Musk May Be Our Only Hope for Mars

I was reading a piece in ARS Technica about the potential pivot of a Clinton administration back to the Moon rather than Mars.  Physicist Neal Lane, who was a science advisor to Bill Clinton and may informally advising Hillary, recently stated:

We’ve been to the Moon but we didn’t stay very long...So the US really ought to consider, in my view, leading international expeditions back to the Moon and to other bodies in the Solar System, and perhaps eventually Mars, and work[ing] with other countries to ensure free access to space. I think the new president could find this to be a real opportunity for leadership.

This is somewhat disappointing, though we already have an administration that chose an asteroid over the Moon and Mars.  I was hoping we could do both the Moon and Mars between NASA and the private sector.

SpaceX's Elon Musk provided a better vision the other week with his mission to Mars.  Maybe the private sector needs to take on Mars with NASA stays local (a reverse of expected roles, but an increasingly plausible scenario).

Boeing appears to agree, and seems to be calling for a private sector space race.  Boeing's Chief Executive Officer Dennis Muilenburg made the following statement at a Chicago meeting:

I’m convinced the first person to step foot on Mars will arrive there riding a Boeing rocket.

Boeing may be more tied to NASA's apron than Musk, but both will need the support of NASA to make it to Mars. 

Let the space race begin!

SpaceX Becomes More Integral to U.S. Space Missions

As SpaceX's Dragon heads back to the International Space Station today with necessary supplies, such as spacesuit batteries and 3D printers, the company is slated to take a much larger role in the U.S. space program.  NASA has named Boeing and SpaceX as the two suppliers of spacecraft to take U.S astronauts in to low-Earth orbit.  Earlier last week NASA announced its selection of the two companies for the Commercial Crew Transportation Capability contracts, stating:

 ...today we are one step closer to launching our astronauts from U.S. soil on American spacecraft and ending the nation’s sole reliance on Russia by 2017. Turning over low-Earth orbit transportation to private industry will also allow NASA to focus on an even more ambitious mission – sending humans to Mars.

Boeing received the larger contract of $4.2 billion, but SpaceX is also getting $2.6 billion.  Yes, it is playing second fiddle to Boeing, but it is now in the big leagues and I can only see it getting better for SpaceX and hopefully other small companies in the future.  SpaceX announced:

SpaceX is deeply honored by the trust NASA has placed in us, and we welcome today’s decision and the mission it advances with gratitude and seriousness of purpose. Under the $2.6 billion contract, SpaceX will launch the Crew Dragon spacecraft atop the Falcon 9 launch vehicle from Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.