Latest / Elon Musk Podcast / Elon Musk and Trump Fast-Track Mars Mission

Transcript

Elon Musk and Trump Fast-Track Mars Mission · Elon Musk Podcast

• 0:00
  Now that Donald Trump has secured another term and Elon
• 0:03
  Musk is joining forces with his administration, Mars has
• 0:06
  instantly become a top priority in the United States space
• 0:09
  policy. It's a huge shift from Massa's
• 0:12
  previous focus on the Artemis program, which was all about
• 0:15
  getting humans back to the moon first.
• 0:17
  With Musk now playing a key role in this, the conversation has
• 0:20
  quickly moved towards aiming directly for Mars.
• 0:24
  Now. Trump's enthusiasm for pushing
• 0:25
  beyond the moon isn't new, though.
• 0:27
  Even during his first term, he called lunar missions a stepping
• 0:30
  stone and often describe them as boring.
• 0:33
  Now, since we've already done that before, he wants to move
• 0:37
  on. Now it looks like the plan is to
• 0:39
  leverage Spacex's Starship to get us to Mars faster than
• 0:42
  anyone has anticipated. But back on June 30th, 2017,
• 0:47
  Trump signed an executive order to re establish the National
• 0:50
  Space Council, chaired by then Vice President Mike Pence.
• 0:54
  This was a big deal because it brought focus back to space
• 0:57
  exploration at the national policy level, and Trump's first
• 1:01
  budget request kept many of the Obama era programs intact
• 1:04
  though, including the Commercial Resupply Services and the
• 1:07
  development of the Orion spacecraft for deep space
• 1:10
  missions. However, he cut back on Earth
• 1:12
  science research and proposed eliminating NASA's education
• 1:16
  office, signaling a shift towards prioritizing exploration
• 1:20
  beyond our Sorbon. Later in December of 2017, Trump
• 1:24
  signed Space Policy Directive, one which set the stage for
• 1:28
  US-led return to to the moon as part of the broader plan that
• 1:32
  includes Mars. Now, this directive led to the
• 1:35
  creation of the Artemis program, which was built on legacy
• 1:39
  projects like the Orion capsule and the Lunar Gateway, but now
• 1:42
  with Elon Musk on board as a strong push to use this momentum
• 1:47
  for Mars missions as the main focus.
• 1:49
  Now, SpaceX launched their massive Starship rocket on
• 1:52
  October 13th of this year. Think it's 400 feet tall, the
• 1:55
  biggest and most powerful rocket ever.
• 1:58
  But the wild part isn't just the launch, it's what they pulled
• 2:01
  off right after they actually caught the entire booster with a
• 2:04
  launch tower. It's like landing a skyscraper
• 2:06
  back on its foundation. You have to wonder if they can
• 2:09
  do this. This might be the breakthrough
• 2:12
  that finally puts Mars with an R reach.
• 2:15
  And Starship is Musk's favorite project.
• 2:17
  He believes it's the key to colonizing Mars, and the current
• 2:21
  idea is to use Starship for lunar missions first to prove
• 2:24
  the technology, then aim straight for Mars after that.
• 2:27
  Now that Trump is back in the White House and Musk has a seat
• 2:30
  at the table, it's likely we'll see Starship being pushed into
• 2:33
  Mars missions even faster. Trump's administration is likely
• 2:37
  to take a more aggressive approach now, aiming to leap
• 2:40
  ahead and possibly beat countries like China in the race
• 2:44
  to Mars. It's no surprise that Musk
• 2:46
  backed Trump's campaign. Elon's had major frustrations
• 2:49
  with government interference and regulations slowing down
• 2:53
  Spacex's progress, especially from agencies like the federal
• 2:57
  BH administration. And now that Musk is officially
• 3:00
  part of Trump's team, he could push hard for deregulation,
• 3:03
  potentially making it easier and faster for SpaceX to launch
• 3:07
  Starship missions, particularly the big, ambitious ones aimed at
• 3:11
  Mars. Now, Musk has reportedly
• 3:13
  suggested putting some of his own top SpaceX employees in key
• 3:17
  government positions, including at the Defense Department.
