The founder of SpaceX and Tesla has made two trips to the Trump Tower. Donald Trump partnering up with Elon Musk is a possibility after the two met in the White House after the president had his first full day in office. The two apparently discussed a possible manned mission to Mars and public-private space partnerships. This probably signals a shift of NASA’s focus on climate change. Musk and his company SpaceX has a very ambitious dream of the colonization of Mars. The company is setting the goal of launching the first human mission to the red planet by 2024.
NASA under President Obama had shifted from government-funded to private had launched the US as the world’s innovation leader. Trump also had a talk with historian Douglas Brinkley about the Apollo program. According to Brinkley, Trump reflected on how the Apollo program brought the country together in the 1960s. Trump stated that the program had captured the spirit of the American people.
The United States is still the only country to put a human on the moon and the only country to land an operational spacecraft on Mars. SpaceX has designed a powerful Falcon Heavy Rocket which plans to send into space a manned Dragon spacecraft. SpaceX plans to launch the 230-foot tall rocket which has a liftoff thrust of 18 747 jets as reported in an article by the Daily Galaxy.
Although Musk does not share the same political views as Trump, both men are motivators. Musk’s ambitious proposals appeals to young engineers. The ideal of building a fleet of enormous spaceships bringing 100 people at a time to Mars is exciting as opposed to NASA’s sluggish and incremental approach to human spaceflight. The idea of Donald Trump partnering up with Elon Musk is not too farfetched as Trump understands the power of a big idea. He knows quite well what kind of leverage a cult personality can bring as published in an article by The Denver Post.