SOLAR SYSTEM FAILURE
Elon Musk’s ambition to send astronauts to Mars, rather than the Moon, is literally impossible to execute anytime soon, Biden’s NASA chief Bill Nelson told What A Day.
- President Donald Trump raised astronauts’ eyebrows when he said it’s the United States’s “Manifest Destiny” to plant an American flag on Mars during his inaugural address. Landing on the Red Planet has long been one of “First Buddy” Elon Musk’s main targets, insisting that NASA should forget about its multi-billion dollar mission to land on the Moon again by 2027 and sail straight past. Who needs the Moon anyways!
- Even Republican lawmakers think it’s a terrible idea. But the centibillionaire appears deadset: “Can you imagine how awesome it will be to have American astronauts plant the flag on another planet for the first time? How inspiring would that be,” Musk said during a speech this week. He owns SpaceX, which launches most of NASA’s rockets into orbit. Last year, Musk tweeted that the first crewed flights to Mars will launch in 2028.
- Musk’s plan to bypass the Moon seems… half-baked. “He has never said that to me,” said Bill Nelson, who was the NASA administrator until this week, in a call with What a Day. Nelson had private conversations with Musk during his tenure, and believes Musk understands how hard it is to land on Mars. “He’s got to be able to land on the Moon, and that’s the demonstrator before we can ever go to Mars!”
- The moon is three or four days away — and Mars is seven or eight months away, Nelson explained. That’s why going to the Moon is so crucial: When astronauts eventually land on Mars, the planets are out of realignment, he said. “You can’t come back right away. You’re going to have to stay on the surface for a year or two to get back now. You’re talking major logistics, as well as the fact of keeping humans alive over that period of time.”
Nelson said he’s hopeful that NASA will remain one of the few government agencies that isn’t hyper-politicized — even in the Trump era.
- During Trump’s first term, NASA chief Jim Bridenstine was applauded for supporting climate research and bringing other countries under NASA’s wing. Much of Nelson’s space legacy built off of that work. “NASA should do great things — unless they get in and make it partisan,” he said.
- One possible complicating factor: Trump chose Jared Isaacman, a billionaire space entrepreneur with close ties to SpaceX, to lead NASA. Lots of people expect Musk and Trump to have a falling out eventually, when their galactic egos inevitably clash. That could put Isaacman in a weird, tense relationship-management situation to keep NASA’s ties with SpaceX strong. Would Trump lash out at SpaceX if he’s mad at Musk? It can’t be ruled out.
- For now, things are looking up. “I believe that with Elon’s special relationship with the new president, he is in a position to … make sure that NASA is not whacked,” Nelson said. “It takes money to get to the Moon and Mars — and even though Elon is the head of DOGE to cut money out — I’m optimistic that NASA is not going to get whacked.”
Fun note: Nelson’s a big believer in extraterrestrial life. When will scientists discover its existence? Possibly by 2040, he said. Finally, something to look forward to these days.
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NEWS NEWS NEWS
Donald Trump is trying to amass more people to help with his sweeping deportations by granting federal agents the same powers as immigration officers, according to the Wall Street Journal. There’s a lot of concerning shit happening on immigration, and this Politico story does a good job of rounding up the latest. Give it a read.
The State Department froze all passport applications with the “X” gender marker, as part of Trump’s war against gender identity. “The policy of the United States is that an individual’s sex is not changeable,” reads an internal cable from Secretary of State Marco Rubio to employees.
Trump signed an executive order to declassify files about the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr., John F. Kennedy, and Robert Kennedy. Okay, fine, I do wanna see what’s in there.
Rubio is taking his first trip abroad to… Panama. It’s a stunning choice, suggesting Trump may actually be serious about retaking the Panama Canal, which the U.S. relinquished control of in the 1970s. How Trump goes about that remains to be seen, but GOP senators are increasingly supportive of the idea. Isolationism be damned!
Trump downplayed the threat of China spying on Americans via TikTok, which Congress banned due to national security concerns. “Is it that important for China to be spying on young people, on young kids, watching crazy videos?” Trump told Fox News. “They make your telephones and they make your computers and they make a lot of other things … Isn’t that a bigger threat?” Shouldn’t you know? You’re the president!
Trump effectively told the civil rights department in the Department of Justice to cool its heels for at least three months. Americans should be deeply concerned since the DOJ is “literally abdicating its duty and responsibility to protect Americans from all forms of discrimination,” Damon Hewitt, executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, told the Washington Post.
Trump threatened to withhold disaster aid to California until “they let water flow down.” That’s bullshit: He’s reiterating false claims that California officials have stopped water from flowing from the northern part of the state to the Los Angeles area. Thousands of firefighters battled three new raging blazes today. Reminder: GOP-led states that were ravaged by hurricanes last year received federal aid without conditions.
Major oil companies spent at least $445 million in the last election cycle to influence Trump’s and members of Congress, according to a new analysis from a climate advocacy group. Democracy at its finest!
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