Because he probably wants to go to the Moon or Mars himself in his lifetime. With Mars seeming ever more unlikely – and the Moon realistically attainable – this might be why he’s shifting focus.
iceynyo on
Because investors. IPO is coming up soon, and Mars is too far of a goal for Wall Street.
KoolKat5000 on
I bet it’s the delays to the contracts to deliver the lander for the moon mission and perhaps further prospects of contracts. Nasa can’t say they’re distracted or resources are being wasted.
Slypenslyde on
1. It’s easier
2. It’s “new” which excites investors more
3. He has inside information about upcoming government grants
paulskiogorki on
Mars was always hype and never realistic
_WhatchaDoin_ on
I am very confused. There was going to be a trip to Mars in 2026, some humans in 2030, and now we are settling for the moon?
It is as if he just say things without proper planning but to bump up the SpaceX share price, but the majority of the things he say are baloney and do not happen.
I am not sure we can trust his moon colony and timeline either.
Hoppie1064 on
Because NASA will pay him to send rockets to The Moon.
fangelo2 on
I think that they are coming to the realization that mars is virtually impossible. There are too many serious obstacles to overcome. It has always just been a pipe dream
rcakebread on
I don’t understand the mystery. Name one deadline he’s met.
Front_Candidate_2023 on
Do we even have everything we need on the Moon for self growing City? Wole starship methane thing was because its “easy” to manufacture on the Mars. Is it possible and feasible to produce methane on the Moon?
shugo7 on
I thought it was “a distraction”?
codykonior on
1) Kill the moon missions by saying they’re too easy and to do Mars.
2) Once competitors are out of the picture, change back to the moon.
3) Make tons of money lying to manipulate the stock market because nothing matters anymore.
LostInSpaceTime2002 on
When Elon founded SpaceX in 2002, plans for Mars Missions were very popular. Investors simply didn’t understand yet how unfeasible manned missions to Mars actually are. Moon missions were seen as less valuable because it had already been done.
Since then, we have learned a lot more about Mars and about the effects a journey there would have on the human body. People have also realized that because of the distance, exploitation of Martian resources isn’t a very interesting proposition, economically speaking.
At the same time, many resources are getting more and more scarce on Earth, making the Moon a more attractive option. It is much closer. We have already demonstrated that it is possible to get Humans there and back to Earth alive, and extremely valuable resources such as Helium3 have been discovered. The moon is also widely considered the perfect spring board to enable further space exploration and exploitation missions.
BTTammer on
Because it’s all bullshit.
We are living in the Simpsons “monorail” episode. Musk will get billions in taxpayer funds to build shit that has no hope of going anywhere.
Rinse and repeat.
RetroCaridina on
Maybe because SpaceX is actually being paid to develop the moon lander?
Jimmy_Beam27 on
for those not in the know, the moon is the next stop. Elon is changing his tune on MArs, because the contracts for lunar exploration are coming and he doesnt want to miss out on any free money
PropulsionIsLimited on
I don’t understand the people in this sub sometimes. This is a good thing. Going to Mars first was always going to be a huge jump. Them shifting to lunar development first is better for NASA and will be better for SpaceX.
fatherseamus on
Because it’s just too fucking hard to get to Mars. To visualize this, take a quarter and hang it off one end of a football goalpost. That’s the Earth. Take a dime and hang it off the other end. That’s the moon. This represents the farthest we have ever sent humans in space after a decade of effort.
Mars is on the other end of the football field hanging off the other goal post. Except it’s not just one football field, it’s 10 of them.
SheepWolves on
He had no interest in sending people to Mars. Everything he does is for marketing to get his names out there.
MonsterTruckCarpool on
“Mars is farther away than the moon!?”
Temporary_Double8059 on
While Elon does have a lot of wealth, he has never used that wealth to do his own missions. Instead he has always tried to get the government (or customers) to pay for these altruistic missions. Right now the government is only focusing on Moon and there is almost zero funding for humans on Mars.
Whole-Lingonberry-74 on
The whole plan of going to Mars hinged on first going to the moon. The idea is to create rocket fuel on the moon and leave from there.
twerking_boy on
Three reasons: 1) Mars is far away and it’s hard 2) SpaceX is a scam and 3) Musk is a liar
nopalitzin on
Investors are no longer buying his crap, but he still need to show something.
