Elon Musk has said humans need to build a base on the moon to get the public \"fired up\" again about space exploration.<\/p>\n
Humans first landed there 48 years ago today [20 July], but nobody has stepped foot on the moon since the final mission of the Apollo programme in 1972. <\/p>\n
Speaking at a conference in Washington about the International Space Station, the SpaceX founder complained that the public did not seem to grasp \"how cool the ISS is\". <\/p>\n
Public interest and fascination with space travel exploded during the Apollo missions. <\/p>\n
The funding the US ploughed into the space race led to huge advances in the development of new technologies and inspired many people to pursue engineering and science careers. <\/p>\n
Elon Musk told the conference there were more technological advances and business opportunities to be grasped with greater space travel. <\/p>\n
Satellites could help deliver cheap internet to those who do not have access to broadband infrastructure. <\/p>\n
They could also monitor crop growth, climate change and potential natural disasters back on Earth, said Mr Musk. <\/p>\n
But the Tesla boss added: \"To really get the public real fired up, I think we've got to have a base on the moon.\" <\/p>\n
\"Having some permanent presence on another heavenly body, which would be the kind of moon base, and then getting people to Mars and beyond - that's the continuance of the dream of Apollo that I think people are really looking for,\" he added. <\/p>\n
SpaceX has already announced plans to fly two tourists around the Moon next year, although they will not land on the moon itself. <\/p>\n
Mr Musk has also spoken about his plans to land humans on Mars. <\/p>\n
The banner image on SpaceX's Twitter profile shows a series of images of Mars being terraformed - a hypothetical process of deliberately modifying a planet to make it similar to Earth, and therefore habitable to humans. <\/p>\n
Mr Musk said that \"to get the public excited, you've really got to get people in the picture. It's just a hundred times different if there are people in the picture.\" <\/p>\n
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Elon Musk: We need moon base to get people 'fired up' about space travel - Sky News<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Elon Musk has said humans need to build a base on the moon to get the public \"fired up\" again about space exploration. Humans first landed there 48 years ago today [20 July], but nobody has stepped foot on the moon since the final mission of the Apollo programme in 1972. Speaking at a conference in Washington about the International Space Station, the SpaceX founder complained that the public did not seem to grasp \"how cool the ISS is\". Continue reading