• 3:20
  This could be a game changer for SpaceX, as having insiders at
• 3:23
  the federal level would help streamline decisions secure
• 3:26
  contracts. The idea of having Musk's people
• 3:29
  in key positions goes beyond just reducing red tape, though.
• 3:32
  It could lead to a fundamental shift in NASA's plans.
• 3:35
  Right now, the Artemis program relies heavily on the Space
• 3:39
  Launch System, or the SLS, a massive rocket built by Boeing
• 3:43
  that has faced endless delays and cost overruns.
• 3:46
  But with Musk's influence and Starship's proven capabilities,
• 3:50
  Trump's administration might shift focus away from the SLS
• 3:54
  and rely more on Starship and Spacex's solutions.
• 3:58
  Now let's dive into what makes Starship a little bit more
• 4:01
  special than everything else. It's two stages.
• 4:03
  It's a two stage vehicle super heavy booster, which provides
• 4:07
  the initial thrust in the spacecraft known as the
• 4:10
  Starship, which is designed to carry crew and cargo.
• 4:13
  It's fully reusable, unlike most rockets which are single used.
• 4:17
  And Musk's goal is to make space travel as common and cost
• 4:21
  effective as air travel, because they need to get launch costs
• 4:24
  down to just a few $1,000,000 per flight.
• 4:27
  Thanks to Starship's reusable design, this kind of
• 4:30
  affordability could make regular Mars missions possible.
• 4:34
  Shifting NASA's focus from the moon to Mars isn't a small
• 4:38
  challenge, though it would require a major reallocation of
• 4:41
  resources and funding, especially given the significant
• 4:44
  investments already made in Artemis.
• 4:46
  During his first presidency, Trump pushed NASA to get results
• 4:49
  quickly. Now, with Musk helping to lead
• 4:51
  the charge, we might even see an even faster are pushed towards
• 4:55
  manned missions to Mars. Musk has been very vocal about
• 4:59
  his Mars timeline, predicting the SpaceX could land an
• 5:03
  uncrewed Starship on Mars by 2026, followed by a crude
• 5:07
  mission in 2028. This is incredibly ambitious,
• 5:10
  and many experts doubt whether it's achievable.
• 5:13
  Mars is roughly 140 million miles away, and a round trip
• 5:17
  mission would take two to three years.
• 5:19
  It's not like the moon, where astronauts can return within a
• 5:23
  few weeks, you know? The challenges of sending humans
• 5:27
  to the surface of Mars are enormous.
• 5:28
  For starters, Mars has a very thin atmosphere, which makes
• 5:31
  landing spacecraft extremely difficult.
• 5:34
  There's also the issue of radiation.
• 5:36
  Without a strong magnetic field like Earth's, astronauts would
• 5:40
  be exposed to dangerous levels of cosmic radiation during the
• 5:43
  journey. The NASA's engineers have
• 5:45
  emphasized the need for new life support systems and habitats to
• 5:48
  ensure the safety of the crew. Financially, shifting to a Mars
• 5:52
  First strategy would be a big deal.
• 5:54
  The Artemis program has already cost NASA around $93 billion
• 5:59
  through 2025, and if Donald Trump decides to prioritize Mars
• 6:03
  instead, much of that funding could be redirected to support
• 6:06
  Spacex's Starship missions. This might streamline NASA's
• 6:10
  budget, but could also leave other scientific projects
• 6:14
  without the resources that they need.
• 6:16
  And with Trump back in office, the competition with China and
• 6:20
  space has become more intense. Trump has repeatedly talked
• 6:24
  about the importance of beating China to Mars, framing it as a
• 6:28
  matter of national pride. He's even said during campaign
• 6:31
  rallies that he trusts Musk to get there before anyone else.