BugsyMcNug on
Remember when musk was going to build the Hyperloop?
odplocki on
Because it was always a grift. Just like data centers in orbit is now. It’s easy, people keep falling for it.
27 Comments
Because he probably wants to go to the Moon or Mars himself in his lifetime. With Mars seeming ever more unlikely – and the Moon realistically attainable – this might be why he’s shifting focus.
Because investors. IPO is coming up soon, and Mars is too far of a goal for Wall Street.
I bet it’s the delays to the contracts to deliver the lander for the moon mission and perhaps further prospects of contracts. Nasa can’t say they’re distracted or resources are being wasted.
1. It’s easier
2. It’s “new” which excites investors more
3. He has inside information about upcoming government grants
Mars was always hype and never realistic
I am very confused. There was going to be a trip to Mars in 2026, some humans in 2030, and now we are settling for the moon?
It is as if he just say things without proper planning but to bump up the SpaceX share price, but the majority of the things he say are baloney and do not happen.
I am not sure we can trust his moon colony and timeline either.
Because NASA will pay him to send rockets to The Moon.
I think that they are coming to the realization that mars is virtually impossible. There are too many serious obstacles to overcome. It has always just been a pipe dream
I don’t understand the mystery. Name one deadline he’s met.
Do we even have everything we need on the Moon for self growing City? Wole starship methane thing was because its “easy” to manufacture on the Mars. Is it possible and feasible to produce methane on the Moon?
I thought it was “a distraction”?
1) Kill the moon missions by saying they’re too easy and to do Mars.
2) Once competitors are out of the picture, change back to the moon.
3) Make tons of money lying to manipulate the stock market because nothing matters anymore.
When Elon founded SpaceX in 2002, plans for Mars Missions were very popular. Investors simply didn’t understand yet how unfeasible manned missions to Mars actually are. Moon missions were seen as less valuable because it had already been done.
Since then, we have learned a lot more about Mars and about the effects a journey there would have on the human body. People have also realized that because of the distance, exploitation of Martian resources isn’t a very interesting proposition, economically speaking.
At the same time, many resources are getting more and more scarce on Earth, making the Moon a more attractive option. It is much closer. We have already demonstrated that it is possible to get Humans there and back to Earth alive, and extremely valuable resources such as Helium3 have been discovered. The moon is also widely considered the perfect spring board to enable further space exploration and exploitation missions.
Because it’s all bullshit.
We are living in the Simpsons “monorail” episode. Musk will get billions in taxpayer funds to build shit that has no hope of going anywhere.
Rinse and repeat.
Maybe because SpaceX is actually being paid to develop the moon lander?
for those not in the know, the moon is the next stop. Elon is changing his tune on MArs, because the contracts for lunar exploration are coming and he doesnt want to miss out on any free money
I don’t understand the people in this sub sometimes. This is a good thing. Going to Mars first was always going to be a huge jump. Them shifting to lunar development first is better for NASA and will be better for SpaceX.
Because it’s just too fucking hard to get to Mars. To visualize this, take a quarter and hang it off one end of a football goalpost. That’s the Earth. Take a dime and hang it off the other end. That’s the moon. This represents the farthest we have ever sent humans in space after a decade of effort.
Mars is on the other end of the football field hanging off the other goal post. Except it’s not just one football field, it’s 10 of them.
He had no interest in sending people to Mars. Everything he does is for marketing to get his names out there.
“Mars is farther away than the moon!?”
While Elon does have a lot of wealth, he has never used that wealth to do his own missions. Instead he has always tried to get the government (or customers) to pay for these altruistic missions. Right now the government is only focusing on Moon and there is almost zero funding for humans on Mars.
The whole plan of going to Mars hinged on first going to the moon. The idea is to create rocket fuel on the moon and leave from there.
Three reasons: 1) Mars is far away and it’s hard 2) SpaceX is a scam and 3) Musk is a liar
Investors are no longer buying his crap, but he still need to show something.
Remember when musk was going to build the Hyperloop?
Because it was always a grift. Just like data centers in orbit is now. It’s easy, people keep falling for it.
Because he’s not smart enough to build on mars