Elon Musk Announces SpaceX’s First Uncrewed Mars Mission in Two Years
Elon Musk, the CEO of SpaceX, has revealed that the company plans to launch its first uncrewed Starships to Mars in two years. This mission aims to test the reliability of landing intact on Mars. If these tests are successful, the first crewed flights to Mars will take place in four years.
Musk shared on X, ‘The first Starships to Mars will launch in 2 years when the next Earth-Mars transfer window opens. These will be uncrewed to test the reliability of landing intact on Mars. If those landings go well, then the first crewed flights to Mars will be in 4 years. Flight rate will grow exponentially from there, with the goal of building a self-sustaining city in about 20 years.’
He emphasized that being multiplanetary will increase the lifespan of consciousness by not having all of humanity’s resources on one planet.
In another post, Musk highlighted SpaceX’s achievement of creating the first fully reusable rocket stage and making it economically viable. He noted, ‘It currently costs about a billion dollars per ton of useful payload to the surface of Mars. That needs to be improved to USD 100k/ton to build a self-sustaining city there, so the technology needs to be 10,000 times better. Extremely difficult, but not impossible.’
In June, SpaceX’s Starship, the most powerful launch vehicle ever made, achieved key objectives during its fourth test flight. The vehicle, launched from Boca Chica, Texas, demonstrated its reusability and achieved multiple milestones, including the survival of the Starship capsule upon reentry and a soft splashdown of the Super Heavy booster in the Gulf of Mexico.
The Starship capsule also achieved orbital insertion and a controlled reentry, with a colorful buildup of plasma visible around the vehicle. The mission was streamed live with the help of SpaceX’s Starlink satellites, despite some camera view obstructions during reentry. Ultimately, the Starship achieved its expected landing burn into the Indian Ocean.
Doubts Revealed
Elon Musk -: Elon Musk is a famous businessman who started companies like Tesla, which makes electric cars, and SpaceX, which builds rockets and spacecraft.
SpaceX -: SpaceX is a company that makes rockets and spacecraft. It was started by Elon Musk to make space travel cheaper and to eventually help people live on other planets.
Uncrewed -: Uncrewed means that there will be no people on the spacecraft. It will be controlled by computers and people on Earth.
Starships -: Starships are a type of spacecraft that SpaceX is building. They are designed to take people and cargo to places like the Moon and Mars.
Mars -: Mars is a planet in our solar system. It is the fourth planet from the Sun and is known as the Red Planet because of its reddish color.
Landing reliability -: Landing reliability means how often the spacecraft can land safely without crashing. Testing this is important to make sure future missions with people are safe.
Crewed flights -: Crewed flights are space missions that have astronauts or people on board. These missions are more complex because they need to keep people safe and healthy.
Self-sustaining city -: A self-sustaining city is a place where people can live without needing supplies from Earth. It would have its own food, water, and energy sources.
Reusable rockets -: Reusable rockets are rockets that can be used more than once. This helps to save money and resources because you don’t have to build a new rocket for every trip.
Multiplanetary -: Multiplanetary means living on more than one planet. Elon Musk wants humans to live on both Earth and Mars to make sure our species can survive if something bad happens on Earth.
Reentry -: Reentry is when a spacecraft comes back into Earth’s atmosphere from space. It is a very important part of the mission because it needs to be done safely.
Splashdown -: Splashdown is when a spacecraft lands in the ocean after coming back from space. It is a common way for spacecraft to return to Earth safely.
