Yes, the interview questions were unremarkable. Again. If only Elon would provide one hour of time with Eric Berger, Scott Manley, and Tim Dodd, we might learn something.
thought it interesting that he said they hadn't really started thinking about how to create a colony on Mars.
I wasn’t surprised by that. Right now SpaceX is focused on solving the tremendous challenge of creating a fully reusable orbital class rocket with an unprecedented payload capacity. The next enormous challenge is creating an in-orbit refueling system with dedicated Starship “tankers” so that Starship can leave Earth orbit with a useful payload. Both of those challenges require mastering the Starship re-entry technique, something which has never been attempted before.
And those are just the first of many essential steps needed towards creatIng a
long term self-sustaining colony on Mars. What is also needed is:
- A Starship life support system for anywhere from 10 to 100 people that can sustain them for 6 to 8 months in deep space, outside the Earth’s magnetic field. The Crew Dragon capabilities are a very small first step in that direction. Of course NASA has a wealth of knowledge gained from the ISS and will certainly share it but
- Power production equipment that can reliably function on the surface of Mars long term and produce many orders of magnitude more power than we have ever produced on that planet in the tiny rovers.
- A reliable rocket fuel production system using Martian resources
- Martian life support system that provides a breathable atmosphere, food, and radiation protection.
- Ensuring that Starship can reliably launch from Mars and return to Earth, meaning the Starship hardware has to be able to tolerate sitting on the Martian surface for 2+ years and then function perfectly.
That is the basic list I come up with just to get a small number of people to Mars and then return them to Earth after two years. To create an independent self-sustaining Martian colony of a million people will require meeting many additional challenges.
Note: in my opinion, the ability to reliably return people to Earth after a 2+ year stay on Mars is very important. It removes an enormous psychological barrier for anyone considering making the trip, knowing they can come back if they want to. The people who decide to go will be volunteers. Certainly there will be some people who will volunteer and say they have no expectation of returning. But there will be many highly qualified people who will have concerns about a one-way trip, people who could be very useful on Mars.
Everyone who goes to Mars will need to be carefully screened to try to unsure they can tolerate the mental stresses inherent in the enterprise. Minimizing the need for medical treatments in transit and on Mars will also be necessary as resources will be very limited. Although this is not a military operation, colonists will still need to carefully follow operational protocols and orders from the governing authorities. The safety and continuing existence of the colony will require a very high degree of cooperation and mutual respect and tolerance. Daredevils and rebels need not apply.
