Elon Musk aims to build ‘internet bridge’ between Earth and Mars

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• In an interview with TIME Magazine, SPACEX COO Gwynne Shotwell revealed details regarding Elon Musk’s plans on providing a powerful telecom for the million people who will inhabit Mars.
• Due to both planets needing some sort of a communication link between them, the company plans to launch its Starlink satellite broadband service around Mars.
• Furthermore, Shotwell says their Mars project is just to give people the option to save themselves from extinction.

SPACEX revealed CEO Elon Musk’s plans on bringing its Starlink satellite broadband service to the Red Planet to act as a communication bridge for the one million people who will be sent to colonize Mars.

Sharing details about taking the technology to Mars in a recent TIME magazine interview, SPACEX president and COO Gwynne Shotwell emphasized that Mars and Earth will need to be connected.

“Once we take people to Mars, they’re going to need a capability to communicate,” said Shotwell adding that to do so, both planets would have “some robust telecom” between Mars and back on Earth.

Shotwell further said that their plans on Mars don’t mean the firm’s giving up on Earth. Only that they’re just providing humanity an option to save themselves from extinction in case catastrophic events on Earth happen.

Previously, SPACEX founder Musk said his Starship rocket will one day carry humans to Mars along with a fleet of 10,000 ships to create a sustainable city since a trip is only feasible once every two years. He hoped to be able to ferry people to Mars by 2050.

The Tesla boss also said the company seeks to produce 1,000 Starships in 10 years at a South Texas facility with the goal of launching 1,000 Starship flights to Mars each year where each trip will see 100 passengers make their way to the Red Planet.

Meanwhile, NASA has released new footage of its collecting an alien sample on a daring mission to ‘doomsday asteroid’ Bennu.

Source: The Sun