At this point, I'm pretty sure most people know that Elon Musk is planning to move to Mars, but how exactly is he going to do that? What is he doing these years that made him confident that this mission is going to be successful?
"You want to wake up in the morning and think the future is going to be great - and that’s what being a spacefaring civilization is all about. It’s about believing in the future and thinking that the future will be better than the past. And I can’t think of anything more exciting than going out there and being among the stars."
- Elon Musk
What is SpaceX
SpaceX was formed by entrepreneur Elon Musk in the hopes of revolutionizing the aerospace industry and making affordable spaceflight a reality. In simple terms, Elon Musk founded this because he wanna go to Mars, and SpaceX is preparing it for him by building new rockets and starships. So far, the mission is quite successful. Throughout the year, it landed eight rockets on ocean-based drone platforms and sent three refurbished ones right back into the skies.
Why Mars?
Mars is an obvious target for exploration because it is close by in our Solar System, but there are many more reasons to explore the Red Planet. The scientific reasons for going to Mars can be summarized by the search for life, understanding the surface and the planet’s evolution, and preparing for future human exploration.
While life arose and evolved on Earth, Mars experienced serious climate change. Planetary geologists can study rocks, sediments and soils for clues to uncover the history of the surface. Scientists are interested in the history of water on Mars to understand how life could have survived. Volcanoes, craters from meteoroid impacts, signs of atmospheric or photochemical effects and geophysical processes all carry aspects of Mars’ history.
Samples of the atmosphere could reveal crucial details on its formation and evolution, and also why Mars has less atmosphere than Earth.
Mars can also help us to learn more about our home. Understanding martian geophysical processes promises to uncover details of the evolution and history of Earth and other planets in our Solar System. With this being said, Mars is closest planet to us where humans may be able to live.
While life arose and evolved on Earth, Mars experienced serious climate change. Planetary geologists can study rocks, sediments and soils for clues to uncover the history of the surface. Scientists are interested in the history of water on Mars to understand how life could have survived. Volcanoes, craters from meteoroid impacts, signs of atmospheric or photochemical effects and geophysical processes all carry aspects of Mars’ history.
Samples of the atmosphere could reveal crucial details on its formation and evolution, and also why Mars has less atmosphere than Earth.
Mars can also help us to learn more about our home. Understanding martian geophysical processes promises to uncover details of the evolution and history of Earth and other planets in our Solar System. With this being said, Mars is closest planet to us where humans may be able to live.
Sources:
https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/Exploration/Why_go_to_Mars
https://www.spacex.com/human-spaceflight/mars/
https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/Exploration/Why_go_to_Mars
https://www.spacex.com/human-spaceflight/mars/
