Speaking about SpaceX’s mission, the expert added: “I don’t think it’s realistic and we’ve got to solve those problems here on Earth.”
A top astronomer has branded Elon Musk’s ambitions for Mars a “dangerous illusion”, casting doubt on SpaceX’s multi-billion dollar project.
Musk has previously said that he wants to bring over a million people to Mars by 2050.
However Martin Rees, a leading astrophysicist and member of the Royal Households of the United Kingdom under the title of ‘Astronomer Royal’, spoke out against SpaceX’s plans.
He told the House of Lords’ podcast Lord Speaker’s Corner: “I don’t think it’s realistic and we’ve got to solve those problems here on Earth.
“Dealing with climate change on Earth is a doddle compared to making Mars habitable. So I don’t think we should hold that out as a long-term aim at all.
“I think there might be a few crazy pioneers living on Mars, just like there are people living at the South Pole, although it’s far less hospitable than the South Pole.
“But the idea of mass migration to avoid the Earth’s problems, which he and a few other space enthusiasts adopt, that, I think, is a dangerous illusion.”
He instead suggested that human exploration into space should be funded purely through private funds because governments have “got to be very safety conscious and that makes it very expensive.”
Mr Rees added that remote-controlled machines should be used to explore other pants while “only people who really have a high appetite for risk should be going into space, and they should be privately funded, not by the rest of us.”
Another opponent of Musk’s Mars plans emerged recently was former US President Barack Obama.
Speaking at a renewable energy conference in Paris, Obama raised similar concerns to Mr Rees.
Source: https://www.the-express.com/news/science/133051/elon-musk-mars-spacex-astronomer
