For Neil deGrasse Tyson, an acclaimed astrophysicist, travel to Mars will be deemed safe only after tech billionaire Elon Musk’s mother visits the red planet that has been space scientists’ obsession for decades. He cracked the joke while speaking to NDTV about the future of space tourism and if he was interested.
Tyson has in the past clashed with Musk over his dream to set up a colony on Mars. Musk believes it’s possible, and the suggestion riles Tyson up.
“I joke about this – if you want me to get on an Elon rocket, I’ll say first have him send his mother to Mars and back. Then I will go and know it’s safe,” he replied to a question on space exploration.
Tyson also praised Musk for his achievements – he explained how the world’s richest man had gone the extra mile than the other “billionaire boys”, Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson, who had raised hopes of space tourism with their half-hour ride above the atmosphere.
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However, he stressed, that private players like SpaceX must focus on making missions more affordable and rapid – they must streamline the process done by government agencies.
Asked whether space exploration could be a more practical alternative for vacations, he said the cost needs to be brought down drastically if space travel had to become a vacation spot.
“You have to bring down the price of space exploration very low. Bring it within the budget of someone who might have spent that money on a vacation. If you take two-three vacations a year, add that all up. I bet people would pool all that money and take one trip in space because the novelty is high,” said Tyson.
He said the marketplace would blow up if space trips could be conducted under $10,000. He also offered a lottery option – pay $1 for a $20,000 ride. If you lose, watch others do it and report back to you, he said.
Tyson, however, draws a line between the space race by Bezos and Branson, and what Elon Musk has done. Space tourism could be going above the atmosphere for half an hour and taking a look down at Earth or going to orbit and seeing 16 sunrises within 24 hours, said the scientist.
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“Or you build a colony on the Moon and Mars – these are the different ascending levels of vacation destinations that we should look forward to in the coming decade.”
For Tyson, an astrophysicist, the standards of space travel are different; he gave a layman example to make people understand.
“If you shrink Earth into a schoolroom globe and ask where these space missions are going – Bezos and Branson, who go up and fall back into Earth, go the thickness of two coins above the Earth. That’s how high they are going. People may call that space, but I am an astrophysicist. The next level – the orbit is about 1 cm from the earth’s surface and they are going where hundreds have gone before. That’s important, but send me somewhere to the Moon, Mars, or beyond. On this scale, the Moon is 10 metres away and Mars is 1.5 km away. You’re really travelling to get to those places. Then sign me up,” said Tyson.