4 ms·
It wouldn't just terminate SLS though, it would probably kill Artemis, which would be a bad thing.
by greedo 4y ago
It wouldn't just terminate SLS though, it would probably kill Artemis, which would be a bad thing.
- credit_guy 4y agoMaybe. But then again, Musk is hellbent to go to Mars. If SpaceX indeed builds thousands of Starships, then a private-funded Artemis-like program will be possible for what will amount to spare change. We are pretty close to (if not already at) the point where we don't need Government funding for space exploration.
- greedo 4y agoGoing to Mars will cost between $100B and $10T (the latter includes building a city). There's no way that Musk can do this on his own without government assistance.
- MichaelCollins 4y ago> Musk is hellbent to go to Mars. He's hellbent on building Starship I think, but Mars? I don't see it. He's invested a lot of time and money into building a booster that will excel at putting satellites into orbit for Starlink and DoD contracts. But how much has he invested in Mars colony habitat technology? Virtually nothing. Starship is a satellite launcher, not a Mars rocket. The Mars talk is a recruiting tactic.
- credit_guy 4y agoYou have a point, but in the end it doesn't matter. If you can bring 100 tons of cargo in Low Earth Orbit and refuel there, then a Moon mission is easy enough for a VC-funded startup to put together. Musk will be more than happy to sell ride tickets on his Starship.
- stjohnswarts 4y agoGiven his behavior over the past few years, i'd rather have two baskets with two sets of eggs.