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