Humanity could reach the Red Planet and the Moon sooner than we think.<\/p>\n
SpaceX President and Chief Operating Officer (COO) Gwynne Shotwell said a crewed mission to Mars could happen before the end of the 2020s.<\/p>\n
I think it will be in this decade, yes. People on the Moon, sooner, Shotwell told CNBC recently.<\/p>\n
\"I think we need to get a large delivery to the surface of Mars, and then people will start thinking harder about it,\" she added. \"And then, I think within five or six years, people will see that that will be a real place to go\".<\/p>\n
Elon Musks company has set itself the ambitious task to make space travel more accessible for humanity.<\/p>\n
SpaceX is developing a reusable rocket called Starship that aims to take people to the Moon, Mars and elsewhere. The Japanese billionaire Yasaku Maezawa, for instance, has booked the rocket for a round-the-Moon trip in 2023.<\/p>\n
While SpaceX has yet to bring humans to the Moon, the company has had successful trips to the International Space Station (ISS).<\/p>\n
NASA has also picked Starship for its Artemis programme, which aims to put astronauts near the Moons south pole in 2025.<\/p>\n
But another of Artemiss missions is to go from the Moon to Mars in about 2040, which is about 10 years later than Shotwells prediction.<\/p>\n
It means that SpaceX could beat NASA to the punch but as Musks company provides a lot of tech equipment to NASA, they may end up working together.<\/p>\n
The most recent mission between NASA and SpaceX occurred last Friday after the third long-duration astronaut team launched by SpaceX to the ISS safely returned to Earth to end months of orbital research ranging from space-grown chillies to robots.<\/p>\n
SpaceX is also working towards Starships first-ever orbital test flight, launching from its Texas base.<\/p>\n
However, it is currently awaiting an environmental assessment from the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).<\/p>\n
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Elon Musks SpaceX COO says manned missions will reach Mars by 2030. NASA says otherwise - Euronews<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Humanity could reach the Red Planet and the Moon sooner than we think. SpaceX President and Chief Operating Officer (COO) Gwynne Shotwell said a crewed mission to Mars could happen before the end of the 2020s Continue reading