Elon Musk surprised many with his recent pronouncement that instead of a Mars first focus, Space X would instead focus on the Moon. Space.com explains that it basically comes down to time and iteration cycles:
"For those unaware, SpaceX has already shifted focus to building a self-growing city on the moon, as we can potentially achieve that in less than 10 years, whereas Mars would take 20+ years," the billionaire wrote on Sunday afternoon (Feb. 8) via X, the social media platform he bought in 2022.
"The mission of SpaceX remains the same: extend consciousness and life as we know it to the stars," he added. "It is only possible to travel to Mars when the planets align every 26 months (six month trip time), whereas we can launch to the moon every 10 days (2 day trip time). This means we can iterate much faster to complete a moon city than a Mars city."
[snip]
"The priority shift is because I'm worried that a natural or manmade catastrophe stops the resupply ships coming from Earth, causing the colony to die out," he wrote. "We can make the moon city self-growing in less than 10 years, but Mars will take 20+ years due to the 26-month iteration cycle. That is what matters most."
He viewed a Lunar colony as becoming a mining, manufacturing and satellite launching hub.
It does make sense, and it's a lot cheaper. However, still more daunting than any environment on Earth.
ReplyDeleteA case of "if you can make it here--the Moon--you can make it anywhere".
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