's, astronauts would
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  be exposed to dangerous levels of cosmic radiation during the
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  journey, and NASA's engineers have emphasized the need for new
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  life support systems and habitats to ensure the safety of
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  the crew. Financially, shifting to a Mars
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  for a strategy would be a big deal.
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  The Artemis program has already cost NASA around $93 billion
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  through 2025, and if Donald Trump decides to prioritize Mars
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  instead, much of that funding could be redirected to support
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  Spacex's Starship missions. This might streamline NASA's
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  budget, but could also leave other scientific projects.
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  It's about the resources that they need.
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  And with Trump back in office, the competition with China and
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  space has become more intense. Trump has repeatedly talked
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  about the importance of beating China to Mars, framing it as a
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  matter of national pride. He's even said during campaign
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  rallies that he trusts Musk to get there before anyone else.
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  This kind of rhetoric could lead to a new space race with the US
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  heading hard to be the first to put boots on Mars now.
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  Also, let's talk about what's possible with Starship because
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  this vehicle is a big part of the new plan.
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  SpaceX recently completed a successful test of Starship's re
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  entry capabilities, where the spacecraft landed safely after a
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  high altitude test flight. Musk sees this as proof that
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  Starship can handle both lunar and Martian missions, even
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  though we're still a long way from Mars.
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  Full scale missions. Now Starship's payload capacity
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  is huge and that's one of his main advantages.
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  It can carry up to 150 metric tons to low Earth orbit in a
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  fully reusable configuration. And for capacity Nas as SLS can
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  carry about 95 metric tons means Starship can carry not only
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  astronauts but also a massive amount of cargo, which is
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  crucial for long term missions to Mars.
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  The kind of things you'd want to fit inside Starship for Mars
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  mission include habitat module, scientific equipment like
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  support systems. These would be essential for
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  setting up a base on Mars. SpaceX plans to send several
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  uncrewed Starships first, loaded with supplies and gear to create
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  a foundation before the astronauts arrive.
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  The ability to carry such large payloads in a single rocket
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  launch makes Starship ideal for building the initial
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  infrastructure needed on Mars. An important cargo for Mars
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  missions would be power systems like solar panels and batteries.
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  Mars doesn't have a power grid, obviously, so you need to bring
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  your own. Starship could carry enough
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  solar panels to generate the electricity needed for the
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  habitat and scientific equipment because it'd be critical for
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  sustaining life on Mars and supporting any research
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  activities. Now, Starship can also carry
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  specialized Starship can also carry specialized Rovers and
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  exploration vehicles. These Rovers would help
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  transport astronauts and equipment across the Martian
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  surface. SpaceX could fit several of
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  these Rovers in a single launch, allowing the crew to have
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  transportation ready as soon as they land.
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  This would be vital for exploring the terrain and
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  finding resources like water ice, which could be used for
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  drinking water and even to make rocket fuel.
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  And Starship's cargo capacity allows for the transport of
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  food, water, and other essential supplies to sustain the crew.
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  Given the length of a Mars mission, likely two to three
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  years round trip, astronauts will need a significant amount
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  of provisions. Starship large payload space
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  means it can bring enough supplies to keep the crew safe
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  and healthy for the entire duration of the mission,
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  reducing the need for resupply missions and making it more
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  feasible to stay on Mars longer. If you're a fan of SpaceX, let
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  me know down in the comments below by adding a rocket emoji
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  if you have no comment. But if you want to talk about
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  Mars and what Elon Musk and Donald Trump can do for the
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  future of humanity, also let me know down in the comments.
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  I want to know what you think about all this stuff because
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  it's going to be a shift from where we are now, which is
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  SpaceX doing missions for NASA. Basically, when SLS goes
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  offline, SpaceX will be doing all the missions to Mars for
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  NASA. They won't have to worry about
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  SLS. So please leave a comment down
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  below, leave a like, and also hit the subscribe button with
• 10:04
  maximum dynamic pressure. Please take care of yourselves
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  and each other. I'll see you in the next one.