Erik Voorhees Reacts as Elon Musk Names Big Hurdle in Getting to Mars

by

As a researcher who has spent years studying space exploration and its impact on our planet, I find the ongoing saga between Elon Musk and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) over the Starship flights to Mars quite intriguing. While it’s disheartening to see bureaucratic hurdles potentially slow down humanity’s progress towards Mars, it’s essential to prioritize environmental protection, even when it comes at the expense of space exploration timelines.

Centibillionare Elon Musk has published a post saying that current bureaucratic hurdles may prevent humanity from getting to the red planet, Mars. The latter is something Elon Musk’s company SpaceX has been working on for more than a decade now.

This week, Elon Musk provided an estimated timeline for when we might expect the initial unmanned and subsequently manned missions to Mars to be launched.

In a light-hearted attempt to lift his spirits, Erik Voorhees, the brains behind Spaceshift and Venice AI, as well as an early Bitcoin investor, playfully replied to Elon Musk’s tweet.

Here’s big problem for SpaceX, according to Musk

According to Peter Hague, an expert in astrophysics and software engineering, it appears that SpaceX’s CEO Elon Musk has been informed that their Starship cannot take flight before November at the absolute latest.

As a crypto investor, I’ve just learned that during its fourth flight, a portion of the Starship was intentionally released and ended up in the Gulf of Mexico according to the screenshot shared. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has expressed concerns that the hot parts that fell into the gulf could potentially harm marine species protected by law. As a result, they’ve initiated a 60-day consultation with local environmental experts. It’s important to note that any concerns or issues raised during these consultations might necessitate another 60-day period for further analysis and potential action.

Has SpaceX even started on its Mars Wildlife Impact Study yet?

— Erik Voorhees (@ErikVoorhees) September 10, 2024

In a playful manner, Erik Voorhees addressed Elon Musk’s tweet by inquiring humorously, “Have you kicked off the Mars Wildlife Impact Study with SpaceX yet?

Elon Musk teases plans for upcoming Mars flights

Just recently, Elon Musk shared on Twitter that SpaceX intends to launch its maiden spacecrafts towards Mars in the next two years, taking advantage of a solar alignment window which minimizes the distance between Earth and Mars. This strategic timing enables faster travel to Mars as both planets will be closely positioned with respect to the sun.

For approximately nine months, this window of opportunity recurs every 26 months. During this period, the travel distance ranges from 401 million to 54.6 million kilometers. Initially, these voyages will be unmanned to ensure safe landing of the spacecraft on the planet.

Should the initial mission prove successful, we can anticipate SpaceX launching crewed missions to Mars approximately two years later (or four years from the present). The aim is to build a self-supporting settlement on Mars.

Read More

2024-09-11 15:34