The moon or Mars.. “Congress” plans to kill Elon Musk’s space dream

Elon Musk, an ally of US President-elect Donald Trump, is seeking to persuade NASA to abandon its ambitious plans to return to the moon and head directly to Mars. However, Musk faces strong opposition from Congress.

According to the newspaper “Politico”, Republican and Democratic lawmakers, who control NASA’s budget, want Americans to return to the surface of the moon in 2027, and they are not ready to abandon this mission despite Musk’s obsession with going beyond the moon and heading to Mars..

“Going beyond the moon would be a mistake,” said Republican Rep. Brian Babin, who leads the House Space Committee. He added that going to Mars directly would face great resistance from Congress.

For his part, Musk believes that the Mars mission will ensure the survival of human life outside Earth, even if it costs hundreds of billions of dollars and faces great risks. He described the colonization of the Red Planet as “life insurance.”

However, lawmakers prefer to focus on lunar exploration to preserve jobs associated with lunar exploration efforts, support the lunar economy, and gain an edge over China in space..

“We have invested a lot of time, effort and money in the Artemis program, and I believe we should allow NASA to complete this mission,” said Senator Mark Kelly, a former astronaut.

Outgoing NASA Administrator Bill Nelson added: “We must learn to walk before we run,” noting the importance of going to the moon first before heading to Mars..