• 6:35
  This kind of rhetoric could lead to a new space race with the US
• 6:38
  heading hard to be the first to put boots on Mars now.
• 6:43
  Also, let's talk about what's possible with Starship because
• 6:47
  this vehicle is a big part of the new plan.
• 6:49
  SpaceX recently completed a successful test of Starship's re
• 6:53
  entry capabilities, where the spacecraft landed safely after a
• 6:56
  high altitude test flight. Musk sees this as proof that
• 7:00
  Starship can handle both lunar and Martian missions, even
• 7:04
  though we're still a long way from Mars.
• 7:07
  Full scale missions. Now Starship's payload capacity
• 7:11
  is huge and that's one of his main advantages.
• 7:14
  It can carry up to 150 metric tons to low Earth orbit in a
• 7:17
  fully reusable configuration. And for capacity Nas as SLS can
• 7:23
  carry about 95 metric tons means Starship can carry not only
• 7:27
  astronauts but also a massive amount of cargo, which is
• 7:30
  crucial for long term missions to Mars.
• 7:33
  The kind of things you'd want to fit inside Starship from Mars
• 7:36
  mission include habitat module, scientific equipment like
• 7:40
  support systems. These would be essential for
• 7:43
  setting up a base on Mars. SpaceX plans to send several
• 7:46
  uncrewed Starships first, loaded with supplies and gear to create
• 7:50
  a foundation before the astronauts arrive.
• 7:53
  The ability to carry such large payloads in a single rocket
• 7:58
  launch makes Starship ideal for building the initial
• 8:01
  infrastructure needed on Mars. An important cargo for Mars
• 8:07
  missions would be power systems like solar panels and batteries.
• 8:10
  Mars doesn't have a power grid, obviously, so you need to bring
• 8:14
  your own. Starship could carry enough
• 8:15
  solar panels to generate the electricity needed for the
• 8:19
  habitat and scientific equipment because it would be critical for
• 8:22
  sustaining life on Mars and supporting any research
• 8:26
  activities. Now, Starship can also carry
• 8:30
  specialized Starship can also carry specialized Rovers and
• 8:34
  exploration vehicles. These Rovers would help
• 8:37
  transport astronauts and equipment across the Martian
• 8:39
  surface. SpaceX could fit several of
• 8:41
  these Rovers in a single launch, allowing the crew to have
• 8:44
  transportation ready as soon as they land.
• 8:48
  This would be vital for exploring the terrain and
• 8:50
  finding resources like water ice, which could be used for
• 8:53
  drinking water and even to make rocket fuel.
• 8:57
  And Starship's cargo capacity allows for the transport of
• 9:00
  food, water, and other essential supplies to sustain the crew.
• 9:04
  Given the length of a Mars mission, likely two to three
• 9:07
  years round trip, astronauts will need a significant amount
• 9:10
  of provisions. Starship's large payload space
• 9:13
  means it can bring enough supplies to keep the crew safe
• 9:16
  and healthy for the entire duration of the mission,
• 9:19
  reducing the need for resupply missions and making it more
• 9:23
  feasible to stay on Mars longer. If you're a fan of SpaceX, let
• 9:27
  me know down in the comments below by adding a rocket emoji
• 9:31
  if you have no comment. But if you want to talk about
• 9:34
  Mars and what Elon Musk and Donald Trump can do for the
• 9:38
  future of humanity, also let me know down in the comments.
• 9:40
  I want to know what you think about all this stuff because
• 9:43
  it's going to be a shift from where we are now, which is
• 9:48
  SpaceX doing missions for NASA. Basically, when SLS goes
• 9:53
  offline, SpaceX will be doing all the missions to Mars for
• 9:57
  NASA. They won't have to worry about
• 9:59
  SLS. So please leave a comment down
• 10:01
  below, leave a like, and also hit the subscribe button with
• 10:04
  maximum dynamic pressure. Please take care of yourselves
• 10:07
  and each other. I'll see you in the next one.