Musk Says First Mission To Mars Will Launch Next Year

[naomi24]

//SpaceX founder Elon Musk has said his Starship rocket will head to Mars by the end of next year, as the company investigates several recent explosions in flight tests.

Human landings could begin as early as 2029 if initial missions go well, though "2031 was more likely", he added in a post on his social media platform X.//

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx2g88y52y8o

 

 

 

Landing humans on Mars as early as 2029 or even 2031 seems a bit ambitious to me.  I hope he's figured out how to get them back.

[Ken4155]

If he hasn't, let's hope he's on board the test-run.

[gulliver1]

I hope Musk and Trump go up with it alongside Boris, Truss and Farage and hopefully they can't get them back.😎

[davebro3]

//I hope he's figured out how to get them back.//

The escape velocity of Mars (5 km/s or 11,000 mph) is about 1/2 that of Earth so I guess they would have to land with a launchable vehicle (and fuel) able to achieve that. Seems quite a substantial load to have to take in addition to all the other stuff.

Of course if they don't intend to land - just orbit - that's a different matter.

[davebro3]

Maybe they'll recruit astronauts with fatal prognoses so they won't need to come back.🙄

[Old_Geezer]

They won't need to land.

They're packing parachutes.